“Mac Flecknoe” by John Dryden Critic, playwright, poet, and translator, John Dryden (1631-1700) so dominated the literary scene of the later seventeenth century that it is often referred to as “the Age of Dryden.” Dryden...

Mac Flecknoe is a verse mock-heroic satire written by John Dryden. Written after the English Restoration, when King Charles II came to power, Mac Flecknoe is full of satire and criticism. It is a direct attack on Thomas Shadwell, another prominent poet...

In the following excerpt, Kingsley asserts that Dryden 's intention in writing Mac Flecknoe was to warn England against the cultural, moral, and political "chaos" that was being created by irresponsible and sloppy writers.