Mar 6, 2025 11:24 PM
https://www.newyorkerlife.com/harold-blo...ented%20it.
"In 1998, Harold Bloom made an assertion so audacious that it seemed almost sinful: William Shakespeare didn't merely write about human nature—he invented it. In his monumental work Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, Bloom argued that our contemporary understanding of human consciousness, our capacity for self-reflection, and our ability to change through that reflection, were all, in essence, Shakespearean innovations. If we were to frame this in contemporary terms, Shakespeare provided humanity with its most crucial software update: Human Consciousness 2.0.
Before Shakespeare, literary characters seemed to step out of a child's coloring book—bold outlines filled with a single color. Think of King Arthur, the embodiment of perfect kingship and chivalry, never doubting his divine right to rule or questioning his motives. Consider Helen of Troy, whose legendary beauty was her entire character—she existed purely as an object of desire, a prize to be won, never revealing her thoughts about being the face that launched a thousand ships. Or take the heroes of ancient epics like Beowulf, who was simply brave, strong, and good—a warrior whose sword arm was mightier than his internal struggles.
These pre-Shakespearean characters were like chess pieces, each moving according to predetermined patterns. Angels were purely good, demons purely evil, kings unfailingly regal, peasants uniformly coarse. Beautiful princesses waited in towers, noble knights rescued them, and wicked stepmothers plotted their downfall. They were archetypal figures that existed to teach moral lessons or exemplify divine virtues. Their stories were about the extraordinary—mythical heroes, gods walking among men, chosen ones marked by destiny.
Shakespeare's Radical Humanization of Characters
Shakespeare dared to suggest that an ordinary merchant in Venice could wrestle with questions of justice as complex as any king's, that a teenage girl in Verona could experience love as profound as any goddess, that a lowly gravedigger could engage in philosophical wordplay worthy of any scholar. He took the crown of consciousness from the heads of gods and heroes and placed it squarely on the brow of everyday humanity.
The Birth of Self-Awareness in Literature
Then came the quantum leap. Just as Renaissance Europe was emerging from the strictures of medieval thought, just as the printing press was democratizing knowledge and the New World was expanding mental horizons, Shakespeare appeared at precisely the right moment to catalyze a fundamental change in human self-perception. His characters did something revolutionary: they changed. They learned. They grew. Most importantly, they heard themselves think....."
"In 1998, Harold Bloom made an assertion so audacious that it seemed almost sinful: William Shakespeare didn't merely write about human nature—he invented it. In his monumental work Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, Bloom argued that our contemporary understanding of human consciousness, our capacity for self-reflection, and our ability to change through that reflection, were all, in essence, Shakespearean innovations. If we were to frame this in contemporary terms, Shakespeare provided humanity with its most crucial software update: Human Consciousness 2.0.
Before Shakespeare, literary characters seemed to step out of a child's coloring book—bold outlines filled with a single color. Think of King Arthur, the embodiment of perfect kingship and chivalry, never doubting his divine right to rule or questioning his motives. Consider Helen of Troy, whose legendary beauty was her entire character—she existed purely as an object of desire, a prize to be won, never revealing her thoughts about being the face that launched a thousand ships. Or take the heroes of ancient epics like Beowulf, who was simply brave, strong, and good—a warrior whose sword arm was mightier than his internal struggles.
These pre-Shakespearean characters were like chess pieces, each moving according to predetermined patterns. Angels were purely good, demons purely evil, kings unfailingly regal, peasants uniformly coarse. Beautiful princesses waited in towers, noble knights rescued them, and wicked stepmothers plotted their downfall. They were archetypal figures that existed to teach moral lessons or exemplify divine virtues. Their stories were about the extraordinary—mythical heroes, gods walking among men, chosen ones marked by destiny.
Shakespeare's Radical Humanization of Characters
Shakespeare dared to suggest that an ordinary merchant in Venice could wrestle with questions of justice as complex as any king's, that a teenage girl in Verona could experience love as profound as any goddess, that a lowly gravedigger could engage in philosophical wordplay worthy of any scholar. He took the crown of consciousness from the heads of gods and heroes and placed it squarely on the brow of everyday humanity.
The Birth of Self-Awareness in Literature
Then came the quantum leap. Just as Renaissance Europe was emerging from the strictures of medieval thought, just as the printing press was democratizing knowledge and the New World was expanding mental horizons, Shakespeare appeared at precisely the right moment to catalyze a fundamental change in human self-perception. His characters did something revolutionary: they changed. They learned. They grew. Most importantly, they heard themselves think....."