About
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) was an English essayist and literary critic, a major figure of Romanticism. Son of a Unitarian minister, he abandoned theological studies for painting before turning to writing. He became a journalist and drama critic, contributing to the Morning Chronicle and the Examiner. His essays, collected in volumes such as Table-Talk and The Spirit of the Age, are renowned for their incisive style and psychological depth. A radical and defender of the French Revolution, he opposed the conservative Lake Poets. His major work, The Spirit of the Age, offers biting portraits of his contemporaries. He died in poverty in 1830.
* 1778-04-10 — † 1830-09-18
Major works
- An Essay on the Principles of Human Action (1805)philosophical essay
- Characters of Shakespear's Plays (1817)literary criticism
- Lectures on the English Poets (1818)lectures
- Table-Talk (1821)essay collection
- The Spirit of the Age (1825)collection of portraits
Key milestones
- 1798Met Coleridge and Wordsworth, a decisive turning point in his career.
- 1802Studied painting at the Louvre in Paris before devoting himself to writing.
- 1823Published Liber Amoris, an autobiographical confession of his obsession with Sarah Walker.
Themes
Literary criticismIndividualism and political radicalPsychology and human passionsFamiliar essayPortraits of contemporaries
Sources: britannica.com · npg.org.uk