The poetry of Shakespeare was inspiration:
indeed, he is not so much an imitator, as an instrument of nature;
and it is not so just to say that he speaks from her, as that she
speaks through him.
His CHARACTERS are so much nature herself, that it is a sort of
injury to call them by so distant a name as copies of her. Those of
other poets have a constant resemblance, which shows that they
received them from one another, and were but multipliers of the same
image: each picture, like a mock-rainbow, is but the reflection of a
reflection. But every single character in Shakespeare, is as much an
individual, as those in life itself; it is as impossible to find any
two alike; and such, as from their relation or affinity in any
respect appear most to be twins, will, upon comparison, be found
remarkably distinct. To this life and variety of character, we must
add the wonderful preservation of it; which is such throughout his
plays, that had all the speeches been printed without the very names
of the persons, I believe one might have applied them with certainty
to every speaker.'
The object of the volume here offered to the public, is to
illustrate these remarks in a more particular manner by a reference
to each play. A gentleman of the name of Mason, [Footnote: Hazlitt
is here mistaken. The work to which he alludes, 'Remarks on some of
the Characters of Shakespeare, by the Author of Observations on
Modern Gardening', was by Thomas Whately, Under-Secretary of State
under Lord North.
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