Dryden, John

Dryden, John (1631–1700), English critic, poet, satirist, and one of the outstanding dramatists of the Restoration period, though his best work was done in other fields. The first of some 30 plays, written alone or in collaboration, was The Wild Gallant (1663), seen at Drury Lane, as was The Rival Ladies (1664), based on a Spanish original. His first heroic drama, a genre of which he was the chief exponent, was The Indian Queen (also 1664). Its sequel The Indian Emperor (1665) was followed by one of his most successful plays, Secret Love; or, The Maiden Queen (1667), based partly on Mlle de Scudéry's famous novel Le Grand Cyrus, the parts of Florimel and Celadon having sometimes been considered the prototypes of Congreve's Millamant and Mirabell in The Way of the World. Also in 1667 came the first production of Sir Martin Mar-All; or, The Feign'd Innocence, followed a year later by another comedy, An Evening's Love; or, The Mock Astrologer, which combined elements from Corneille, Molière, and Quinault. Another heroic drama, Tyrannic Love; or, The Royal Martyr (1669), was followed by Dryden's finest work in this style, Almanzor and Almahide, usually known by its subtitle The Conquest of Granada. This vast and complicated play, of which the first part was performed in 1670 and the second in 1671, contains all the elements, good and bad, of heroic drama—rant, bombast, poetry, vigour, battle, murder, and sudden death. It was satirized unmercifully by George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham (1628–87), in The Rehearsal (1671), and Dryden returned to comedy with Marriage à la Mode (also 1671) and The Assignation; or, Love in a Nunnery (1672). He then produced two more heroic tragedies in Amboyna; or, The Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants (1673) and Aureng-Zebe (1675). From the restraints of rhymed couplets he returned to blank verse for All For Love; or, The World Well Lost (1677), his masterpiece, a retelling of the story of Antony and Cleopatra which takes only its plot from Shakespeare. It is well constructed, contains some fine poetry, and observes more strictly than any other English tragedy the unities of time, place, and action. It was frequently revived in the 18th century. Dryden's later plays were less important; they included rewritings of Troilus and Cressida (1679) and Plautus' Amphitryon (1690), and, his last play, Love Triumphant; or, Nature Will Prevail (1693), a tragi-comedy. Dryden also wrote a large number of prologues and epilogues, then very much in fashion, both for his own and for other people's plays, which are not only mines of information about theatrical matters but also notable contributions to English poetry. In his prefaces and critical writings he contributed largely to contemporary literary and theatrical controversies.