William Hazlitt's "Table Talk" presents a collection of personal essays from the early 19th century that explore literature, politics, and human nature through the lens of everyday conversation. These informal yet insightful pieces capture Hazlitt's sharp observations on everything from Shakespeare to social customs, written in the conversational style that made him one of England's most readable essayists.
1. On the Pleasure of Painting 2. The Same Subject Continued 3. On the Past and Future 4. On Genius and Common Sense 5. The Same Subject Continued 6. Character of Cobbett 7. On People With One Idea 8. On the Ignorance of the Learned 9. The Indian Jugglers 10. On Living To One's-Self 11. On Thought and Action 12. On Will-Making 13. On Certain Inconsistencies In Sir Joshua Reynolds's Discourses 14. The Same Subject Continued 15. On Paradox and Common-Place 16. On Vulgarity and Affectation 1. On a Landscape of Nicholas Poussin 2. On Milton's Sonnets 3. On Going a Journey 4. On Coffee-House Politicians 5. On the Aristocracy of Letters 6. On Criticism 7. On Great and Little Things 8. On Familiar Style 9. On Effeminacy of Character 10. Why Distant Objects Please 11. On Corporate Bodies 12. Whether Actors Ought To Sit in the Boxes 13. On the Disadvantages of Intellectual Superiority 14. On Patr…Continue reading →
A brilliant English essayist and critic of the Romantic era (1778-1830), he revolutionized literary criticism with passionate, personal insights into Shakespeare, his contemporaries like Coleridge and Wordsworth, and the art of living. His vivid, conversational prose style and psychological depth in works like "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays" established the modern familiar essay. All works by William Hazlitt →
Browse all Essays · 19th Century works