Metaphor As a Structural Principle and a Vehicle of Social Criticism in Essays by Lamb and Hazlitt‪.‬

The essays of Charles Lamb and William Hazlitt contain many metaphors, similes, and poetic images that emphasize and develop important ideas, serve as a structural principle in paragraphs and entire pieces, and often imply criticism of the writers' society. At the same time, their metaphors involve readers in the active process of creating imaginative literature. Snowballs of images capture the readers' attention and force readers to consider a topic from different angles. Lamb and Hazlitt were influenced by the literary theory of Aristotle, the New Rhetoric Movement of the eighteenth century, and contemporaries like Coleridge and Wordsworth. In works like The Essays of Elia and Table Talk, Lamb and Hazlitt experiment with language and structure to push their audience to re-examine assumptions and to re-evaluate society. **********