Table-Talk · Character

William Shakespeare

The ever-present touchstone whose single line about honesty being one man in ten thousand Hazlitt turns into a weapon against the tyranny of the common herd.

supporting

Also known as Shakespeare, Shakespeare or Milton

First appearance: volume i on the pleasure of painting

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Shakespeare functions less as a character than as the standard against which Hazlitt measures actors, poets, and the awkwardness of thinking differently from one's neighbours. The tension is that his wisdom, quoted casually, exposes how originality invites slander rather than admiration. In the essay on intellectual superiority, his phrase about the honest man picked out of ten thousand becomes the pivot for Hazlitt's case that to see farther than others is to be treated as a foreign species.

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See William Shakespeare in volume i on the pleasure of painting

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Literary and Artistic Circle
Protagonist
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Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
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Aftermath
Closing

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

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William Shakespeare appears across 11 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

The Same Subject Continued
Described as a genius raised above the definition of genius, with a perfect sympathy for all things; his tragedies and comedies are discussed in relation to focus and multiplicity of talents.
Character of Cobbett
Mentioned in a list of great writers (with Sterne) to illustrate that first-rate talents defy easy classification.
On the Ignorance of the Learned
Cited as an example of an uneducated mind with fresh imagination and natural morality.
On Living to One’s-Self
Mentioned alongside Milton as a figure whose fame is secure only after death, illustrating the fickleness of public opinion.
On Milton's Sonnets
Mentioned critically; Hazlitt finds his sonnets overcharged and monotonous, though admits some are sweet.
On Criticism
Quoted ('such sweet thunder') and alluded to in the discussion of genuine criticism.
On Great and Little Things
Invoked as the creator of ideal women, contrasted with Hazlitt's own preferences.
Why Distant Objects Please
Quoted for the line 'How silver-sweet sound lovers’ tongues by night!' and referenced in the discussion of sound and memory.
On the Disadvantages of Intellectual Superiority
Quoted for the line 'To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.'
On the Knowledge of Character
Mentioned as a genius who produced works almost unconsciously, with little thought of himself or his fame.
On the Picturesque and Ideal
Quoted for the line 'See how the moonlight sleeps upon yon bank' and for Juliet's speech on boundless love.

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See William Shakespeare in volume i on the pleasure of painting