The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 01 (of 12) — A Closer Reading

Henley's Portrait of a Polemicist

Henley's introduction is less a neutral biography than a defense of Hazlitt against his detractors. He attributes Hazlitt's combative style to his lineage—a father who was a Unitarian minister and an Antrim dissenter—and claims this background produced a writer 'unequalled in his time' for 'brilliancy in the use of his hands.' The language is itself pugnacious: Henley describes Hazlitt's opponents as 'the powers that were' who 'did their utmost to dissemble his uncommon merits.'

Henley singles out Hazlitt's admiration for Napoleon—'the Corsican fiend'—as a particular cause of execration. This biographical framing primes the reader to see Hazlitt as a writer whose critical judgments were inseparable from his political stances.

Hazlitt on Hamlet: Criticism as Identification

In Characters of Shakespear's Plays, Hazlitt's approach to Hamlet is notably personal. He writes that 'It is we who are Hamlet,' and describes the character's reality as 'in the reader's mind.' This psychological identification is central to his method: he lists the experiences that make one 'the true Hamlet'—'the pangs of despised love,' 'the insolence of office,' 'the spurns which patient merit of the unworthy takes.'

Hazlitt avoids plot summary, instead treating the play as a repository of 'striking reflections on human life.' His criticism is impressionistic, grounded in the emotional effect of the drama rather than in textual analysis. The excerpt shows him weaving quotations into his own prose, as when he echoes Hamlet's 'too much i' th' sun' and the 'goodly frame, the earth, a steril promontory.'

The Texture of Hazlitt's Prose in Antony and Cleopatra

Hazlitt's commentary on Antony and Cleopatra demonstrates his sensitivity to poetic language. He singles out Antony's speech beginning 'The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct / As water is in water' as 'one of the finest pieces of poetry in Shakespear.' His analysis focuses on the imagery's 'semblance of reality' and 'evanescent nature,' which he compares to 'the mouldering schemes of human greatness.'

He also highlights the repentance of Enobarbus as 'the most affecting part of the play,' noting that Enobarbus dies 'broken-hearted, a master-leaver and a fugitive.' Hazlitt's final image—that Shakespeare's 'genius has spread over the whole play a richness like the overflowing of the Nile'—is characteristic of his critical style: metaphorical, vivid, and grounded in the text's own imagery.

Readers approaching this volume should note that the excerpts represent only a fraction of Hazlitt's output. The Round Table essays and the Letter to William Gifford are not sampled here, so the full range of his social and political commentary remains to be explored. Henley's introduction, while informative, is itself a partisan document; comparing it with Hazlitt's own prose offers insight into how literary reputations are constructed.