Hazlitt, William

English essayist and critic, William Hazlitt was a distinguish author of humanistic essays and literary criticism. His critical remarks on Shakespeare’s plays and characters made him prominent among his contemporaries. His father was an Irish Unitarian clergyman. In 1783 his family moved to America where his father preached and founded the First Unitarian Church at Boston. In 1787 they returned to England where he was sent to Hackney College London to be trained for the Unitarian ministry. But after a few years he left it and decided to become a painter. His interest in writing led to the start of his literary career with the publication of On the Principles of Human Action in 1805.
Hazlitt delivered various lectures on philosophy in London, the most famous of which are On the English Poets (1818), and On the English Comic Writers (1819). As an essayist he also contributed to the many journals. His most celebrated critical essays include The Round Table (1817), Characters of Shakespeare's Plays (1817), and The Spirit of the Age (1825).
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English essayist and critic, William Hazlitt was a distinguished author of humanistic essays and literary criticism. His critical remarks on Shakespeare’s plays and characters made him prominent.;