John Dryden Dramatic Poesy example essay topic

Quarrel of the Moderns and the Ancients " Those beauties of the French poesy are such as will raise perfection higher where it is, but are not sufficient to give it where it is not: they are indeed the beauties of a statue but not of a man" (Poesy Abridged). Dryden wrote this essay as a dramatic dialogue with four characters representing four critical positions. The four critical positions are ancients verses moderns, unities, French verses English drama, separation of tragedy and comedy verses tragicomedy and appropriateness of rhyme in drama (Brysons). Neander is in favor of the moderns but he respects the ancients, he also favors English drama while having critical views towards French drama.

In "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy" Dryden used character to represent four critical positions, but he cleverly disguised himself as one of them Throughout Dryden's "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy" Neander is believed to represent Dryden's point of view on the different critical issues discussed. Living from 1631 to 1700 John Dryden was the leading literary figure of the Restoration ("John Dryden" Encarta). Dryden was an accomplished poet, playwright and critic. Speaking English, Latin and Greek Dryden was also a successful translator. Writing "Heroic Stanzas", a poem commemorating the death of Cromwell, Dryden secured a place in London's literary circles. After converting to Christianity under the Christian rule of James II, Dryden was appointed poet laureate where he later lost the title under the Protestant rule of William and Mary (Selected Poetry).

John Dryden was a neoclassic critic who's criticisms deal with issues of form and morality in drama (Brysons). Discussing four critical positions in his essay "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy" Dryden uses four characters: Eugenius, Crites, Lisideius, and Neander. Neander is believed to portray the beliefs of Dryden while Lisideius and Crites are believed to have the reciprocal beliefs. Eugenius shares the view of favoring the moderns over the ancients, but the essay does not discuss whether Eugenius also shares Neander's views on French and English drama (Brysons).

In his essay, Dryden writes very positively of Shakespeare who was a modern English dramatist: TO BEGIN, THEN, WITH SHAKESPEARE. He was the man who, of all the modern and per-has ancient poets, had the largest and most comprehensive soul. All the images of nature were still present to him, and he drew them, not laboriously, but luckily; when he describes anything, you more than see it, you feel it, too. (Literature- The Reader's Choice 507) Dryden then goes on to talk about the superiority of the English language used in their plays: I am apt to believe the English language in them arrived to its highest perfection; what words have since been taken in are rather superfluous than ornamental. Their plays are now the most pleasant and frequent enter- tain ments of the stage, two of theirs being acted through the year for one of Shakespeare's or Jonson's. (Literature- The Reader's Choice 508-509) Eugenius shares one critical position with Neander, Eugenius favors the moderns over the ancients.

Eugenius believes that the moderns are better than the ancients because the moderns learned from the ancients mistakes. Crites has an opposite position of Neander by arguing in favor of the ancients because Crites says that established the unities. Crites objects to rhyme in plays: "since no man without premeditation speaks in rhyme, neither ought he to do it on stage". Neander believes rhyme in plays is better because "verse is so tedious". Lisideius is believed to have the antithesis to Neander's position on the critical positions. Lisideius argues that French drama is superior to English drama, and Lisideius also favors the ancients.

Lisideius says "no theater in the world has anything so absurd as the English tragicomedy... in two hours and a half, we run through all the fits of Bedlam" (Brysons). Neander goes on to criticize French drama for its "smallness". Neander uses examples for his English drama preference by saying "Shakespeare had the largest and most comprehensive soul, while Jonson was the most learned and judicious writer which any theater ever had" (Brysons). Dryden thought he was "slow and dull" in conversation, but he authored "some of the most biting satires of his age" (Literature- The Reader's Choice 505). In "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy" Dryden used character to represent four critical positions, but he cleverly disguised himself as one of them. John Dryden shows a lot of similarities to Neander in "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy".

Dryden and Neander have the same stance on all of the critical positions brought up in the essay to further bolster the argument that Neander is symbolizing Dryden in the essay.

Bibliography

Dryden- An Essay of Dramatic Poesy". Online. March 15, 2004.
Available: web "Dryden, Essay of Dramatic Poesy (abridged)". Online. March 15, 2004.
Available: web abridged. html. Dryden, John. An Essay of Dramatic Poesy. Literature- The Reader's Choice. Eds. Beverly Ann Chin et al. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2002.
504-510". John Dryden". Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2004 CD-Rom.
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Selected Poetry of John Dryden (1631-1700)". Online. March 15, 2004.