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    John Dryden wrote "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy" in 1666 to defend drama as a legitimate art form and his own literary practices. The essay is structured as a dialogue among four friends discussing poetry on a barge during a naval battle. They debate the virtues of modern versus ancient writers and arrive at a definition of drama as a "just and lively Image of Humane Nature." Each character then touches on merits of French and English drama, discussing rules like the "Unities" as well as playwrights such as Shakespeare, Jonson, and Molière, concluding with a debate on whether rhyme is suitable for drama.

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    John Dryden wrote "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy" in 1666 to defend drama as a legitimate art form and his own literary practices. The essay is structured as a dialogue among four friends discussing poetry on a barge during a naval battle. They debate the virtues of modern versus ancient writers and arrive at a definition of drama as a "just and lively Image of Humane Nature." Each character then touches on merits of French and English drama, discussing rules like the "Unities" as well as playwrights such as Shakespeare, Jonson, and Molière, concluding with a debate on whether rhyme is suitable for drama.

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    2K views2 pages

    An Essay of Dramatic Poesy

    Uploaded by

    WaqarAli
    John Dryden wrote "An Essay of Dramatic Poesy" in 1666 to defend drama as a legitimate art form and his own literary practices. The essay is structured as a dialogue among four friends discussing poetry on a barge during a naval battle. They debate the virtues of modern versus ancient writers and arrive at a definition of drama as a "just and lively Image of Humane Nature." Each character then touches on merits of French and English drama, discussing rules like the "Unities" as well as playwrights such as Shakespeare, Jonson, and Molière, concluding with a debate on whether rhyme is suitable for drama.

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    An Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668)

    BY JOHN DRYDEN

    Though he died in 1700, John Dryden is usually considered a writer of the 18th rather
    than the 17th century. Incredibly prolific, Dryden made innovative advances in
    translation and aesthetic philosophy, and was the first poet to employ the neo-classical
    heroic couplet and quatrain in his own work. Drydens influence on later writers was
    immense; Alexander Pope greatly admired and often imitated him, and Samuel Johnson
    considered him to have refined the language, improved the sentiments, and tuned the
    numbers of English poetry. In addition to poetry, Dryden wrote many essays, prefaces,
    satires, translations, biographies (introducing the word to the English language), and
    plays. An Essay of Dramatic Poesy was probably written in 1666 during the closure of
    the London theaters due to plague. It can be read as a general defense of drama as a
    legitimate art formtaking up where Sir Philip Sidneys Defence of Poesie left offas
    well as Drydens own defense of his literary practices. The essay is structured as a
    dialogue among four friends on the river Thames. The group has taken refuge on a
    barge during a naval battle between the English and the Dutch fleets. The four
    gentlemen, Eugenius, Crites, Lisideius, and Neander (all aliases for actual Restoration
    critics and the last for Dryden himself), begin an ironic and witty conversation on the
    subject of poetry, which soon turns into a debate on the virtues of modern and ancient
    writers. While imitation of classical writers was common practice in Drydens time, he
    steers the groups conversation towards dramatic poetry, a relatively new genre which
    had in some ways broken with classical traditions and was thus in need of its own
    apologia. The group arrives at a definition of drama: Lisideius suggests that it is a just
    and lively Image of Humane Nature. Each character then speaks in turn, touching on
    the merits of French and English drama, continuing the debate over ancient versus
    modern writers, and discussing the value of the Unities or rules of French drama.
    While French plays hew closer to classical notions of drama (adhering to the unities of

    time, place and action), Neander steps in to support English drama precisely because of
    its subplots, mixture of mirth and tragedy (in tragicomedy), and spirited, multiple
    characters. Drawing on Platonic dialogues for inspiration, Drydens characters present
    their opinions with eloquence and sound reasoning. The group discusses playwrights
    such as Ben Jonson, Molire, and Shakespeare with great insight, and has a final
    debate over the suitability of rhyme to drama. Crites objects to the use of rhyme
    because he believes it detracts from the verisimilitude of the scene, and cites Aristotle;
    Neander suggests a natural rhyme to serve the plays meaning can add to its artistry.
    During this final speech, the barge docks at the Somerset-Stairs, and the four friends go
    their separate ways, content with their evening.

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