John Dryden Summary

Biography EssayAfter John Donne and John Milton, John Dryden was the greatest English poet of the seventeenth century. After William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, he was the greatest playwright. And he ... Read more

Although better known today for his poetic satires, classical translations, and critical prose, John Dryden was the dominant dramatist of his generation. His twenty-seven plays include farces, comedie... Read more

After John Donne and John Milton, John Dryden was the greatest English poet of the seventeenth century. After William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, he was the greatest playwright. And he has no peer as ... Read more

In the following excerpt, Vieth argues that in his To the Pious Memory of the Accomplisht Young Lady Mrs. Anne Killigrew, Dryden has not written a conventional ode of praise, but created instead an el... Read more

In the following excerpt, Murray uses seventeenth-century music theory to demonstrate how the stanzas in Dryden's Song for St. Cecilia's Day, 1687, conform to classical music modes in or... Read more

In the following brief excerpt, Gardiner reflects on the "political context" of Threnodia Augustalis, observing that Dryden constructs the poem to reassure the English public that far fr... Read more

In this essay, Evans explores the role of the female characters in Dryden's heroic plays The Indian Queen, The Indian Emperor, and Tyrannick Love. Within the relatively large body of critici... Read more