Cleopatra: I Am Fire and Air

by Harold Bloom

From Harold Bloom, one of the greatest Shakespeare scholars of our time, comes an intimate, wise, deeply compelling portrait of Cleopatra—one of the Bard’s most riveting and memorable female characters.

Cleopatra is one of the most famous women in history—and thanks to Shakespeare, one of the most intriguing personalities in literature. She is lover of Marc Antony, defender of Egypt, and, perhaps most enduringly, a champion of life. Cleopatra is supremely vexing, tragic, and complex. She has fascinated readers and audiences for centuries and has been played by the greatest actresses of their time, from Elizabeth Taylor to Vivien Leigh to Janet Suzman to Judi Dench.

Award-winning writer and beloved professor Harold Bloom writes about Cleopatra with wisdom, joy, exuberance, and compassion. He also explores his own personal relationship to the character: Just as we encounter one Anna Karenina or Jay Gatsby when we are in high school and college and another when we are adults, Bloom explains his shifting understanding of Cleopatra over the course of his own lifetime. The book becomes an extraordinarily moving argument for literature as a path to and a measure of our own humanity.

Bloom is mesmerizing in the classroom, wrestling with the often tragic choices Shakespeare’s characters make. With Cleopatra, he delivers exhilarating clarity and invites us to look at this character as a flawed human who might be living in our world. The result is an invaluable resource from our greatest literary critic.

Genres: Nonfiction, Shakespeare, Criticism, Literary Criticism, Literature, History, Theatre

123 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Harold Bloom was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was called "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking world." After publishing his first book in 1959, Bloom wrote more than 50 books, including over 40 books of literary criticism, several books discussing religion, and one novel. He edited hundreds of anthologies concerning numerous literary and philosophical figures for the Chelsea House publishing firm. Bloom's books have been translated into more than 40 languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1995.
Bloom was a defender of the traditional Western canon at a time when literature departments were focusing on what he derided as the "school of resentment" (multiculturalists, feminists, Marxists, and others). He was educated at Yale University, the University of Cambridge, and Cornell University.

Reviews

[Always Pouting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one of the books from that back log I have on netgalley, I swear I'll finish them all one day. I actually haven't read Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, not sure why I requested this book to be quite honest, probably because I liked the cover and just assumed it was actually about Cleopatra. This was really good though and it reminded me of how much I actually like classical literature or things that are considered canon when I get to consume them in a setting that gives me context about what to be looking for. Like I really have a preference for things that come with forwards or annotations I'm coming to realize because I've never had the patience for taking classes but I do want to understand what it is about certain literature that makes people hold it in such high esteem. I think this does a good job of explaining why someone would enjoy the play, walking us through specific parts of it with explanations of theme and then contrasting it with other plays Shakespeare wrote. Almost makes me want to read the play itself. I wonder if Bloom actually annotates the plays themselves and if so I think I'd want to read that. I'm going to go look into it. I enjoyed this though, even without having read the play, and I'm sure it serves as a good complement to reading the play if youre someone like me and can't ever come to the understanding of these overarching themes on your own while reading older literature because the whole time you're like wow isn't this boring.

[Hirdesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks for Netgalley and respective publishers.

I;ve read about Roman Empire alot and lots books over Caesar and Other Emperors.
"Anthony and Cleopatra" the great drama written by Shakespeare is one of the key factor in this book.
She was convincingly subtle and Cleaver woman in History
Every dialogue were epic and noticeable.
Bravo ! ! ! !
Actually, Honorable Author's research was splendid.
He has taken different and focused dramatic approach towards the Greatest and Lovely Queen of Ancient Era- Cleopatra.
I liked the initiation although some spaces were unfilled and almost whole story.

More I know about Cleopatra, More I find myself near to that Era.

[Robert Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthony and Cleopatra were our first dreadful celebrities. Marcus Anthony, a brutal massacring tyrant and Cleopatra, a woman so enraptured by her own beauty and sexuality she feels emperors are the only people worthy of her companionship. She attained her crown assassinating off her family.

Anthony and Cleopatra’s charism is the constant adulation by others. The clown who gives the basket of asps to Cleopatra in her suicide, says it best, “I wish you all the joy of the worms”.

Harold Bloom, companion piece to Shakespeare‘s “Anthony and Cleopatra” is insightful, revealing and enjoyable. You can read both at the same time and par take in Harold Bloom’s shakespearean wisdom.

[Darwin8u · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Like the Nile she inundates and then brings forth a harvest of burgeoning vivaciousness. Metamorphic, yet she overcomes the changes through histrionic genius. She acts and is, and who can tell what in her is not theatrical?"
- Harold Bloom, Cleopatra



It was hard for me to get excited about Cleopatra or Bloom from this book. Not the worst piece in the series, but not the best (Falstaff). It was weak for the first 2/3 and finished a bit stronger. Like some other of the mediocre titles in this series, it feels like parts of the book were recycled, parts were put together by an RA phoning it in, and occasionally Bloom, his sharp focus dulling, would insert something new. Nothing revelatory here. Lots of diving for some mediocre pearls.

This is the second of the five books Bloom wrote directly about Shakespeare's big personalities. These are the books in his series Shakespeare's Personalities:

Falstaff: Give Me Life (1) ✔
Cleopatra: I Am Fire and Air (2) ✔
Lear: The Great Image of Authority (3)
Iago: The Strategies of Evil (4) ✔
Macbeth: A Dagger of the Mind (5) ✔

[Andy Oram · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointment from a scholar who could have offered so much. Bloom seems to indulge an overactive erotic interest here. Other than his fascination for the idea of a woman who died 2000 years ago, Bloom just repeats the main milestones of the plot, and says nothing about the eccentric and unusual aspects of a play that I find intriguingly mysterious. This book is nothing like the many masterful Shakespearian interpretations that uncover surprising or unintuitive messages and poetic meanings. I learned nothing from this book that I didn't know from just reading the play. One clue to the problem is that Bloom prints long excerpts from the play (a cheap tactic) with little explanation beyond the obvious.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley

Anthony and Cleopatra is my favorite Shakespeare play. It didn’t really attain this title until I was in graduate school. There is something not only wonderful about the character of Cleopatra in Shakespeare’s play but also because it is a love story with a political theme. Everyone remembers Cleopatra but very few remember that political component.

Like all of us, Harold Bloom has fallen for Cleopatra. Hard. After reading his slim volume on Hamlet, I thought Bloom wanted to have an affair Gertrude, but now I think there is something of a threesome going on between Bloom, Gertrude, and Cleopatra. One can’t really fault him for that.
Bloom is at his best and most piercing when he links Shakespeare’s Cleopatra to the idea of ebb and flow of the Nile river. This is a brilliant observation. It actually does much to explain aspects of Cleopatra’s character and then also ties both Cleopatra and ebb/flow into Anthony’s character. It is quite interesting.

There are also problems with it. In many ways, it is difficult for a female reader to forget that early on in his book, Bloom writes that Cleopatra “cunning beyond male thought”. Now I am looking at an early electronic galley, so hopefully that word male will be removed. As it stands, it is jarring. It almost forces the female to reader out of the book. A strange feeling considering the subject is a woman.

It’s true to note that Shakespeare’s audience would have been male, so Bloom is undoubtedly correct on a basic level. Yet, the narrow focuses weaken his point, especially the level point in connecting Cleopatra to the water.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, but it felt almost too obvious at certain points.  Large portions of Antony and Cleopatra were lifted and inserted here--for the benefit of context and explanation, I'm sure--but it was so much that I thought that I may as well just reread the play.  Though there were valuable pieces of nuggets, such as Bloom comparing and contrasting Cleopatra to Antony, and illuminating part of her role in history, I didn't highlight nearly as much as I expected to.  

I will say, however, that I'm glad that Bloom pulled quotations and passages from some of Shakespeare's other plays--such as Hamlet--so that we could see just how different Cleopatra is from some of his other famous characters.  Though I do think a lot of it was more surface level (or maybe I'm just more familiar with Antony and Cleopatra than others), I also think that it is a useful text that answers a lot of questions many readers may have about Cleopatra and why she does the things she does.

Review cross-listed here!

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was intended as a resource for students or other interested in a deeper understanding of William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. It was well researched and organized, with quoted text from the play used to reinforce Bloom's observations.
"Antony and Cleopatra catches the moment when Rome overcame the Eastern world and ended an Era that began with the conquests of Alexander the Great."

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

These books largely track the primary texts using long quotes. But at least they’re mercifully free of pseudo-philosophical “theory”.

[Darcysmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed reading Harold Bloom's passionate scholarship about a character as legendary as Cleopatra. He draws on years of close study to draw a portrait of a character who is multilayered and loses none of her complexity as her layers are peeled away and examined.
Cleopatra read very well on its own; however, I think it will be most valuable as a companion piece while reading the play. It certainly increased my depth of understanding of Shakespeare's Cleopatra.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A celebration of Shakespeare's most tiresome character, the ludicrous Cleopatra. Perhaps, before our democratic age, such characters could command honour, but to us their posturing comes across as faintly ridiculous. And Anthony is an embarrassment. Pull yourself together man! The other books in the series shine but this one is let down by its subject.

[Al Bità · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short but profound analysis of Shakespeare’s Cleopatra bristles with intellectual vigour interlaced with passionate emotion — so much so that readers who are prepared to submerge their sensibilities within Bloom’s artistry will emerge all the more enriched and elevated by the experience.

Bloom provides us with a lifetime’s experiences and insights into ways in which Shakespeare’s text can be interpreted and personally evaluated. There is no shying away from specific difficulties, explanatory information is often provided, and meticulous precision is applied as appropriate. This also means that many extracts from the play are presented to the reader as part of the process, together with Bloom’s comments and reactions; nor is Bloom averse to cross-referencing other works for comparison and contrast. Whether one agrees or not is besides the point. What is essential is that various points of view are to be relished for their own sake. Ultimately, however, what remains will always be the basic text which generates them.

An obvious point to make is that Shakespeare provides the basic text which needs to be presented on stage. Stage directions are minimal, as a rule, and therefore will need to be realised within the limitations this sets: for starters, actual human beings in real time who act/interact/react with others on the stage, and the choreography this might require; all speech, thoughts, opinions (whether to a person, to a group of people, to the audience, or purely internal thoughts) are to be vocally stated (and Shakespeare uses basic dialogue, prose and poetry all intermixed for this purpose); and so on. The interpretative choices are virtually inexhaustible.

Personally I have always found it instructive when presented with an extract from a play which intrigues me, to reprocess it by identifying the references or difficult words in the extract (to clarify for myself what Shakespeare is saying) then paraphrasing it all, and rewriting it as precisely as possible in modern terms, together with stage directions as required, as if I were preparing for an actual stage presentation tomorrow. It’s not as straightforward as one might think, but it is extremely informative. It does seem to suggest that Shakespeare’s text (even only in a brief extract) is in fact a complex matrix which almost effortlessly permits multiple interpretations.

In this book Bloom provides the reader with a similar but more extensive presentation. The result demonstrates that from the original text, a Cleopatra emerges who is much more interesting, exciting, infuriating, human, passionate, intoxicating and inspiring a realisation than any mere historical person! Such is the power and potential of great art.

[John Plowright · Rating 4 out of 5]

The full title of Harold Bloom’s ‘Cleopatra’ is ‘Cleopatra. I Am Fire and Air’, which is, of course, a reference to the speech in which she clasps an asp to her bosom in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, and it is with Shakespeare’s representation of Cleopatra that Bloom is exclusively concerned.

Thus the historical Cleopatra gets relatively short shrift and Bernard Shaw’s ‘Caesar and Cleopatra’ does not merit even a single mention. This is somewhat ironic given the fact that the publishing blurb tells us that Cleopatra “has been played by the greatest actresses of their time, from Elizabeth Taylor to Vivien Leigh to Janet Suzman to Judi Dench”, when Leigh is far better remembered for her 1946 incarnation of the Shavian Cleopatra on film, than for her stage appearances in the Shakespearean role.

Incidentally, although Suzman had a distinguished career on stage, television and in film I don’t think many would regard her as the greatest actress of her time although her inclusion in this exalted company and on the book’s cover is understandable given the fact that Bloom begins his book with the sentence, “I fell in love in 1974 with the Cleopatra of Janet Suzman”.

I, too, saw Suzman as Cleopatra in that year, although at the time the woman embodying “astonishing sexual power” for me was not her but Valerie Leon in the Hai Karate ads. I guess it’s a case of whatever floats your barge …

There’s no disputing, however, that Bloom is a great critic, not least of Shakespeare, and it would be extremely odd if his book did not incandescently illuminate Shakespeare’s Cleopatra. Bloom’s understanding of ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ and indeed of the entire Shakespearean canon means that the reader is provided with rich food for thought.

Examination of Cleopatra’s “exalted apotheosis of self-immolation” is, for example, preceded by a learned disquisition on Shakespearean deaths on (Hamlet, Lear, Desdemona, Othello, Emilia) and off (Falstaff, Gloucester, Cordelia, Goneril, Reagan, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth) stage, albeit only for Bloom to admit that “That tragic Shakespearean procession has no particular pattern that I can discern”.

The really frustrating thing about this book, however, is the imbalance between text and exegesis. Yes, there has to be quotation but when it is indulged in to this extent the reader may well feel short-changed. Thus in most chapters great gobbets of Shakespeare are merely garlanded by Bloom’s prose. In Chapter 6, to take an extreme example, that means – by my calculations – just 16 sentences of Bloom addressing 87 lines of Shakespeare.

In short, what one has here is a first-class essay masquerading as a book.

[Matt McCormick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again I ventured into Harold Bloom and found myself lacking. However, the more of Bloom's critiques of Shakespeare I work through the more perspective I get on the plays, the characters and the plots. Shot with the firehose of Bloomian language I cant help but swallow a gulp or two.

Cleopatra, the historical person, is fascinating and inspiring for what she accomplished in her age. Cleopatra the Shakespearian character presented by Bloom, less so. In fact, Bloom's obsession with her sexuality and mystic nature were just the things Roman's used to justify the conquest of Egypt, the death of Caesar and of course the alienating of Antony. Bloom falls into Augustus's trap.

But this is Shakespeare and in many ways everything, is made right by the Bard. I can't help it, I'll keeping reading Bloom (and others - more happily Greenblatt) so that I can better appreciate his special gift to literature.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.5 of 5

Shakespeare scholar Harold Bloom explores one of Shakespeare's most intriguing personalities with his book Cleopatra: I am Fire and Air.

Bloom clearly appreciates the literary character and writes not only about the character as written, but also as performed by some of the bigger named or more famous actresses.

Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra is not one of his more popular plays and not performed nearly as often as some of his other tragedies and yet the enigmatic character of Cleopatra is instantly recognizable to most people and brings to mind a strong, sexual, sensual ruler of exotic persuasion.

I have sometimes found Bloom's writing to be annoying and even difficult to read, but that was not an issue here. Instead, Bloom pulled me in right away as he made the book immediately personal ("I fell in love in 1974 with the Cleopatra of Janet Suzman..."*) instead of didactic. And when he writes of "the ferocity of the most seductive woman in all of Shakespeare"* he is instantly identifying the appeal of the character and we know that Bloom's examination comes not from a dispassionate professorial point of view, but something deeply felt.

Other than Elizabeth Taylor's portrayal of the role on film, which I saw far too long ago, I don't know much about the play or the character. This examination brings to light a good many arguments for seeing this produced on stage (by a company that knows how to perform Shakespeare well). I was surprised in Chapter 15 by the look at the role of the Clown in the play.

It was not surprising that the Clown provides insight - this is common in Shakespeare - but the sexual attitudes and the provision of the means of death coming through the Clown strike me as unique among the Shakespeare plays I have seen.

More than ever I would like to see this play on stage and I tremendously appreciated this insightful look at the character. I look forward to more individual Shakespeare character examinations by Harold Bloom.

Looking for a good book? Cleopatra: I am Fire and Air is a wonderful examination by Harold Bloom of an exotic and strong character in Shakespeare's canon.

* All quotes are from an Advance Reader Copy of the book and may not represent the published edition.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Gayathri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made a misjudgment picking up the book.

I assumed that it would be a historical portrait, then after reading the blurb that it would be a portrait of Cleopatra through literary works and Prof Bloom's interaction across multiple sources. I assumed wrong.

This is simply Bloom's reading of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and he often cannot let go of his love for Antony to move the conversation ahead to Cleopatra. When he does so, it is begrudgingly.

I might perhaps have appreciated this more if I had read the original play more recently. Nevertheless, it's 160 pgs exploring Shakespeare's genius-and thereby Cleopatra- and hence the 2 stars.

[Daryl Mather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harold Bloom remains the best literary critic of the past 50 years at least. Here he reviews shakespeare a play Antony and Cleopatra with a focus on Cleopatra.

He unpacks Shakespeares regular portrayal of women as powerful and willing figures, not well suited to taking instructions. When applied to Egypts last Pharaoh, and the last of the line of Ptolemy it gives her to a majestic presence.

As a Shakespearean fan Bloom always provides depths of analysis and understanding that adds a lot to the play.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again I find myself feeling as if I have sat through a synoptic lecture on Cleopatra from Bloom himself. Sure, it won't be deep enough for the ardent academic, but for the at home reader these are really nice little books where you get some well expressed thoughts and ideas. His passion for Shakespeare is evident, and indeed quite zealous, but this volume had more comparison material than Macbeth, that I found helpful in understanding the points Bloom was trying to make.

I like this 'personalities' series and will eventually read them all.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book received from NetGalley.

I enjoyed this literary study about Cleopatra final pharaoh of the Ptolemy dynasty. While Harold Bloom focuses mainly on Shakespeare's play he does bring in a few other fictional accounts of her rule. I also liked how he mentioned the various actresses who portrayed her both on stage and screen. I have to respectfully disagree with his favorite though since I have always been fond of Elizabeth Taylor's portrayal of the royal. I think this would be a great reference for anyone who is currently studying Shakespeare's play.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so informative. Harold Bloom broke it down into layman's terms to help explain what it is about this play that made it so important. The characters in Shakespeare's play come to life with his portrayals, his historical information, and other bits of other Shakespearean plays. I'm hoping he has written other stories to this effect so that I can learn more and have an improved comprehensive understanding of Shakespeare's plays.

[Brandon Abraham · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bloom isn't adding anything we didn't already know(unless we count his youthful infatuation with Janet Suzman as breaking news) to a character who merits much more. Fully half the work(including stretches of multiple pages)consists of excerpts from the play, but couldn't Bloom have assumed the audience for this work would be familiar with the play itself?

[Vanessa Braganza · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant re-visitation of the play, but Bloom relies too heavily on the quotation of truly enormous passages, followed by blow-by-blow close readings. Moments of novel critical insight are sparse, but I enjoyed his discussion of perspectivism and active ‘personality’ vs. passive ‘character.’

[Emily Fletcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting companion piece to Shakespeare's play - I picked this up thinking it would be about Cleopatra (I apparently didn't bother to read the blurb), but enjoyed this and appreciated some of Bloom's insights .

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I wish you all the joy of the worm."
act 5, scene 2, line 258

[Aryssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe audiobooks on literary criticism and Shakespeare aren’t the BEST way to spend my quarantine

[Benjamin Redwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine as an intro for a high school student

[Rosalind Reisner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra for the first time in a class. Bloom's short guide has been helpful.

[Tumblyhome (Caroline) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I much like Harold Bloom, and we share a love of this play. I thought this analysis of the play was good but maybe relied too much on excerpts and not enough on discussion. That’s all.

[Bill Bleuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

(do not recommend audio edition, best read as text)

[cypher · Rating 3 out of 5]

as far as literary criticism goes, this was mainly the play, directly...on the other hand, i had not read the play, so it was a lot like getting the play, directly...which was ok for me. the good and the bad.