John Dryden Biography
John Dryden
Life and Works –
John Dryden was born in 1631 in Northamptonshire. His father Rev. Eresmus Dryden and mother Mary Pickering belonged to old country families with strong Puritan tendencies. Very little is known about the poet’s boyhood. His early schooling was very solid as is clear from the fact that he had read an English translation of the works of the Greek historian Polybius before he was ten years of age. He was educated in the Westminster School under the guidance of the famous headmaster Dr. Busby. There he received excellent classical education which is continually in evidence throughout his literary work. He made his first attempt at verse-making at Westminster when he wrote an elegy in the memory of a school fellow. Then he joined Trinity College, Cambridge in 1650. He left Cambridge in 1657 and came to London as secretary to Sir Gilbert Pickering, a kinsman of his mother. In 1664 he married lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the Earl of Berkshire. The marriage brought to him £ 100 a year but the lady was a woman of weak mind and violent temper. From 1663 to 1681 he earned his livelihood by writing numerous plays. He knew that his genius lay in poetry and not in drama, but still he wrote plays because in those days it was the most lucrative branch of literary profession. In 1670 he was appointed Poet Laureate and Historiographer Royal which brought to him pensions of £ 200 a year.
Politically, he was at first, on the side of Cromwell and when he died in 1658, Dryden wrote monody on his death. But two years later, he switched his allegiance to Charles II. Similarly in religious matters, he first upheld the Church of England, but when in 1685 James ll.succeeded the British throne, he accepted Roman Catholicism. After Revolution in 1688 when William and Mary came to the throne and Protestantism was triumphant, Dryden fell on evil days. He lost his Poet laureateship and the post of Historiographer Royal. Dryden died on May 1, 1700 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
He wrote numerous plays such as The Wild Gallant (1663), The Rival Ladies (1663), The Indian Emperor (1665), Tyrannick Love (1669). The Conquest of Granade (1669-70) and Aureng-zebe (1675). All these are heroic plays. He wrote a famous drama “All for Love” in 1678 which is a blankverse tragedy. Among his prose works the most important is An essay on Dramatick Poerie (1668). Dryden returned to poetry and wrote his well known political satire, Abralom and Achitophel. In 1687 he wrote The Hind and the Panther. He also wrote his famous song for St. Cecilia’s Day.
Poem. Absalom and Achitophel (Lines 150 – 197)
Summary –
It is a satirical poem in heroic couplets written by John Dryden. It was published in 1681. The poem deals in allegorical form with the attempt by Lord Shaftesbury’s party to exclude the Duke of York from the succession to the throne of England and to set the Duke of Manmouth in his place. It was written at the time when Shaftesbury’s success or failure hung in balance, and was designed to influence the issue by showing, under their scriptural disguise, the true characters of the various political leaders involved. Chief among these are Manmuth who is depicted in the peom as Absalom, Shaftesbury as Achitophel, and King Charles Il as David.
King Charles II married Catherine of Braganza in May 1662 but the couple remained childless even after seventeen years of marriage. Therefore, the question of succession came into prominance, and the crown was likely to revert to James the King’s own brother and Duke of York. The whigs led by Shaftesbury did not like James who was a Catholic. They were in favour of Duke of Manmouth who was an illegitimate son of the King. Dryden who was a royalist considered Shaftesbury to be an opportunist and a manipulator. By the year 1681 the tide turned against the whigs as the House of Lords rejected the Exclusion Bill (meant to prevent James from succeeding the throne), and Charles dissolved the Parliament. Shaftesbury was arrested and was to be tried for treason. It was fifteen days before the commencement of his trial that Dryden published his satire “Absalom and Achitophel” (on Nov. 9, 1681). Later on, Shaftesbury was acquitted and he fled to Holland where he died in 1683 and the Duke of Monmouth went into hiding and in 1685 led a revolt against James II and was defeated and executed.
In the present poem, the false character of Shaftesbury has been highlighted. He misguided Monmouth to rebel against his own father. Dryden describes this situation with the help of a Biblical story of Absalom and Achitophel. Just as in the Biblical story Achitophel instigated Absalom to revolt against his own father King David, here in this case Shaftesbury instigated Monmouth to rise in rebellion against his father King Charles. In the Biblical story, Achitophel, in utter frustration, hanged himself and Absalom was caught and killed, and in this political scene Shaftesbury fled to Holland where he died in 1683 and the Duke of Monmouth was defeated and executed in 1685.
Important Links
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