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Unit 17: Hazlitt - On The Ignorance of The Learned

character may be fate, yet only personality bestows some measure of freedom .” In addition to Notes
Shakespeare, he also exhibited great insight regarding the literary works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
By studying Coleridge, Hazlitt was able to continue developing his impressionistic criticism,
including its most important trait, gusto. Gusto was the zest or hearty keen enjoyment that Hazlitt
used within his essays not only to appeal to those that agree with him, but also those that may
contradict his beliefs . This gusto also is to be found within the essay “On the Pleasure of Hating,”
where Hazlitt appeals to all audiences throughout the essay by allowing his writings to apply to
everyone.
From Wordsworth, Hazlitt took “a new consciousness of how a writer could begin again despite
the strength and persistence of cultural traditions.” Also from Wordsworth, Hazlitt became more
advanced in the originality of writing by learning to replace subject matter with subjectivity . By
studying writers such as Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Coleridge, and others, Hazlitt was influenced
by his writing not only by gaining his gusto, which has been noted as his dominate trait, but he
developed a style all his own.
Also extremely important in influencing Hazlitt’s writing is his vast and well-rounded knowledge
and experience in the field of literature. When he became interested in politics, he began working
for Parliament for the Morning Chronicle as a reporter. Also he began work on many essays that
were collected in books such as Original Essays on Men and Manners, The Plain Speaker: Opinions on
Books, Men, and Things, and Table Talk. He also wrote for many magazines including London Magazine,
the Examiner, and New Monthly Magazine. As a critic and writer, “these helped establish Hazlitt as
a tough, outspoken, and independent-minded critic.” Being the tough critic that he is, Hazlitt was
able to earn the respect of other literary writers; however, he lost friends in the process. But this
was the nature of Hazlitt’s behavior, and this is what made him the great critic that he was. He
was never afraid to challenge another writer or critic, and always stood by his beliefs. Even if it
meant damaging relationships with another person.
While Hazlitt gave lectures on philosophy, writings covered far more than this field. He wrote on
the subjects of ethics, politics, and economics as well. He further expanded his experience in
literature as he began work in journalism, working for The Morning Chronicle. He worked up from
a journalist all the way to becoming the drama critic. Also, he was writing essays here and there
for other periodicals such as the Edinburgh Review and Leigh Hunt’s Examiner. Hazlitt continued to
work while he published more works such as Liber Amoris: Or, The New Pygmalion, The Spirit of the
Age: Or Contemporary Portraits, and The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte, which was his final work. He
also contributed essays to many volumes. The broad range of literary experience gives him the
edge over others, and has him more prepared in his writings. He learned to “make them [Hazlitt’s
ideas for essays] personal without reducing their vitality .” For example, in Hazlitt’s essay, “On
the Pleasure of Hating”, he writes of a spider crawling across the floor where he sits:
But as I do not start up and seize upon the straggling caitiff, as he would upon a hapless fly within
his toils, he takes heart, and ventures on with mingled cunning, impudence and fear. As he passes
me, I lift up the matting to assist his escape, am glad to get rid of the unwelcome intruder, and
shudder at the recollection after is gone . . . I bear the creature no illwill, but still I hate the very
sight of it. The spirit of malevolence survives the practical exertion of it.
In the essay, Hazlitt makes his ideas personal by referring to his self, and stating how he feels on
the subject.
From his schooling as a young man, his father’s radical beliefs, studying writers such as Shakespeare,
Wordsworth, and Coleridge, to working for uncountable and various jobs for papers and magazines,
Hazlitt grew as a writer and was greatly influenced by all of these variables when he wrote the
essay “On the Pleasure of Hating” and the entirety of his other literary works. Although he never
was widely known or received great fame during his lifetime, he is now one of the greatest critics
and essayists of the Romantic era.

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