The Essay on Dramatic Poesy was written in by the author, who decided to elaborate on the topic of defence of poetry and justify the importance and role of drama in the world of literature. Dryden had chosen an unusual way to legitimate dramatic poesy – he built the essay as a dialog between four men with different positions on the meaning and role of drama in the literature Aug 07, · The Dramatic Poesy Summary. There was a conflict between the Netherlands and England at the time. Crites, Eugenius, Lisideius, and Neander were the names of the four males. These four, on the other hand, were going by boat to witness the battle and had a lengthy conversation based on contemporary literature Dryden: Essay of Dramatic Poesy. 6 terms. sierra_nicole_berkel. Essay on Dramatic Poesy. 9 terms. Vaishnaviseetharaman. An Essay of Dramatic Poesy. 9 terms. jleavittE. Sets with similar terms. E L Bruster Exam 1. 96 terms. london_lancaster. Much Ado About Nothing. 35 terms. miyami Much ado about nothing. 79 terms. Pearse88
An Essay of Dramatic Poesy by John Dryden: An Overview
Criticism flourished in England during the restoration of Stuarts. An Essay of Dramatic Poesy deals with the views of major critics and the tastes of men and women of the time of Dryden. The work is in the form of semi-drama thus making abstract theories interesting. In the late 17th century, Shakespeare was severely criticised for his careless attitude towards the mixing of genres. It was Dryden who elevated Shakespeare to height for his natural genius. The narrative of An Essay of Dramatic Poesy has four debaters among whom, essay on dramatic poesy, Neander is the one who holds the views of Dryden.
Unlike other characters, Neander does not diminish the arguments that are on contrary to his views. Though he himself favours modern drama, he does not blame others. The beginning of the narrative An Essay of Dramatic Poesy or Of Dramatic Poesie is as follows. A battle is going on between England and the Netherlands. Four gentlemen namely Crites, Eugenius, Lisideius and Neander are travelling by boat to see the battle and start a essay on dramatic poesy on modern literature. Crites opens the discussion by saying that none of his contemporaries i. moderns can equal the standards and the rules set by ancient Greeks and Romans. Eugenius restrains him from wasting time on finding demerits. He asks him to find relative merit in Greeks and Moderns.
Crites favours classical drama i. Crites holds that drama of such ancients is successful because it depicts life. He says that both classical and neoclassical favour rules and unities time, place and action. According to Crites, modern dramatists are shadows of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Seneca and Terence. Elizabethan dramatist Ben Jonson borrowed from Classics and felt proud to essay on dramatic poesy himself modern Horace. The classical is more skilful in language than their successors. At this, essay on dramatic poesy, he ends up his conversation. Eugenius favours modern dramatists. However, instead of telling about the virtues of moderns, he criticises the faults of Classical playwrights.
According to him, the Classical drama is not divided into acts and also lacks originality. Their tragedies are based on worn-out myths that are already known to the audience and their comedies are based o overused curiosity of stolen heiresses and miraculous restorations. There disregard poetic justice. Instead of punishing the vice and rewarding the virtue, they have often shown prosperous wickedness and an unhappy devotion, essay on dramatic poesy. The classical drama also lacks affection. The Heroes of Homer were lovers of appetite, food etc, while the modern characters of French drama gave up everything sleep, water and food for the sake of love. Lisideius favours French drama of earlier 17th century.
French drama led by Pierre Corneille strictly followed unities of time, essay on dramatic poesy, pace and action. The French dramatists never mix tragedy and comedy. They strictly adhere to the poetic justice i. reward the virtue and punishment the vice. For this, they even alter the original situation. The French dramatists interweave truth with fiction to make it interesting bringing elements that lead to fate and borrow from history to reward the virtuous essay on dramatic poesy he was earlier deprived of. They prefer emotions over plots. Violent actions take place off stage and are told by messengers rather than showing them in real. He talks about the greatness of Elizabethans, essay on dramatic poesy.
imitation of life. French drama raises perfection but has no soul or emotions as it primarily focuses on the plot. For Neander, tragicomedy is the best form of drama. Both sadness as well as joy are heightened and are set side by side. Hence it is closest to life. He believes that subplots enrich the drama. This French drama having a single plot lacks this vividness. According to him, essay on dramatic poesy, deviation from set rules and unities gives diverse themes to drama. Neander rejects the argument that change of place and time diminishes dramatic credibility in drama.
For essay on dramatic poesy, human actions will seem more natural if they get enough time to develop. If Ben Jonson is a genius for correctness, Shakespeare excels him in wit. Thus for him, Elizabethans are superior because they have a variety of themes, emotions, deviations, wit. They do not adhere to rules as well. Thus their drama is really an imitation of life. At the end of the discussion, there essay on dramatic poesy an argument between Essay on dramatic poesy and Neander over rhyme in plays. Crites believes that Blank Verse as the poetic form nearest to prose is most suitable for drama. On the other hand, Neander defends rhyme as it briefly and clearly explains everything. The boat on which they all were riding reaches its destination, the stairs at Somerset House and the discussion ends without any conclusion being made.
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An Essay on Dramatic Poesy by John Dryden Analysis: Part II
, time: 7:22Essay of Dramatick Poesie - Wikipedia
An Essay of Dramatic Poesy deals with the views of major critics and the tastes of men and women of the time of Dryden. This work is in the form of semi-drama thus making abstract theories interesting. In the late 17th century, Shakespeare was severely criticised for his careless attitude towards the mixing of genres. the End “Essay on Dramatic Poesy” is a masterpiece of English literature. It was written by John Dryden in the early seventeenth century and was considered a master of the English language. It was the first work of dramatic poetry, and it was a bestseller for many years. Its modern counterpart, The Essay on Dramatic Poetry, was written in The Essay on Dramatic Poesy was written in by the author, who decided to elaborate on the topic of defence of poetry and justify the importance and role of drama in the world of literature. Dryden had chosen an unusual way to legitimate dramatic poesy – he built the essay as a dialog between four men with different positions on the meaning and role of drama in the literature
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