John Dryden August 1631 1 May 1700 Happened

John Dryden August 1631 – 1 May 1700

Ø Happened on September 1666 • It was the second tragedy to hit the city in the space of 12 months after the Plague • The Great Fire of London left a far greater mark on the city when compared to the plague • The Damages • The positive & negative effects - Ø Happened in 1665 - 1666 • • • Killed 100, 000 people It was one of the last widespread outbreaks in England The Main Cause The Great Plague in Poetry The Great Fire of London executed the plague Dania Alqahtani

• In the age two different directions. • The age is also known the Neoclassical period. • Classical literature as natural. The Neoclassical "ideals of order, logic, restraint, accuracy, 'correctness, ' decorum, . . . would enable the practitioners of various arts to imitate or reproduce the structures or themes of Greek or Roman originals" (Victorian Web). Alexander Pope furthers this idea as he says "Learn hence for ancient rules a just esteem; To copy Nature is to copy them" (Essay on Criticism). Bashayr Aldossry

• Dryden may properly be considered as the father of English criticism'. • Dryden was the first critic to define, by practice rather than by precept, what were the important things to talk about. • Dryden puts the issues squarely before us in order stimulates our thoughts to make up our own minds. • Dryden was always eager to pay tribute to his giant predecessors. • Dryden who first declared that Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, as towering figures. • Dryden performed an inestimable service to his countrymen in applying true standards of criticism to the Elizabethans Shaikah

Poetic style At the age of Dryden , there was an emphasis placed on the "particular rather than the general", "observable facts rather than principles", and "experience rather than rational speculation. " Thus, What he achieved in his poetry was not the emotional excitement we find in the Romantic poets of the early nineteenth century, nor the intellectual complexities of the metaphysical poets. His subject-matter was often factual, and he aimed at expressing his thoughts in the most precise and concentrated way possible. Boshra Bamgabl

John Dryden : a master of the heroic dramatists. By Mohammad Shahidul Islam Dryden's place among authors is due partly to his great influence on the succeeding age. Briefly, this influence may be summed up by three new elements which he brought into our English literature: the establishment of the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry; his development of a direct, serviceable prose style such as we still cultivate; and his development of the art of literary criticism in his essays and in the numerous prefaces to his poems. ” A man is to be cheated into passion , but to be reasoned into truth “ Boshra Ba -mgabl

“An Essay of Dramatic Poesy” • • • Dryden’s ideas. Form of dialogue. The characters. English vs. French drama. The use of rhyme. Crites Eugenius Lisideius Neander • Develops the main points in defending the ancients and the objections to modern plays. • Takes the side • French is the best of all Europe because they follow the unities. • Favors the moderns, respects the ancients. • Beauty of their rhyme. • Comparison of French and English drama. • Ben Johnson. • Shakespeare and Fletcher of the modern English dramatists by criticizing the faults of the classical • The three unities. playwright. Deemah Alshareef

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