John Dryden and the social and literary background of his time

John Dryden (1631-1700), the leading poet of the Restoration Age, was born in Aldwincle, a village near Oundle in Northampton County. His paternal grandfather named Sir Eramus Dryden was a baronet and his mother was Lady Pickering, a first cousin of Sir Gilbert Pickering. He received his primary education at the neighboring Tichmarsh village school. From Tichmarsh, he went to Westminster school about the year 1642. From Westminster, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1650. He was close to Sir Robert Howard, that friendship brought about his marriage to Lady Elizabeth in 1663, the daughter of his but the marriage turned out unhappy friend.

Without a doubt, he was an original and demanding critic. Dr. Johnson called him “the father of English criticism.” Also, he was the founder of the modern prose style. He was a noted poet and playwright. In his day, there were so many minor literary critics with his erratic work, but the major contemporaries with significant work were Thomas Rhymer, John Dennis, and Jeremy Collier. It would be better to discuss the social and literary background of his time (1660-1700).

A. Social Background:

The Age of Dryden begins with the Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660 until the poet’s death in 1700. It will not be an exaggeration to say that he was the dominant literary figure who represented the period very well. His time was deeply influenced by the three historical events: the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the religious and political controversies and the papist plot, and the Golden Revolution of the year 1688. As for the Restoration of Charles II, it is about increasing of corruption, etc. A backlash against Puritan restrictions was necessary. All the values ​​of society, what the Puritan had prevailed, were violated. The king was very rare he had a series of lovers and illegitimate children. He was irresponsible and unpatriotic who always opposed his promises, broke his treaty with the Dutch and his own ministers and betrayed his country. His court was dishonorable and Parliament passed the bills against church and state with a thirst for revenge from those connected with Cromwell’s Puritan government. The House of Lords increased with the creation of hereditary titles, profaned men and shameless women. Even the judiciary wasn’t sure.

In this era, the unrest in the field of religious and political parties was very vivid. There were the two central political parties, the Whigs and the Tories. They divided the atmosphere of the country with their touch. The Whigs were in favor of limiting royal power in the interest of the nation and parliament, while the Conservatives were different and supported the theory of the “divine right” of kings. Both parts proved fruitful for men of literary ability. They chased support and bribed them with places and pensions. The writers of the time were not free from political bias and competition.

Religious conflict or prejudice was more bitter. The nation was predominantly Protestant and Catholics worked under a number of disabilities. They had to pay higher taxes and were not allowed to hold any office under the Crown. Such hatred for Catholics was a great theme of the writing of that time.

Apart from that, at this time comes the papist plot because the king was very weak in the field of religion but his brother was a Roman Catholic. Carlos II had no legitimate son or heir to the throne. After him, his brother James would sit on the throne. The plot was made to exclude him from the throne and create the atmosphere to seat the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II. This controversy was called a papist plot by Titus Oates. Shaftsbury made several attempts to exclude James, but the king supported his brother and the way was opened for James’ accession. Dryden’s famous poem Absalam and Achitophel reflects or interprets these religious or political controversies or prejudices of the time.

Jaime II ascended the throne in 1685. He had several plots and under them he tried to establish Catholicism in the country. Such misrule made him quite unpopular in his country in a short time. In reaction, the nation opposed him and the Bloodless Revolution of 1688 returned the country to a pleasant and healthy environment after suffering from immorality and corruption that had been present since the Restoration. James was exiled and the Protestants William and Mary sat on the throne.

B. Literary Background:

In literature, this school of criticism is called neoclassical, pseudoclassical, or the Augustan age. At this time, the literati began to imitate the French writers. It was blind imitation that led them to copy the worst works instead of using their ingenuity. So it was just a copy. They call it the Augustan Age because the writers of the time considered their time to be as glorious as the time of King Augustus Caesar of Rome. That era produced such brilliant literary figures as Horace, Virgil, Longinus, and Quintilian. Whereas, in this pseudo-classical era, John Dryden was a dominant figure, hence it is called the Age of Dryden.

The rise of neoclassicism broke the chains of Puritanism. Post-Restoration literature was from the Elizabethan era, while neoclassical literature was opposed to Elizabethan romanticism. Before Dryden, Sir Philip Sidney and Ben Jonson were two great poets of the Elizabethan age. After Ben Jonson, literary activity in England suffered greatly. Between Ben Jonson and John Dryden hardly any major criticism is found due to religious and social controversies. The Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660 penetrated a favorable environment with French influence that supplanted the sensual and romantic Italian influence. Charles II and the other men of letters were under this influence because they had spent most of their time in France. On their return to England, they brought a new gale of French literature, which renounced old ideals and standards. They demanded English poetry in the new style. The Italian influence was lost and the literati began to blindly imitate the French writers. So they copied the worst work instead of using their wits. The influence of French comedy is seen in the awkwardness and indecency of The Restoration Comedy of Manners of Dryden, Wycherley and Congreve. The mutual influence of the French and classical tragic models is manifested in a new genre, the heroic tragedy. It is well represented by Dryden’s ‘Tyrannic Love’. This influence is also responsible for the growth of opera in Restoration England.

This reaction ran counter to romantic leanings and heavily favored realism. In the case of realism, its conception was very bad. Early Restoration writers painted realistic pictures of a corrupt court and society. His emphasis was on the vices rather than the virtues and he produced crude and base works without interest or moral meaning. Later the interest of writers in the study of the practical motives that governed human actions changed and increased. It cannot be contradicted from this statement that it was the reaction against the extravagances of both the Elizabethans and the metaphysicians. John Donne is a metaphysical poet and his followers liked a revolt for order, balance and sanity in literature. They used unlimited hyperboles, similes, metaphors, and exaggerated and violent concepts. This reaction supported the trend toward directness, simplicity, and expression. Writers of earlier times liked to use whimsy in thought and language. The awards were enriched with classic quotes and references. Restoration writers objected and made rules and said goodbye to romantic fantasy. So the emphasis was on propriety and decorum. Correctness means encouraging moderately expressed moderate opinions. Decorum consisted in following the rules of the ancients as interpreted by the French. Dryden clearly marked this new trend, and under his influence writers developed that formalism of style which was erroneously called classicism.

At this time the growth of scientific, religious and political controversies was found. They all gave birth to prose. Arnold says: “The Restoration marks the real moment of the birth of our modern English prose.” Earlier writers were erratic and their work overloaded with classic allusions and quotations. In truth, Elizabethan prose was not suitable for telling a simple story. Bacon’s epigrammatic style and Milton’s bombastic prose could hardly be suited to scientific, historical, political, and philosophical writing, or to the writing of novels. The spirit of this new type of prose developed and Dryden was the main leader. His work ‘Dramatic Poetry’ introduced a new model of prose that was completely different from the prose of earlier times. He wrote in a straightforward, simple but precise style, free from exaggeration. The other writers were also influenced by him and also helped to develop the new prose style by their own individual advancement. It was quite free from monotony.

Prose was the eminent style or weapon of this age. Even the poetry of this time was also prosaic and was used for narrative, satirical or didactic purposes. Poetry was intended for persuasion but not inspiration. It was the favorable style of narrating controversies that caused the growth of satire. The best poetry of this eon is satirical. Dryden’s ‘Absalom and Ahithophel’ is one of the best-known political satires. In this satire, Dryden defends the king from the Earl of Shaftesbury, represented as Ahithophel. His other work ‘Mac Flecknoe’ is an example of personal satire. It also contains a scathing personal attack on Thomas Shadwell, who was once a friend of Dryden’s. ‘The Rehearsal’ depicts the literary vices of the time and is the first literary satire in English literature. His other two poems ‘Religio laici’ and ‘La cierva y la pantera’ are theological and controversial.

The other contribution to this era was the growth and perfection of the heroic couplet. Chaucer used it but insisted on the thought or notion. Where as the writers of the Restoration gave importance to the form. Waller and Dryden used it in a literary style. The verse became “Closed”. His couple of lines showed complete thought and was expressed as accurately as possible. Thus it became the order of the day and all other forms of versification were expelled. The dominion lasted a single century and later its freshness was extinguished.

Such controversies greatly disturbed the time but added great help in the case of literature. It also showed that John Dryden was an exponent of this neoclassicism and Bunyan working as John Milton was also appreciated. He brought novelty and expelled the monotony of literature.