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Unit 16: Hazlitt--On Genius and Common Sense...

too was admired”. The wit here is implicit in the word “too”. Such a wit has its target in that Notes
which lacks a sense of proportion. Generally in Hazlitt wit is fused with irony: and then we have
the pure delight involving the animal spirits. When this is aided by exaggeration, the result is the
embodiment of what is called the grotesque.
Hazlitt’s wit is blended with irony and satire. Irony is that mental characteristic which transforms
an unpleasant phrase, word, or idea into a pleasant one. It has an element of sarcasm. In satire the
critical activity is present, and it is directed towards the unpleasant and unacceptable modes of
behaviour; or it exposes to ridicule certain drawbacks and weaknesses which make man unpleasant.
Hazlitt was more ironical and satirical. His insight into the real nature of human life and his
prejudices led him to point out those failing of man which need correction. This frame of mind
does not make one generous and sympathetic. Even if he had to acknowledge the merit of others.
Hazlitt did it rather grudgingly. In acquiring the tone of irony from swift, Jane Austen and others,
Hazlitt was helped also by his earnestness. He admired Wordsworth, and yet we are told that the
poet looked “more gaunt and Don Quixote-like”
In the essay “On the Ignorance of the Learned” we have a Hazlitt who was alert to the shortcomings
of a mere bookish individual. The man of a single idea becomes the object of satire. The learned
one does not breathe the common air, for he is a parasite living on the ideas of others; and hence
he becomes a “literary drudge”. He is one “who knows the most of what is farthest removed from
common life and actual observation, that is of the least practical utility”. The most learned man is
then one who has lost touch with the actualities of life. This is both witty and satirical. The satire
becomes biting when we read that the scholar “must be ignorant even of looks” since the use of
books is never taught by books.
A mild satirical his appears when we read that Wordsworth “did not own the obligation, and
stated some distinction without a difference, in defence of his claim to originality. Any the slightest
variation would be sufficient for this purpose in his mind”. Sarcasm and irony are blended here,
and the under current of humour does not prevent our admiration for the poet. Elsewhere Hazlitt
exposes vanity with the aid of an elegant wit.
When irony and satire appear in an exaggerated manner and when these are aided by wit, we
have the grotesque. In the achievement of grotesque portraiture, Hazlitt is superb. Thus when he
met Wordsworth for the first time, he was “Dan Quixote-like. He was quaintly dressed in a brown
fustian jacket and striped pantaloons. There was something of a roll, lounge in his gait, not unlike
his own Peter Bell”. This grotesque picture is lovable since there is a warmth of affection in the
delineation. It borders on fun.
Fun involves the evocation of the animal spirits. It rouses the mind and the body into a fresh
enjoyment of vigour. This appears in the case of a person who longs to be conspicuous and who
yearns for applause. Such a one, he says, “must envelop himself in a halo of mystery- he must ride
in an equipage of opinion—he must walk with a train of self- concept it following him–he must
surround himself with a cortege of prejudices, like the signs of Zodiac”. This is crushing and yet
boisterous.
Humour is based on insight into the human condition, and it is born of a sympathy with mankind.
It has been well said that the “dull, phlegmatic, retiring humour is not in a fair way to be corrected,
but confirmed and rendered desperate”. Following this method, Hazlitt offers lively strokes of
humour. At times this humour can hit the target hard. Thus we have Hunt who “requires not only
to be appreciated, but to have a select circle of admirers and devotees to feel himself quite at
home”. We have only to remember here that Hazlitt was a good friend of Hunt. There is humour
born of sympathy when we read that Hunt ‘has a set of bye-phrases and quaint allusions always
at hand to produce a laugh”. Sympathy and antipathy are blended when Hazlitt finds a target in
himself or in his friends. He observes the long hair of Coleridge swinging like theatre and poetry.
It has a flexibility which slides into unexpected forms.

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