DOCSLIB.ORG

The Satires of Dryden : Absalom and Achitophel, the Medal, Mac Flecknoe

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Satires of Dryden : Absalom and Achitophel, the Medal, Mac Flecknoe b- THE SATIEES OF DRYDEN. MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO The Satires of Dryden Absalom and Achitophel The Medal, Mac Flecknoe EDITED WITH MEMOIR, INTRODUCTION, AND NOTES BY John Churton Collins EX LB MACMILLAN AND CO., LI ST. MARTIN'S STREET, 1909 First Edition 1897. Reprinted 1903, 1905, 1909. GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD. PREFACE. A GRATEFUL confession of immense indebtedness to the labours of Sir Walter Scott and Mr. W. D. Christie is, and always must be, incumbent on any Editor of the Satires of Dryden. My own indebtedness to them is too great to be specified in detail, and I must there- fore satisfy myself with this general acknowledgment. But if they did much they have also left much to be done. Those who have made Dryden a subject of special study will see that I have contributed some- thing, in addition to what I have derived from those excellent commentators, towards the elucidation of obscure passages, and something also in the way of new illustrations and parallels. With two or three deviations Mr. Christie's text is adopted throughout, and as this edition is designed rather for students of literature and students of history than for those who are interested in textual criticism, I have not thought it necessary either to discuss or mark various readings. Dryden is not a classic in whose style minutiae of this kind are of importance. The notes on the Second Part of Absalom and curtailed it would Achitophel have been designedly ; vi PREFACE. be absurd to suppose that the rubbish of Tate would find critical readers now, but as Tate's contribution is interesting historically it has been reprinted in its entirety, and the historical references have been explained. To prevent possible misunderstanding I ought per- haps to add, that in the Memoir and General Intro- duction I have incorporated, here and there, a few sentences from an article on Dryden contributed by me some years ago to the Quarterly Review. CONTENTS. PAOE PREFACE, - v MEMOIR OF DRYDEN, ...... ix INTRODUCTION TO ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL, - - - xxxiii - - - - ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL, PART I., 1 - ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL, PART II., - - 34 THE MEDAL, ... 68 MAC FLECKNOE, - - - - 84 NOTES, INDEX TO NOTES, - 134 MEMOIR OF DRYDEN. JOHN DRYDEN, one of the most distinguished among poets of the secondary rank, the founder of an im- portant dynasty of English poets, and the father of English criticism, was born at Aldwincle, a village near Oundle in Northamptonshire, on the 9th of August, 1631. His family, though not noble, was eminently respectable. His paternal grandfather, Sir Erasmus Dryden, was a baronet, and through his mother, Mary Pickering, he was at once the great- grandson of one baronet, Sir Gilbert Pickering, and the first cousin of Sir Gijbert's namesake and immediate successor. In the great revolution of the 17th century both the Drydens and the Pickerings were on the side of the Parliament. And when, many years afterwards, Dryden became the champion of the Court Party and the Roman Catholics, he was reminded, with taunts, that one of his uncles had turned the chancel of the church at Canons Ashbey into a barn, and that his father had served as a Committee man. Of his early youth little is known. If the in- scription on the monument erected by his cousin, Mrs. Creed, in Tichmarsh Church be trustworthy, he received the rudiments of his education some- ix x MEMOIR OF DRYDEN. he where in that village. From Tichmarsh passed to Westminster School, probably about 1642. We have now no means of knowing the exact date of his entering Westminster, nor do we know why this the choice was a particular school was selected. But wise one. Richard Busby had, some three years before, succeeded Osbolston in the headmastership. Under Osbolston the school had greatly declined, but it was now, in Busby's hands, rapidly rising to the first place among English schools of that day, and Dryden had the inestimable advantage of being the pupil of a man who was destined to become the king " of English schoolmasters. I have known great num- " bers of his scholars," writes Steele, and am confident I could discover a stranger who had been such with a very little conversation. Those of great parts who have passed through his instruction have such a peculiar readiness of fancy and delicacy of taste as is seldom found in men educated elsewhere, though of equal talents." Among Busby's pupils were the poets Lee, Prior, King, Rowe, Duke, and the learned Edmund Smith, the philosopher Locke, the theologians South and Atterbury, the most illustrious of English financiers, Charles afterwards Earl of Halifax Montagu, ; the poet- the most diplomatist, George Stepney ; accomplished of John Friend the wits physicians, ; and scholars, Robert Friend and Anthony Alsop; the distinguished classical scholar, Mattaire ; while he could boast that eight of his pupils had been raised to the bench, and that no less than sixteen had become bishops. Busby's influence on Dryden was undoubtedly great. He saw and encouraged his peculiar bent. He appears to have MEMOIR OF DRYDEN. x i allowed him to substitute composition in English for composition in Latin and Greek, and he encouraged him to turn portions of Persius and other Roman poets into English verse. Despairing, probably, of ever making him an exact verbal scholar, he was satisfied with enabling him to read Latin, if not Greek, r with accuracy and facility. Dr} den never forgot his obligations to Busby. Thirty years afterwards, when the Westminster boy had become the first poet and the first critic of his age, he dedicated, with exquisite propriety, to his old schoolmaster his translation of the Satire in which Persius records his reverence and grati- tude to Cornutus. From Westminster he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge. He was entered on the 18th of May, 1650; he matriculated in the following July, and on the 2nd of October in the same year he was elected a scholar on the Westminster foundation. Of his life at Cambridge very little is known. Like Milton before him, and like Gray, Wordsworth, and Coleridge after him, he appears to have had no respect for his teachers, and to have taken his edu- cation into his own hands. From independence to rebellion is an easy step, and an entry may still be read in the Conclusion-book at Trinity, which charges him with disobedience to the Vice-Master and with contumacy in taking the punishment inflicted on him. It would seem also from an allusion in a satire of Shadwell's that he got into some scrape for libelling a young nobleman, which, had he not anticipated con- demnation by flight, would have ended in his expulsion from the University. But as this is without corrobora- tion of any kind and rests only on the authority of xii MEMOIR OF DRYDEN. Shadwell, it is now impossible to disengage the little which is probably true in the story from the greater part which is plainly fictitious. How long Dryden remained at Cambridge is uncertain. He took the degree of B.A. in January, 1654. In June of the same year his father died, and on his father's death he succeeded to a small property. Of his movements during the next three years nothing certain is known. It seems clear that he did not return, as Malone and the biographers who have followed Malone have sup- posed, to Cambridge. By the middle of 1657 he had in all probability settled in London. Cromwell was then, though harassed with accumulat- ing difficulties, in the zenith of his power, and Dryden's cousin, Sir Gilbert Pickering, stood high in the Protec- tor's favour. As young Dryden was on friendly terms with Sir Gilbert, who appears to have received him with much kindness, he had good reason for supposing that an opening would soon be found for him. His social and political prospects were indeed far more promising than his prospects as a poet. He was now in his twenty- seventh year. At an age when Aristophanes, Catullus, Lucan, Persius, Milton, Tasso, Shelley, Keats, and in- numerable others, had won immortal fame, he had evinced no symptom of poetic genius; he had proved, on the contrary, that he was ignorant of the very rudiments of his art, that he had still to acquire what all other poets instinctively possess. A few lines to his cousin, Honor, " so middling bad were better," an execrable elegy on Lord Basting's death, and a commendatory poem on his friend Hoddesden's Epigrams immeasurably inferior to what Pope and Kirke White produced at twelve, showed MEMOIR OF DRYDEN. xiii that he had no ear for verse, no command of poetic diction, no sense of poetic taste. The transformation of the author of these poems into the author of Absalom and Achitophel, the Religio Laici, and the Hind and Panther, is one of the most remarkable in the history of literature. Sir Gilbert was not able to do much for his young relative. In September, 1658, Cromwell died, and at the beginning of the following year Dryden published a copy of verses to deplore the event. The Heroic Stanzas on the Death of the Lord Protector inaugurate his this poetical career. His biography from point may be conveniently divided into four epochs. The first ex- tends to the publication of the Essay of Dramatic Poesy in 1668, the second to the appearance of the Spanish Friar in the autumn of 1681, the third to the publica- tion of the Britannia Rediviva in June, 1688, and the fourth to his death in 1700.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • John Dryden and the Late 17Th Century Dramatic Experience Lecture 16 (C) by Asher Ashkar Gohar 1 Credit Hr
    JOHN DRYDEN AND THE LATE 17TH CENTURY DRAMATIC EXPERIENCE LECTURE 16 (C) BY ASHER ASHKAR GOHAR 1 CREDIT HR. JOHN DRYDEN (1631 – 1700) HIS LIFE: John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made England's first Poet Laureate in 1668. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the “Age of Dryden”. The son of a country gentleman, Dryden grew up in the country. When he was 11 years old the Civil War broke out. Both his father’s and mother’s families sided with Parliament against the king, but Dryden’s own sympathies in his youth are unknown. About 1644 Dryden was admitted to Westminster School, where he received a predominantly classical education under the celebrated Richard Busby. His easy and lifelong familiarity with classical literature begun at Westminster later resulted in idiomatic English translations. In 1650 he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. degree in 1654. What Dryden did between leaving the university in 1654 and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 is not known with certainty. In 1659 his contribution to a memorial volume for Oliver Cromwell marked him as a poet worth watching. His “heroic stanzas” were mature, considered, sonorous, and sprinkled with those classical and scientific allusions that characterized his later verse. This kind of public poetry was always one of the things Dryden did best. On December 1, 1663, he married Elizabeth Howard, the youngest daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st earl of Berkshire.
    [Show full text]
  • Summary and Analysis of John Dryden's Poem Absalom And
    Summary and Analysis of John Dryden's poem Absalom and Acidophil M.A. English Sem II by Mr. Amol Mendhe “In pious times,” the poet begins, before religion determined polygamy sinful, one man was not limited to one woman. David, Israel’s king, spread his “Maker’s image” throughout his kingdom. He is married to Michal, and she serves as Israel’s queen, but several women have given birth to “godlike David’s” sons. These sons, however, cannot ascend the throne, as their mothers are not of royal blood. Like King David, King Charles II was notoriously promiscuous and had several mistresses and illegitimate children. Opponents of the monarchy often cited Charles II’s sexual history as a reason to condemn him, but here Dryden implies through David’s exploits that promiscuity was completely accepted in holy, or “pious,” times, and that the modern association between sex and sin is a fabricated product of religious fanaticism. By referring to David as “godlike” and mentioning his “Maker’s image,” Dryden implies that David, and by extension Charles II, are touched by God and, as divine kings, represent God’s image on earth. Of all David’s illegitimate sons, Absalom is the most loved, both by the people and by his father, and David is secretly proud of his famous and very popular son. Absalom has proven himself a hero at war, and he is courageous, handsome, and graceful. Many women love and admire Absalom, but he has chosen Annabel as his wife. Nothing could jeopardize David’s love for Absalom, not even the death of Amnon, which was “just revenge for injured fame.” In the Bible, Absalom murders his half-brother Amnon after he rapes Absalom’s sister.
    [Show full text]
  • Unit-22 the Age of Dryden Unit-23 John Dryden Unit-24 Mac Flecknoe Unit-25 Pope: a Background to an Epistle to Dr
    This course material is designed and developed by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi. OSOU has been permitted to use the material. Master of Arts ENGLISH (MAEG) MEG-01 BRITISH POETRY Block – 5 The Neoclassical poets : Dryden and Pope UNIT-22 THE AGE OF DRYDEN UNIT-23 JOHN DRYDEN UNIT-24 MAC FLECKNOE UNIT-25 POPE: A BACKGROUND TO AN EPISTLE TO DR. ARBUTHNOT UNIT-26 POPE: THE STUDY OF AN EPISTLE TO DR. ARBUTHNOT The Neoclassical Poets UNIT 22 THE AGE OF DRYDEN Structure 22.0 Objectives 22.1 Introduction 22.2 The Social Background of Restoration and Early 18thcentury England 22.2.1 The Court 22.2.2 The Theatre 22.2.3 The Coffee House and the Periodicals 22.2.4 Natural Calamities 22.2.5 Social Change 22.2.6 Learning and Education 22.3 The Intellectual Milieu 22.3.1 Science and Scepticism 22.3.2 Science and Poetry in the Augustan Age 22.4 The Literary Context 22.4.1 The Neo-classical Age 22.4.2 Language 22.4.3 Poetic Diction 22.4.4 Poetry-verse-prose-prose Fiction 22.4.5 The Heroic Couplet 22.4.6 Prose and Prose Fiction 22.4. 7 Literary Criticism 22.5 Religion, Philosophy and Morality 22.5.l Religion and Science 22.5.2 Quakerism 22.5.3 Deism 22.5.4 Mysticism, Methodism, Evangelicalism 22.6 Let Us Sum Up 22.7 Questions 22.8 Important Dates 22.9 Suggested Readings 22.0 OBJECTIVES The objective of these units is to introduce you to the age of John Dryden (1631- 1700) the most important man of letters of Restoration England (1660-1700), and Alexander Pope (1688-17 44).
    [Show full text]
  • Pleasures of the Imagination
    Cambridge University Press 0521824273 - The Cambridge Companion to John Dryden - Edited by Steven N. Zwicker Excerpt More information 1 PLEASURES OF THE IMAGINATION © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521824273 - The Cambridge Companion to John Dryden - Edited by Steven N. Zwicker Excerpt More information 1 STEVEN N. ZWICKER Composing a literary life: introduction John Dryden has come down to us through the exemplary practices of liter- ary editing: a large number of uniform volumes, learnedly prefaced, packed with history and explanatory notes. Who first thought of The Works of John Dryden? Not, I think, the poet himself. During his long writing life Dryden showed little interest in collecting or revising his work; neither he nor appar- ently anyone else kept his manuscripts; and Dryden seldom wrote of, or even seems to have imagined, a coherent and progressive literary career of the kind that was often on Spenser’s or Milton’s mind. Of course, the idea of collected works would have been obvious to Dryden from the humanist editions of classical authors, from The Works of Ben Jonson or the Shakespeare folios, or from collected editions even closer to hand – Cowley, Cleveland, and Suckling. Dryden himself contributed an elegy to John Oldham’s Remains, and he knew too of the CEuvres of Corneille and Racine. His shrewd pub- lisher Jacob Tonson made an effort at such collection in the 1690s, but the sustained impulse to collect “the works” began after Dryden’s death, first with Tonson’s various compilations of poems and plays, then at the end of the eighteenth century with Edmond Malone’s edition of Dryden’s prose.
    [Show full text]
  • Epic to Novel
    EPIC TO NOVEL THOMAS E. MARESCA Epic to Novel OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Copyright® 1974 by the Ohio State University Press All Rights Reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America Portions of the chapter entitled "Dryden11 appeared in the summer 1974 issue ofELH under the title "The Context of Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel." Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Mare sea, Thomas E Epic to Novel Bibliography: p. 1. English fiction — Early modern, 1500-1700 — History and criticism. 2. Epic poetry. English — History and criticism. I. Title. PR769.M3 823\03 74-19109 ISBN 0-8142-0216-0 ISBN 0-8142-0289-6 Original hard-cover edition 3 March 1975 Paperback reprint issued May 1977 FOR DIANE CONTENT S Preface ix Dryden 3 Pope 79 Swift 135 Fielding 181 List of Texts Cited 235 Index 237 PREFACE This book attempts to trace the process by which the novel replaced the epic as the major literary form in English. It explores the hows and whys of this process by an analysis of the subject matter of epic rather than its form or manner; that is, it attempts to find out what post-classical readers understood when they read epic by examination of major commentaries on Virgil's Aeneid from the early Middle Ages through the Renaissance. After that it proceeds to the same goal by close reading of major English literary works that bear a parodic relation to epic. I understand the epic tradition this book talks about as a heterogeneous body of materials growing from a single root, always changing and transforming them­ selves, but changing in ways and directions indicated by their earliest shaping.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion and Satire in Milton's Paradise Lost and Dryden's “Mac
    Interdisciplinary Journal of African & Asian Studies, Vol. 1, No.1, 2015 Religion and Satire in Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dryden’s “Mac Flecknoe” Dr. Mbanefo S. Ogene Department of English Language and Literature Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka [email protected] Abstract Religion can be defined as a belief system in human society which transcends the natural to the spiritual. Much as it is something that one considers oneself bound to, it is a common historical foundation for rivalry. This rivalry has always created room for hostility and division among the affiliated groups, an act which can be referred to as denominationalism. The negative consequences of this concept are many, but favoritism has stood out as it has always given room for preferential treatments and giving of unfair advantages to a person or thing above others. This problem is primitive and does not appeal to the civilized mind. The concept of denominationalism has inspired poets to write in favour of or against one cause or the other, mostly, through the application of such literary technique as satire. Starting from such a seventeenth century English poet, Milton, to a later neo classical poet, Miloton, different categories of satire has been used to criticize denominationalism. This paper studied how the concept of religion inspired the writings of John Milton and John Dryden and their reactions to the problem. Based on the fact that different causes of denominationalism have earlier been identified to include economic gains, political reasons, spiritual problems, culture conflicts, and psychological reasons/complexes, the researcher proffers solution to the problems of denominationalism by drawing the attention of the society that this vice exists and is causing serious challenges to the socio-political institutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Mac Flecknoe Mac Flecknoe (Full Title: Mac Flecknoe; Or, a Satyr Upon the True-Blew-Protestant Poet, T.S.) Is a Verse Mock-Heroic Satire Written by John Dryden
    Mac Flecknoe Mac Flecknoe (full title: Mac Flecknoe; or, A satyr upon the True-Blew-Protestant Poet, T.S.) is a verse mock-heroic satire written by John Dryden. It is a direct attack on Thomas Shadwell, another prominent poet of the time. It opens with the lines: All human things are subject to decay, And when fate summons, monarchs must obey. Written about 1678, but not published until 1682 (see 1682 in poetry), "Mac Flecknoe" is the outcome of a series of disagreements between Thomas Shadwell and Dryden. Their quarrel blossomed from the following disagreements: "1)their different estimates of the genius of Ben Jonson, 2)The preference of Dryden for comedy of wit and repartee and of Shadwell, the chief disciple of Jonson, for humors comedy, 3) A sharp disagreement over the true purpose of comedy, 4) Contention over the value of rhymed plays, and 5) Plagiarism." Shadwell fancied himself heir to Ben Jonson and to the variety of comedy which the latter had commonly written. Shadwell’s poetry was certainly not of the same standard as Jonson’s, and it is possible that Dryden wearied of Shadwell’s argument that Dryden undervalued Jonson. Shadwell and Dryden were separated not only by literary grounds but also by political ones as Shadwell was a Whig, while Dryden was an outspoken supporter of the Stuartmonarchy. The poem illustrates Shadwell as the heir to a kingdom of poetic dullness, represented by his association with Richard Flecknoe, an earlier poet already satirized by Andrew Marvell and disliked by Dryden, although the poet does not use belittling techniques to satirize him.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cambridge Companion to John Dryden - Edited by Steven N
    Cambridge University Press 0521824273 - The Cambridge Companion to John Dryden - Edited by Steven N. Zwicker Frontmatter More information The Cambridge Companion to John Dryden John Dryden, Poet Laureate to Charles II and James II, was one of the great literary figures of the late seventeenth century. This Companion provides a fresh look at Dryden’s tactics and triumphs in negotiating the extraordinary political and cultural revolutions of his time. The newly commissioned essays introduce readers to the full range of his work as a poet, as a writer of innovative plays and operas, as a purveyor of contemporary notions of empire, and most of all as a man intimate with the opportunities of aristocratic patronage as well as the emerging market for literary gossip, slander and polemic. Dryden’s works are examined in the context of seventeenth-century politics, publishing and ideas of authorship. A valuable resource for students and scholars, the Companion includes a full chronology of Dryden’s life and works and a detailed guide to further reading. steven n. zwicker is Stanley Elkin Professor of Humanities at Washington University, St. Louis and Professor of English. He is the editor of The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1650–1740 (Cambridge, 1998), Reading, Society, and Politics in Early Modern England, ed. with Kevin Sharpe (Cambridge, 2003), John Dryden: Selected Poems (2001), Refiguring Revolu- tions, ed. with Kevin Sharpe (1998), Lines of Authority (1993), Politics of Dis- course, ed. with Kevin Sharpe (1987) and Politics and Language in Dryden’s Poetry (1984). © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 0521824273 - The Cambridge Companion to John Dryden - Edited by Steven N.
    [Show full text]
  • International Journal of Education and Science Research Review E-ISSN 2348-6457 Volume-II, Issue-6 December- 2015 Email- [email protected]
    International Journal of Education and Science Research Review E-ISSN 2348-6457 Volume-II, Issue-6 December- 2015 www.ijesrr.org Email- [email protected] Assimilation of Mythical and Political Issues in Absalom and Achitophel Ms Kiran Bala Assistant Professor Department of English Satyawati College Delhi University, Delhi ABSTRACT: Absalom and Achitopel is a landmark political satire by John Dryden. The poem exists in two parts, the first part, of 1681 is undoubtedly by Dryden and IInd part of 1682 was written by another hand, most likley Nahum Tate, except for a few pages including attack on Thomas Shadwell and Elkanah settle expressed og and doeg that Dryden wrote himself. The poem is an allegory that uses the story of the rebellion of Absalom against king David as the basis for discussion of the background to the Popish Plot (1678), the exclusion crises (1679-1681), and the Monmouth Robellion (1685). John Dryden claimed that Absalom and Achitophel was carefully planned to promote political reform. To gain this end, Dryden used satire, the true aim of which he defined as "the amendment of vices by correction". The particular vices he wanted to correct were those of whigs of his day, who were seeking to secure the succession of the duke of Monmouth, illegitimate son of Charles II, to his father's throne. Second realizing that direct satire might defeat its purpose by incurring resentment, Dryden choose to attack the Whigs by casting them as characters in the biblical story of Absalom revolt against David. Third to increase his satire's effectiveness, he cast it in heroice couplet "for their sweetness in good verse, which tickles even while it hurts, and no man can be heartily angry with him who pleases him against his will".
    [Show full text]
  • UNIT 7 JOHN DRYDEN:MAC FLECKNOE John Dryden: Mac Flecknoe
    UNIT 7 JOHN DRYDEN:MAC FLECKNOE John Dryden: Mac Flecknoe Structure 7.0 Objectives 7.1 Introduction 7.2 JOHN DRYDEN (1631-1700) 7.3 MAC FLECKNOE (1682) 7.4 Let Us Sum Up 7.5 Suggested Reading 7.6 Answers to Self-Check Exercises 7.0 OBJECTIVES Our aim in this unit is to examine John Dryden’s poem Mac Flecknoe,a poem which goes beyond critical sniping to a rage at the deathliness of human stupidity. This unit will also discuss briefly the biographical and historical background of John Dryden, the poet. Our intention in this unit is also to show how far whatever Dryden wrote was almost automatically suggested by events in his contemporary life. 7.1 INTRODUCTION This unit will briefly introduce the poet John Dryden, paying special attention to the manner in which his writings were generally conditioned by the historic events of his society. As you already know, John Dryden was appointed Poet Laureate in 1668 and Histriographer Royal in 1670. But on the accession of James II to the English throne, Dryden became a Catholic, and refusing to abandon his new faith after 1688, he was stripped of the Laureateship and other royal appointments. So this unit will highlight the criss-cross of attractions and revulsions that gradually emerged in John Dryden, the man and the poet. This unit will then go on to examine John Dryden’s MacFlecknoe(1682) through relevant extracts and see how the poem defines by negatives and discrepencies, undoes epic pretensions by playing with the mock-heroic and lets dullness express itself.
    [Show full text]
  • POLITICS and PROVIDENCE: JOHN DRYDEN's Absalom and Achitophel
    POLITICS AND PROVIDENCE: JOHN DRYDEN'S Absalom and Achitophel By MICHAEL J. CONLON A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THB DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 1969 r For Phyllis, Sean, and Margaret ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my particular appreciation for the research materials made available to me through the Graduate Council of the University of Florida, its chairman, Dean Linton E. Grinter, and the Special Collections Department of the Graduate Research Library, and its director. Miss Laura Monti. Tliree of my felloxr/ students, Mr. John D. Canfield, Mr. John Schwindt, and Mr. Larry P. Vonalt, gave criti- cism and encouragement to me; and Mrs. Patricia B. Rarobo patiently prepared the final copy. I feel especially fortunate in the help I have received from the members of my supervisory committee. Professor Harold Wilson shared with me his knowledge of English history, while the discussions I have had with Professor Robert Bowers helped in several ways to form my thinking about John Drydcn's poetry. The chairman of my committee, Professor Aubrey Williams, has extended countless kindnesses to me. He first brought me to face this dissertation, and by his just precept and scholarly example he enabled me to finish it. Finally, for the love of my wife and children, who have endured the dissertation far too long and suffered its author even longer, I am very grateful; and to them I dedicate it. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments iii Introduction 1 Notes 8 I - The Kingdom 10 Notes 45 II - The Kingship 54 Notes 80 III - The King's Word 84 Notes 112 Cone lusion 118 Notes 121 Works Cited 122 Biographical Sketch 130 iv INTRODUCTION In 1669 the French ambassador to the court of Charles II dis- patched this appraisal of England's new government to Louis XIV: "If Aristotle, who attempted to define the smallest things pertain- ing to politics, were to come again to this world, he could not find words to explain the manner of this government.
    [Show full text]
  • Block-1-Unit-1.Pmd
    JOHN DRYDEN : MAC FLECKNOE UNIT 3 MAC FLECKNOE: SUMMARY AND EXPLANATIONS Structure 3.0 Objectives 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Summary of the Poem 3.3 Explanations 3.4 Let Us Sum Up 3.5 Answers to Check Your Progress 3.6 Unit End Questions 3.7 Suggested Reading 3.0 OBJECTIVES In this unit you will read a detailed summary of the poem, Mac Flecknoe. This will be followed by explanations to help you understand the poem better. By the end of this unit, you should be able to relate the characters and theme to real life settings and people of that time, and have a clear idea of what Dryden wanted to convey. You will also understand how the satire is successful in ridiculing while using the elevated form of the epic with characters and situations that clearly do not deserve to be treated in an epic fashion. 3.1 INTRODUCTION A reading of the poem with all its various references and the treatment of the whole will make us agree with T.S. Eliot in whose view the poem was ‘the piece of Dryden which is most fun, which is the most sustained display of surprise of wit from line to line.’ Satire became poetic in Dryden’s society, because poetry was adequately social, and society was sufficiently literary. The Restoration of 1660 not only changed sensibility but also divided society into Whig and Tory. The class-cleavage was felt as political rather than economic and the divorce between religion and politics was not yet complete. All this is illustrated in Mac Flecknoe.
    [Show full text]