1、John Dryden(约翰德莱顿） 1637-1700,Life experience:,1 Born in a well-to-do Puritan family in 1631; 2 He was sent to Westminster school studying in classics in 1644; 3 He received education at Trinity College, Cambridge ; 4 Graduated from Cambridge in 1654 , the same year his father died,; 5 The poet laure
2、ate(桂冠诗人） in 1688; 6 Died and was buried in the Poets Corner in 1700.,Literary career,An English poet, dramatist and critic. be known for his verse satires, which are written in heroic couplets（英雄双韵体）, a verse form widely adopted by the poets of the 18th centuryForm: in dialogue Content: comparative
3、 merits of English and French drama,Major works,Essays on Dramatic Poetry, 1668; Absalom and Achitophel In 1681 ; Mac Flecknoe in 1682; Alexanders Feast in 1697; Fables Ancient and Modern, 1700; Important plays: Marriage a la mode in 1672 comedy All for Love in 1678 tragedy and blank-verse masterpie
4、ce Literary criticism: An Essay of Dramatic Poesy(1668) An elegy on Cromwells death,Absolom and Architophel 押沙龙与阿奇托菲尔-political satires,The story of Absaloms revolt is told in the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Bible (chapters 14 to 18). Absalom rebels against his father King Davi
5、d.,historical background,In 1681 in England, Charles II was in advanced years. he produced a number of illegitimate children(私生子）. One of these was James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth（蒙茅斯公爵）, his fervor for the Protestant cause. Charles had no legitimate heirs, and his brother, the future James II of
6、England was openly a Roman Catholic.When Charless health suffered, there was a panic in the House of Commons over the potential for the nation being ruled by a Roman Catholic king.the earl of shaftesbury（沙夫茨伯里伯爵） headed Protestant paliament ,he supported Monmouth to rise in arms.and Chales put the r
7、ebellion down.,Mac flecknoe,Written about 1678, but not published until 1682 (see 1682 in poetry), “Mac Flecknoe“ is the outcome of a series of disagreements between Thomas Shadwell and Dryden. he poem illustrates Shadwell as the heir to a kingdom of poetic dullness, represented by his association w
8、ith Richard Flecknoe, an earlier poet already satirized by Andrew Marvell and disliked by Dryden, although the poet does not use belittling techniques to satirize him. Multiple allusions in the satire to 17th-century literary works, and to classic Greek and Roman literature, demonstrate Drydens comp
9、lex approach and his mastery over the mock-heroic style.,Heroic plays,The Indian Queen1664 The Indian emperor1665 Secrete Love 1667 An Essay of Dramatic Poesy1668 The Conquest of Granada1670 Marriage a-la-Mode 1672 (现代婚姻-comedy) An Essay of Dramatic Poesy(1668),Summary,Dryden made his prose precise, concise and flexible, and raised English literary criticism to a new level Following the standards of classicism, he established the heroic couplet. Dryden was forerunner of the English classical school of literature in the 18th century.,thank you,
