Romantic
Charles Lamb
1775 – 1834
British essayist, poet, antiquarian (1775–1834)
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- British
- Romanticism
About
Charles Lamb was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his Essays of Elia and for the children's book Tales from Shakespeare, co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764–1847).
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Portrait by After Henry Hoppner Meyer (Public domain) via Wikimedia Commons.
Life on the Timeline
Major Works
Exam Dossier
Most-asked topics
- Essays of Elia and Last Essays of Elia
- the persona and pseudonym 'Elia'
- Tales from Shakspeare (with Mary Lamb)
- the familiar/personal essay tradition
- Lamb's biography: Christ's Hospital, Coleridge friendship, Mary Lamb tragedy
- Lamb's clerkship at South Sea House and East India House
- humour, nostalgia and pathos in Lamb's prose style
- Lamb as Romantic-era prose writer vs. Romantic poets
Previous-year themes
- Lamb's place in the familiar essay tradition and comparison with Addison, Steele, and Hazlitt
- the significance of the pseudonym 'Elia' in Lamb's essays
- authorship division in Tales from Shakspeare between Charles and Mary Lamb
- autobiographical and confessional elements in Essays of Elia
- Lamb's essay style: blend of humour, whimsy, and pathos
- identification of famous essays and their opening/closing lines
- Lamb's friendship circle within English Romanticism (Coleridge, Wordsworth, Hazlitt)
Common confusions
- Confusing Charles Lamb with his contemporary essayist William Hazlitt -- both were familiar essayists in the same circle but with distinct styles (Lamb whimsical and nostalgic, Hazlitt combative and analytical).
- Treating 'Elia' as a real historical person rather than recognising it as Lamb's borrowed pseudonym.
- Reversing the authorship split in Tales from Shakspeare -- Charles wrote the tragedies, Mary wrote the comedies, not the other way round.
- Mixing up the dates of Essays of Elia (1823) and Last Essays of Elia (1833).
- Assuming Lamb's comic essays like 'A Dissertation upon Roast Pig' are literal autobiography rather than playful, semi-fictional mock-treatises.
- Classing Lamb simply as a 'Romantic poet' when he is chiefly significant as a Romantic-era prose essayist, though he also wrote some poetry.
Memory tricks
'Elia' = alias -- remember it as Lamb's borrowed pen name, not a real person.
'Mary is merry' -- Mary Lamb wrote the comedies in Tales from Shakspeare; Charles took the tragedies.
1823 Essays of Elia, add a decade for 1833 Last Essays of Elia.
'C' for Christ's Hospital and Coleridge -- the school where Lamb met his lifelong friend.
South Sea House, then East India House -- Lamb the lifelong clerk, echoed in 'The Superannuated Man'.
'Borrow and lend' -- the opening line of 'The Two Races of Men' sums up Lamb's gift for turning everyday human types into essay material.
