Table-Talk · Character

William Cobbett

A political writer of such force that Hazlitt compares his prose to a feast and his polemics to a club swung without discrimination.

supporting

Also known as Cobbett People, Cobbett, Mr. Cobbett, himself

First appearance: Character of Cobbett

As a supporting figure in Table-Talk, William Cobbett is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The subject of the chapter; described as a self-taught man with striking excellences and faults, a powerful political writer with an inconsistent, fickle nature, and a bullying…

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Cobbett is the writer Hazlitt cannot help admiring even as he diagnoses the flaw: a man whose descriptions of America and Botley turnips are so vivid they 'look green in prose,' yet who lays about him with his pen like Giant Despair, knocking down friends and enemies alike. Hazlitt sees in him a noble writer undone by a bad propensity—the flail that levels his antagonists also lays his own party low. He matters because he embodies the book's recurring question: what is the cost of a genius that refuses to stand its ground?

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Character Web

21 connections

A slice of how William Cobbett sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Friendship
Rivalry
Other

Character groups

Writers and Thinkers
Protagonist
Literary and Artistic Circle

+16 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This passage marks the dramatic climax because it reveals the central psychological reversal: the lady who sco…

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Relationships

William Hazlitt
friendship · positive
Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and… How this plays out →
Thomas Paine
rivalry · ambivalent
William Hazlitt
friendship · positive
Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and… How this plays out →
William Hazlitt
friendship · positive
Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and… How this plays out →

William Hazlitt
Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and a combative style in their writings.
Thomas Paine
Cobbett initially attacked Paine's radicalism but later became a defender of his legacy, reflecting a complex ideological rivalry.
William Hazlitt
Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and a combative style in their writings.
William Hazlitt
Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and a combative style in their writings.

Relationship notes

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In the story

William Cobbett appears across 6 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Character of Cobbett
The subject of the chapter; described as a self-taught man with striking excellences and faults, a powerful political writer with an inconsistent, fickle nature, and a bullying yet cowardly disposition in controversy.
On Paradox and Commonplace
Referenced in passing regarding his work 'Gold Against Paper' as an example of a fixed system.
On Vulgarity and Affectation
Cited as an example of a coarse but not vulgar character, because he is original and not an imitator.
On Going a Journey
Quoted approvingly on the English custom of doing one thing at a time.
On Coffeehouse Politicians
Referenced in the context of coffeehouse politicians' interest in his Letter to John Cropper of Liverpool.
On Familiar Style
Mentioned for his view that the first word that occurs is always the best, which Hazlitt questions.

Chapter companion notes

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