Philological Quarterly, March 22nd, 1997
The poet John Dryden used Giovanni Battista della Porta's explanation of physiognomy, the study of perceiving people's characters through their physical features, to help the readers of 'Absalom and Achitophel' recognize how humanity's foolish and corrupt actions recur throughout history. The characters' bodies and movements betray their personalities, histories, and futures. Dryden's experimentation with the relationship between pictures and poetry is strongest in 'Absalom and Achitophel.'
Unlike the rest of us, poets may choose their forebears. In his literary criticism, Dryden self-conscio...
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