John Dryden (1631-1700), the leading poet of the Restoration era, was born in Aldwincle, a town near Oundle in Northampton County. His paternal grandfather named Sir Eramus Dryden was a baron and his mother was Lady Pickering, first cousin of Sir Gilbert Pickering. He received his primary education at the neighboring village school Tichmarsh. From Tichmarsh, he went to Westminster school around the year 1642. From Westminster, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1650. It was close to Sir Robert Howard that friendship resulted from his marriage to Lady Elizabeth in 1663, his father’s daughter. . friend, but the marriage proved unhappy.
Without a doubt, he was an original and demanding critic. Dr. Johnson called him “the father of English criticism.” In addition, he was the founder of modern prose. He was an outstanding poet and playwright. In his day, minor literary critics were many with his erratic work, but the main contemporaries with significant work were Thomas Rhymer, John Dennis, and Jeremy Collier. It would be better to talk about the social and literary antecedents of his time (1660-1700).
A. Social background:
The Dryden Age begins with Charles II’s Restoration to the throne in 1660 until the poet’s death in 1700. It will not be an exaggeration to say that he was the dominant literary figure who represented the period very well. His time was deeply influenced by the three historical events: the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, the religious and political controversies and the papist plot, and the Golden Revolution of the year 1688. Regarding the Restoration of Charles II, an increase in corruption, etc. It took a backlash against the Puritan restrictions. All the values of society, what the Puritan had prevailed, were violated. The king was very strange that he had several illegitimate lovers and children. He was irresponsible and unpatriotic who always opposed his promises, broke his treaty with the Dutch and his own ministers, and betrayed his country. His court was dishonorable and the parliament passed the bills against the church and the state with the thirst for revenge of those who were connected with the Puritan government of Cromwell. The House of Lords grew with the creation of hereditary titles, desecrated men, and shameless women. Even the judicial was not safe.
At this time, the unrest in the field of political and religious parties was very vivid. There were the two central political parties, the Whigs and the Tories. They divided the atmosphere of the country with their touch. The Whigs were in favor of limiting royal power in the interests of the nation and parliament, while the Tories were different and supported the theory of the “divine right” of kings. Both parts proved fruitful for men of literary abilities. They were in search of sustenance and they were bribed with places and pensions. The writers of the time were not free from prejudice and political strife.
The religious conflict or prejudice was more bitter. The nation was predominantly Protestant and Catholics worked with a number of disabilities. They had to pay higher taxes and were not allowed to hold any office under the Crown. Such hatred for Catholics was a great theme of the writing of that time.
Apart from that, at this time the papist plot comes because the king was very weak in the field of religion but his brother was a Roman Catholic. Carlos II did not have a legitimate son or heir to the throne. After him, his brother James would sit on the throne. The plot was made to exclude him from the throne and create the atmosphere to seat the Duke of Monmouth, an illegitimate son of Charles II. This controversy was called a popish plot by Titus Oates. Shaftsbury made several attempts to exclude James, but the king supported his brother and the way was cleared for James’ accession. The famous poem of Dryden, Absalam and Achitophel reflects or interprets these controversies or religious or political prejudices of the time.
Jaime II ascended to the throne in 1685. He had several plots and under them, he tried to establish Catholicism in the country. Such misrule made him quite unpopular in his country in a short time. In reaction, the nation confronted him and the Inangre Revolution of 1688 restored the country to a pleasant and healthy atmosphere after the suffering of immorality and corruption that had been going on since the Restoration. James was exiled and the Protestants William and Mary sat on the throne.
B. Literary background:
In literature, this school of criticism is called the neoclassical, pseudo-classical, or august age. At this time, the literati began to imitate the French writers. It was a blind imitation that led them to copy the worst work instead of using their wits. So it was just a copy. They call it the Age of Augustus because the writers of the time considered its time to be as glorious as the time of King Augustus Caesar of Rome. That era produced brilliant literary figures such as Horace, Virgil, Longinous, and Quintillian. Where, in this pseudo-classical age, John Dryden was a dominant figure, that’s why it is called the Age of Dryden.
The rise of neoclassicism broke the chains of Puritanism. Post-Restoration literature was from the Elizabethan era, where neoclassical literature was opposed to Elizabethan romanticism. Before Dryden, Sir Philip Sidney and Ben Jonson were two great poets of the Elizabethan era. After Ben Jonson, literary activity in England suffered greatly. Between Ben Jonson and John Dryden there is hardly any major critic to be found due to religious and social controversies. The Restoration of Carlos II to the throne in 1660 penetrated a favorable atmosphere with French influence that supplanted the sensual and romantic Italian influence. Charles II and the other literati were under this influence because they had spent most of their time in France. Upon their return to England, they brought a new gale of French literature, which renounced old ideals and standards. They demanded English poetry about the new style. The Italian influence was abandoned and the literati began to blindly imitate the French writers. So they copied the worst work instead of using their wits. The influence of French comedy is seen in the awkwardness and indecency of Dryden, Wycherley and Congreve’s The Restoration Comedy of Manners. The mutual influence of the French and classical models of tragedy is seen in a new genre, the heroic tragedy. He is well represented by Dryden’s ‘Tyrannic Love’. This influence is also responsible for the growth of opera in the Restoration of England.
This reaction was against romantic leanings and greatly favored realism. In the case of realism, its beginnings were very bad. Early Restoration writers painted realistic images of a corrupt court and society. Their emphasis was on vices rather than virtues, and they produced crude and base works of no interest or moral significance. Later, the interest of writers in the study of the practical motives that governed human actions changed and increased. It cannot be contradicted from this statement that it was the reaction against the extravagances of both the Elizabethans and the metaphysicians. John Donne is a metaphysical poet and his followers liked a revolt in favor of order, balance and sanity in literature. They used limitless hyperbole, similes, metaphors, and exaggerated and violent assumptions. This reaction supported the trend toward openness, simplicity, and expression. Writers of earlier times liked to use flamboyance in thought and language. The sentences were enriched with classic quotes and references. The Restoration writers objected and made rules and said romantic fantasy would do well. So the emphasis was on propriety and propriety. Correction means encouraging moderate opinions expressed in moderation. The decorum was to follow the rules of the ancients as interpreted by the French. Dryden clearly marked this new trend and, by virtue of his influence, the writers developed that formalism of style which was erroneously called classicism.
At this time, the growth of scientific, religious and political controversies was found. They all gave birth to prose. Arnold says: “The Restoration marks the actual moment of the birth of our modern English prose.” Previous writers were erratic and their work was overloaded with classic allusions and quotes. In reality, Elizabethan prose was not appropriate for telling a simple story. Bacon’s epigrammatic style and Milton’s bombastic prose could not be suitable for scientific, historical, political, and philosophical writing or novel writing. The spirit of this new type of prose developed and Dryden was the main leader. His work, ‘Dramatic Poesy’ introduced a new model of prose that was completely different from the prose of earlier times. He wrote in a simple, straightforward but precise style, without exaggeration. The other writers were also under his influence and also helped to develop the new prose style through their own individual advancement. It was quite free from monotony.
Prose was the eminent style or weapon of this time. Even the poetry of this time was also prosaic and used for narrative, satirical or didactic purposes. Poetry was intended to persuade but not to inspire. It was the favorable style of narrating controversies that caused the growth of satire. The best poetry of this eon is satirical. Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel is a better known political satire. In this satire, Dryden defends the king against the Earl of Shaftesbury, who is depicted as Achitophel. His other work ‘Mac Flecknoe’ is an example of personal satire. It also contains a scathing personal attack on Thomas Shadwell, who was once a friend of Dryden. ‘The Rehearsal’ describes the literary vices of the time and is the first literary satire in English literature. His other two poems ‘Religio laici’ and ‘The Hind and the Panther’ are theological and controversial.
The other contribution to this era was the growth and perfection of the heroic couplet. Chaucer used it but insisted on the thought or notion. Where as the writers of the Restoration gave importance to the form. Waller and Dryden used it in literary fashion. The couplet became “Closed”. Its pair of lines showed a complete thought and was expressed as precisely as possible. So it became the order of the day and all other forms of versification were expelled. The domain remained a single century and then its freshness disappeared.
Such controversies greatly disturbed the time but added a great help in the case of literature. It also showed that John Dryden was an exponent of this neoclassicism and Bunyan was also appreciated for working as John Milton. It brought novelty and expelled the monotony of literature.