Bloom Response

For this post I would like to place my effort in a response to Harold Bloom's  The Western Canon. In the second chapter of this book he places Shakespeare and Dante and the center of all the canonical writers. I was introduced to this theory exactly one year ago in Dr. Lansverk's Critical Theory class and I was immediately in disagreement. Bloom states, "Shakespeare and Dante are the Center of the Canon because they excel other Western writiers in cognitive acuity, linguistic energy, and power of invention" (Bloom 43). But just like I said in my paper, how is Shakespeare at the center, along with Dante, when according to Bloom, Shakespeare was influenced by Dante. It seems like it would be impossible to centralize Shakespeare, when speaking of canonical writers, when he does not excel beyond his influences.