Analysis of Dryden’s “Absalom and Achitophel”
Like it has been pointed out in lesson 3.2, the poem is an allegory that uses the story of the rebellion of Absalom against King David as the basis for discussion of the background to the Monmouth Rebellion (1685), the Popish Plot (1678) and Exclusion Crisis.
The story of Absalom’s revolt is told in the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Bible (Chapters 14 – 18). Absalom rebels against his father King David. The handsome Absalom is distinguished by extraordinarily abundant hair, which is probably meant to symbolize his pride (2 Sam. 14:26). When David’s renowned advisor, Achitophel joins Absalom’s rebellion, another advisor Hushai plots with David to pretend to defect and give Absalom advice that plays into David’s hands. The result was that Absalom takes the advice of the double agent Hushai over the good advice of Achitophel, who realizing that the rebellion is doomed to failure, goes home and hangs himself. Absalom is killed (against David’s explicit commands) after getting caught by his hair in the thick branches of a great oak. The death of Absalom causes David enormous personal grief.
Now in 1681 in England, Charles II was in advanced years. He had had a number of mistresses and produced a number of illegitimate children. One of these was James Scott the Duke of Monmouth, who was very popular both for his personal charisma and his fervor for the protestant cause. Charles had no legitimate heirs, and his brother, the future James II of England was openly a Roman Catholic. When Charles’ 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 had sponsored and advocated the Exclusion Bill, which would prevent James II from succeeding to the throne, but this bill was blocked by the House of Lords on two occasions. In the spring of 1681, at the Oxford Parliament, Shaftesbury appealed to Charles II to legitimize Monmouth. Monmouth was caught preparing to rebel and seek the throne, and Shaftesbury was suspected of fostering this rebellion.
The poem was possibly written at Charles’ behest, and published in early November 1681. On November 24th, 1681, Shaftesbury was seized and charged with high treason. A trial before a jury picked by Whig sheriff’s acquitted him. Later, after the death of his father and unwilling to see his uncle, James II became King; the Duke of Monmouth executed his plans and went into full revolt. The Monmouth Rebellion was put down, and in 1685 the Duke was executed.
The poem tells the story of the first foment by making Monmouth into Absalom, Charles as David and Shaftesbury as Achitophel. It reveals Buckingham, and old enemy of Dryden as Zimri, the unfaithful servant. The poem heaps most of the blame for the rebellion on Shaftesbury and makes Charles a very reluctant and loving man who has to be king before father. The poem also refers to some of the Popish Plot furor.
CONCLUSION
John Dryden could, therefore, arguably be taken as a public poet. He discussed in verse the problems of his time, who talked to his readers on terms of easy equality, and who sought to base his work on reason and tolerance. Dryden tried to heal the wounds left by revolution and Civil War. With this, John Dryden remains one of the best poets England ever had.
In this article, we have been able to look at the poetry of John Dryden. We examined the biography of John Dryden. We also looked into his works as allegorical and analyzed his “Absalom and Achitophel”.
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