John Dryden
(1631-1700)
Things to Consider:
Political Allegiances
Literary Reputation and the Poet Laureate
Use of Satire
Terms to Know:
poet laureate (1056)
satire (1056)
mock-heroic (1057)
heroic couplet (1057)
"comedy of humors" (1082)
burlesque (*)
caricature (*)
grotesque (*)
mock-epic (1082)
tautology (1083)
iambics (1088)
anagram (1088)
acrostic (1088)
Discussion Questions:
105
6:
Describe Dryden's political allegiances.
Explain: "Dryden is the least personal of poets" (
105
6).
105
7:
In what way, according to the editors, does the Anglican church represent a "middle way" for Dryden?
Why did Dryden lose his government positions?
What are heroic couplets?
"Mac Flecknoe" (ca. 1679, 1682)
1082:
What is the occasion for this poem?
1083:
Why, according to the speaker, is Shadwell a fit successor to Flecknoe?
Explain: "Sh--'s genuine night admits no ray,/ His rising fogs prevail upon the day" (23-24).
1084:
Explain the significance of the phrase "anointed dullness" (63).
1088:
Explain the significance of the final seven lines.
Other Discussion Questions:
1057:
According to the editors, what was Dryden's "foremost achievement" (1057)?
Explain: "Augustan style is at its best in his poems" (1057).
1082:
Who is Richard Flecknoe?
1083
:
Explain: "Heywood and Shirley were but types of thee" (29) (see also fn 4).
1084
:
Describe Augusta.
What has happened to Barbican?
1085:
Describe the significance of the location of Shadwell's throne (see fn 7).
What are the "scattered limbs of mangled poets" (99)?
What are "relics of the bum" (101)?
1085-86:
Explain the comparison of Shadwell to Ascanius. (see also fn 2 on 1086).
1086:
Describe the symbols of Shadwell's supposed monarchy. (see also fn 5).
1087:
Explain: "But let no alien S--dl--y interpose,/To lard with wit thy hungry
Epsom
prose" (163-64).
1088:
Explain the references to iambics and anagrams (203-4).
