In the following excerpt, Burke contends that in Annus Mirabilis, Dryden glorifies the "new" or practical science of his era and in the process, anticipates the advent of the more "materialistic" and "republican" enlightenment that was to dominate the final half of the eighteenth century.

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.

In this essay, Barbeau examines the view that Dryden's heroic plays emphasized ideas over emotion.

In the following excerpt, Profitt asserts that Alexander's Feast should not be assessed simply for its qualities as a musical ode, but also regarded as a pointed "attack" on King William III

In the following excerpt, Gransden suggests that Dryden regarded his poem Religio Laici as a satire in the classical tradition: one that would instruct his audiences rather than criticize or ridicule them.

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 elegy that is both gently mocking and affectionate.

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 order to produce such emotional effects as love, patriotism, and mourning.

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 from being sinister, the transfer of power from the dying Charles II to his brother James was both legitimate and divine.