Literary Analysis Of John Dryden's Absalom And Achitophel
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John Dryden is an interesting person to create the epic poem Absalom and Achitophel. What makes this poem stand out and what made it cause an outrage in the audience of readers is that fact that Dryden not only used the parable of Absalom, but changed it as he saw fit so that it worked better with the events surrounding Charles II, the Duke of Monmouth (Monmouth), the Earl of Shaftesbury, and the Popish Plot. Many of Dryden’s works are continuations, or at least connected to other works Absalom and Achitophel was definitively different in that it could stand alone, and was not the continuation or conclusion to any of his prior works . King Charles II, asked for Dryden to use the parable. Dryden was seen as an author that moved with the chaotic times, and used his satire to evoke passions about the turmoil within England and religion. Between his own writing characteristics and the use of alternative characters, he would be able to speak more freely about these characters faults and actions without fear of court .In essence, the story of Absalom and Achitophel is about the son of a king rebelling against his father due to the unscrupulous actions of one of his father’s trusted advisors. It was with these events and their possible correlation to the biblical story that Dryden issued forth the poem not only to praise the King, but to validate his actions and to destroy his opponents and it is with these corresponding events between the two stories that will be used to analyze