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Shakespeare's Universalism, Chap. 1-2

• According to Bloom, we owe Shakespeare a debt for articulating the human interior development which we take for granted as modern people.
• Shakespeare has many influences, and he has influenced many thinkers; Bloom sees a Nietzschean influence in his plays.
• There is an irony, Bloom says, in Kate's speech about a wife's role in "Taming of the Shrew".

Chaps. 3-5

• "Two Gentlemen of Verona" Bloom sees as a precursor for later plays, like "Love's Labor's Lost" and 'Twelfth Night'.
• Shakespeare's "Henry VI" is an early attempt to move beyond Christopher Marlowe's style and stories.
• Faulconbridge in "King John" marks Shakespeare's first success at exceeding Christopher Marlowe's style, according to Bloom.

Chaps. 6-8

• Bloom says that he is dissatisfied with the lack of internal development in "Richard III".
• "Titus Andronicus" oscillates between humor and horror, in Bloom's opinion, and attempts to surpass Marlowe's Aaron the...

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