The Works of John Dryden, Volume XVII: Prose, 1668-1691: An essay of Dramatick Poesie and Shorter Works [Hardcover]

John Dryden (Author), Samuel H. Monk (Editor), A.E. Wallace Maurer (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1972 | Series: Works of John Dryden

This collection of prose writing from the pen of Dryden dates from 1668 to 1691, and contains work that the editors describe as "a sampler of Dryden as biographer-historian, political commentator, religious controversialist, literary polemicist, literary theorist, and practical critic. Among the works contained here is his "Essay of Dramatick Poesie."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 535 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (January 1, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520018141
• ISBN-13: 978-0520018143
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,925,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Dryden Sets up a Straw Man to Defend Poetry, August 17, 2009

By 

Martin Asiner "Adjunct College Instructor" (Jersey City, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Works of John Dryden, Volume XVII: Prose, 1668-1691: An essay of Dramatick Poesie and Shorter Works (Hardcover)

An Essay of Dramatic Poesie arose from several conflicting undercurrents within Dryden's mind. His determination to uphold the legitimacy of English theater against what he saw as an unfair encroachment by French playwrights originated from the years that Charles II spent in France prior to his return to England as king. Although Charles was clearly British in culture, he had nevertheless been profoundly influenced by his enforced sojourn in France. Charles had learned French, had witnessed much French drama, and had read copiously in French verse. The acclaimed French playwright Corneille was one of his favorites and Dryden feared that Charles might favor him over English dramatists. It seemed reasonable to Dryden that he had to "stand up" for native drama.

With the re-opening of the theaters in 1660, drama was once again openly in fashion. With the publication of this essay in 1666, Dryden had to contribute to the decision that would decide the future of British playwriting. There were some clear differences in the style and form of drama as Dryden makes abundantly clear in his extended dialogues between Crites and Neander. Further, contemporary audiences had learned to appreciate a form of drama that was at variance not only with competing French models but also with classical models. When Dryden discusses the accomplishments of English playwrights like Fletcher, Jonson, and Shakespeare, he gives a fair and balanced assessment of each.

Dryden's audience had also learned to appreciate reading about and seeing references to current events in literature and on the stage, hence his framing sequence of a sea battle with Holland that commences this essay. Dryden had previously written his support for dramatic rhyme in his preface to The Rival Ladies. Thus, his readers were well prepared to catch the allusions that form the essay's various subtexts.

The extreme length of the four gentlemen's set pieces of literary criticism requires considerable patience from the reader. In reality, no one could speak several thousands of words with his listeners patiently waiting their turn to do likewise. Although Dryden does not permit any of the four to emerge as the clear winner, he does imply that Neander (himself) had the better of the debate. Dryden structures each of the set pieces as a straw man, with each sounding eminently logical and persuasive, yet all the while hiding some logical flaws that the next speaker is sure to exploit. Dryden could have presented Neander as thoroughly squashing the other three, but he resisted the temptation since he wished to appear even-handed, especially considering that there was some justification for the positions opposed to his. For Dryden, the English stage was broad enough to permit the existence of forms that held sway in France and might find value in England as well.

Dryden's essay is a massive confirmation of his own theory that the use of figurative language, especially of metaphor, ought not to be used in such a manner that its far-fetched examples might act as a barrier between himself and the reader's easy understanding. Dryden takes to task John Cleveland, a poet of the previous generation who was overly fond of metaphors that called attention to themselves due to a consistent use of tortured ingenuity. Near the essay's beginning, Dryden has Lisideius comment on an author whose use of metaphor strains credulity by offering a catachresis (extreme metaphor that calls attention to its overly ornate cleverness) or Clevelandism. Those second-rate poets, like Cleveland, who commit such flagrant sins, Lisideius terms "un mauvais buffon (a terrible buffoon). Dryden's own prose style is far more restrained and uses metaphors that are couched in simple language yet can express a complex of ideas in a manner understandable to readers. While thoroughly castigating this unnamed poet for overly florid use of metaphor, Dryden does so using an extended metaphor that by contrast shows how metaphors may properly be used. In noting how this poet entangles metaphoric tenor and vehicle, Lisideius speaks using the metaphor of a bird lightly skimming over the water: "In the comic he is still reaching at some thin conceit, the ghost of a jest and that too flies before him, never to be caught; these swallows which we see before us on the Thames are the just resemblance of his wit: you may observe how near the water they stoop, how many proffers they make to dip, and yet how seldom they touch it, and when they do it is but the surface." Dryden's use of figurative language is itself a subtext that suggests that any literary composition regardless of genre ought to be written such that the reader will use the author's writing style as an invitation to enter the author's world and not as a distraction to prevent that entrance.