33 pages • 1 hour read
John DrydenAn Essay of Dramatic Poesy
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1668A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Further Reading: Literature
“Annus Mirabilis” by John Dryden (1667)
Dryden composed this poem at the same time and in the same setting as “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy.” It celebrates the end of the Puritan Interregnum, the restoration of King Charles II to the throne, and naval victories against the Dutch in the trade wars, among other things. This historical context is also central to the essay.
“A Defence of an Essay of Dramatic Poesy” by John Dryden (1669)
After Dryden and his brother-in-law and fellow dramatist Robert Howard (the model for Crites) exchanged some spirited public debate about the appropriate role of nature in theatrical literature, Dryden expanded on his arguments in a written rebuttal. Dryden puts forth that audiences understand that nature is to be imitated—there is some poetic license granted, or what contemporary critics might call “willing suspension of disbelief”—rather than exactly and dutifully rendered.
Aureng-Zebe (1676) and All for Love; or, The World Well Lost (1678) by John Dryden
These two plays represent two different modes of writing for Dryden. In the first, he uses rhyme—the heroic verse that he defends in “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy.” It would be his last play to regularly utilize rhyme: The second play uses blank verse.
- All for Love on SuperSummary
Further Reading: Beyond Literature
Six Restoration Plays edited by John Harold Wilson (1959)
Read Dryden’s work in contrast to other plays written when the English theater had just reopened and new possibilities were explored. This anthology contains plays by William Wycherley, Sir George Etherege, Thomas Otway, William Congreve, and George Farquhar alongside Dryden’s All for Love.
John Dryden and His World by James Anderson Winn (1987)
A comprehensive biography of Dryden with historical and cultural context, as well as literary exegesis of his works, Winn’s book is still one of the definitive resources on Dryden and the Age of Reason.
Video & Podcasts
Amphitryon, or the Two Sosias by John Dryden (1690), directed by Michael Cordner (2017)
A modern staging of one of Dryden’s lesser-known plays. It is a comedy based on the play of the same name written by French dramatist Molière.
Related Titles
By John Dryden
