Plan of the lecture english literature of the XVII century

 
SATIRICAL WORKS OF THE WRITER: “ABSALOM AND 
ACHITOPHEL”, “MAC FLECKNOE” 
Absalom and Achitophel is a landmark poetic political satire by John 
Dryden (1631–1700). The poem exists in two parts. The first part, of 1681, is 
undoubtedly by Dryden. The second part, of 1682, was written by another hand, 
most likely Nahum Tate, except for a few passages—including attacks 
on Thomas Shadwell and Elkanah Settle, expressed as Og and Doeg—that 
Dryden wrote himself. 
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 

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KHILOLA RAKHIMOVA, senior teacher, URSU 
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the Popish Plot (1678), the Exclusion Crisis (1679-1681), and the Monmouth 
Rebellion (1685). 
While Absalom and Achitophel has been read as a satire for over 300 years 
there is still some speculation as to whether that title is accurate. "It is, for 
example, a satire, except for the failed ending; or a satire except for 'serious' 
defenses of David and Charles; or a satire except for the tribute to Barzillai, the 
Duke of Ormonde, and accompanying elegy for his son, the Earl of Ossory; or in 
short, a satire, except for the parts that aren’t". This problem lies with the problem 
of not recognizing the extent to which Dryden’s satire "claims to create a self-
contained hermeneutic, one that gestures toward and redirects other interpretive 
possibilities in order to dismiss them.” It is for this reason that Dryden's work 
has been labeled as an “epic, epyllion, epic episode, satire, epic satire, Varronian 
satire, formal verse satire, classical oration, Jonsonian masque, political 
pamphlet, painting, biblical allegory, narrative, drama, chronology, music (fugal 
fantasia), typology, folklore, 'Poem,' and varying combinations of some of these.” 
There are many different ways of understanding Dryden’s poem Absalom 
and Achitophel. The most common reading compares “the connections between 
fatherhood and kingship”. Through biblical allusions Dryden connects ancient 
fatherhood with current to not only show the precedent that was set but also to 
show how it connects with a royal’s responsibilities. Dryden uses the fatherly 
indulgence of David (lines 31-33) to explore the legitimacy of the Achitophel’s 
succession. Dryden uses an old story, The Prodigal Son, to create a clear picture 
of how self-indulgent love creates unfair conflict. Throughout the poem the 
relationship of fatherhood and kingship is united. Another way of reading 
Dryden’s poem is through a “mother plot”. Susan Greenfield proposes that the 
mentions of maternity and women are an important part of the poems royalist 
resolution. In this reading the blame is transferred to the females saying that only 
the female power of life threatens the political order and should be hindered. It is 
due to female desires and a female’s ability to create life that the whole mess is 
created. On 1 December 1663, Dryden married Lady Elizabeth Howard (died 
1714). The marriage was at St. Swithin's, London, and the consent of the parents 
is noted on the license, though Lady Elizabeth was then about twenty-five. She 
was the object of some scandals, well or ill founded; it was said that Dryden had 
been bullied into the marriage by her brothers. A small estate in Wiltshire was 
settled upon them by her father. The lady's intellect and temper were apparently 
not good; her husband was treated as an inferior by those of her social status. Both 
Dryden and his wife were warmly attached to their children. They had three 

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KHILOLA RAKHIMOVA, senior teacher, URSU 
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sons: Charles (1666–1704), John (1668–1701), 
and Erasmus 
Henry (1669–
1710). Lady Elizabeth Dryden survived her husband, but went insane soon after 
his death. Though some have historically claimed to be from the lineage of John 
Dryden, his three children had no children themselves. 
In