Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel is clearly and unarguably written to advance an agenda. (In this it differs from Eliza Haywood's Fantomina, a text that masks its message, if it has one.)
Identify a passage (2 - 5 lines) from the poem (other than those we discussed in class today!) that (a) signals to the reader that Dryden is doing something other than retelling a biblical story, AND (b) gives some clues as to what his agenda is. Write a sentence or two explaining what the passage you've chosen tells us about Dryden's political views.
Deadline: Wednesday (9/2), start of class.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Lines 408-410 state "To pass your doubtful title into law: If not, the people have a right supreme To make their kings, for kings are made for them."
It is such a broad statement that is made about kings in general that I couldn't help underlining this right away. It most likely refers to the historical context that the English people did not want a king to act as a dictator, but a king to take into considerations their sentiments and meet the people where they needed a king to act on their behalf. This line is such an obvious statement against the monarchy and for the direction of democracy.
Lines 321-324 say " Whom has he wronged in all his peaceful reign? Who sues for justice to his throne in vain? What millions has he pardoned of his foes, Whom just revenge did to wrath expose!"
These few lines represent Dryden's attempt to please the King with cheap indirect compliments. Of course, the poem is telling a story about historical events, but it must also contain mindless propaganda in order to please the King. This poem is really meant to improve the Kings reputation.
Lines 242 - 249 says "Shift, unbespoken pomps thy steps proclaim, and stammering babes are taught to lisp thy name. How long wilt thou the general joy detain, starve and defraud the people of thy reign? Content ingloriously to pass thy days like one of virtue's fools that feeds on praise; till thy fresh glories, which now shine so bright, grow stale and tarnish with our daily sight."
These lines indicate the dangers of a ruling figure becoming self-absorbed and losing the favor of his loyal subjects. Dryden here is going beyond the Biblical allusion is is definitely prodding with the ideas of power and the delicate balance between a ruling monarch once being someone who was purposeful and loved by his people into becoming "stale" and "tarnished" simply from his own excess "pomps" or other self-absorbed activities.
I believe that Whitney chose a very insightful quote to examine, however I must disagree with her interpretation and say that in my mind the line seems to be more pro-monarch than anti-monarch. The first thing I notice when reading those lines is that while the people are attributed the power to "make their kings" (Line 410), there is no actual mention of them going without a king at all. In fact, the text goes on to say that "kings are made for them" (Line 410), a statement which seems to be definitively pro-monarch. This leads me to believe that those lines are not challenging the divine right to rule; rather they are saying that the people are not wholly powerless, they get to choose which monarch they wish to have rule them, but at the end of the day there needs to be a monarch.
The lines of 795-798 display a similar biased for the king that most have expressed. "Yet, grant our lords the people kings can make, What prudent men a settled throne would Shake?" I agree with Craig in that the people "grant" themselves a ruling monarch and yet have limitations on the the personal interactions of "shaking the throne". Such an expression merits the lack of power a subject of the king truly possesses. And to point out the misery the population would endure if there was another revolution by the commonwealth of the people, Dryden notes "For whatsoe'er their sufferings were before, That change they covet makes them suffer more."
Post a Comment