Born in 1631, John Dryden was still young during the English Civil War. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1650 (during the reign of Cromwell) and got his B.A. in 1654. Despite the fact that he wrote a memorial poem for Oliver Cromwell, Dryden's sympathies were royalist. He welcomed the return of Charles II in 1660 and wrote poems in praise of the restored monarch. Charles II named Dryden as poet laureate in 1668, and in 1670 he became royal historiographer as well.

As he was developing his reputation as a poet, Dryden was also was writing for the stage. He wrote heroic dramas as well as light comedies, and in 1668 he became a shareholder in a theatre company. Two of his most noteworthy plays are Marriage A-la-Mode, a light comedy focusing on the battle of the sexes, and the tragedy All for Love (based on Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra). Dryden took the theatre seriously and in 1668 wrote Of Dramatick Poesie, an Essay, which is one of the first major contributions to modern dramatic criticism.

Dryden is perhaps better known for his verse satires. My favorite is Absalom and Achitophel (1681), a satiric portrayal of the politics surrounding the movement to have Charles's illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth, declared as the heir to the throne. The poem we read, "MacFlecknoe" (1682) is probably the most widely taught of Dryden's works.

Dryden's fortunes were closely tied to Charles II and James II, at least in part because Dryden shared their tendency toward Catholicism (Dryden converted in 1685). Thus, when The Glorious Revolution deposed James II in favor of the Protestant monarchy of William and Mary, Dryden lost his position as poet laureate (which went instead to his rival and target, Thomas Shadwell). Nonetheless, Dryden continued to be successful as a poet and editor. When in died in 1700, he was buried near Geoffrey Chaucer in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner.

Dryden wrote nearly 30 dramatic works, countless poems, and a significant body of literary criticism. He is the most important poet between Milton and Pope, and his works and style set the pattern for a century of writers during the Augustan Age.

The Politics of the Restoration and 18th C.

Macflecknoe

What is satire?