1. Who is known as the “Father of English Criticism”?
Answer: John Dryden is called the Father of English Criticism because he established systematic literary criticism through essays like An Essay of Dramatic Poesy.
2. In which year was John Dryden born?
Answer: John Dryden was born on 9 August 1631 at Aldwincle in Northamptonshire, England, during the reign of King Charles I.
3. Which literary period is associated with Dryden?
Answer: John Dryden is chiefly associated with the Restoration Age, which began in 1660 after the restoration of Charles II.
4. What is Dryden’s most famous critical work?
Answer: An Essay of Dramatic Poesy is Dryden’s most celebrated critical work, discussing ancient and modern drama and dramatic principles.
5. Who was Dryden’s literary rival in Mac Flecknoe?
Answer: Thomas Shadwell was Dryden’s literary rival and the principal target of the satire presented in Mac Flecknoe.
6. What type of poem is Mac Flecknoe?
Answer: Mac Flecknoe is a mock-heroic or mock-epic satirical poem ridiculing Thomas Shadwell and literary dullness.
7. What does the title Mac Flecknoe mean?
Answer: Mac Flecknoe means “Son of Flecknoe,” symbolically presenting Shadwell as Flecknoe’s literary heir and successor in dullness.
8. Who is Flecknoe in the poem?
Answer: Richard Flecknoe was a minor poet whom Dryden portrays as the king of dullness and literary incompetence.
9. Why does Flecknoe choose Shadwell as his successor?
Answer: Flecknoe chooses Shadwell because he considers him perfectly qualified to continue the kingdom of dullness through consistent stupidity.
10. Quote the most famous line from Mac Flecknoe.
Answer: “Shadwell alone my perfect image bears, / Mature in dullness from his tender years” is the poem’s most famous quotation.
11. What is the central theme of Mac Flecknoe?
Answer: The central theme is the satire of dullness, mediocrity, bad literature, and the decline of artistic standards.
12. What poetic form does Dryden use in Mac Flecknoe?
Answer: Dryden uses heroic couplets consisting of rhyming iambic pentameter lines throughout the poem.
13. What is a heroic couplet?
Answer: A heroic couplet consists of two rhyming lines written in iambic pentameter, widely used in Restoration poetry.
14. Which Biblical story is alluded to at the end of Mac Flecknoe?
Answer: The ending alludes to Elijah and Elisha, symbolizing the transfer of authority from Flecknoe to Shadwell.
15. What is the significance of the mantle in Mac Flecknoe?
Answer: The mantle symbolizes inherited authority, representing the transfer of dullness and literary incompetence from Flecknoe to Shadwell.
16. What is satire?
Answer: Satire is a literary form that uses humour, irony, ridicule, and exaggeration to expose human faults and weaknesses.
17. Name Dryden’s famous political satire.
Answer: Absalom and Achitophel is Dryden’s most famous political satire, attacking contemporary political conspiracies and rebellion.
18. Who does Achitophel represent in Absalom and Achitophel?
Answer: Achitophel represents Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, who opposed King Charles II’s political policies.
19. What is the source of Absalom and Achitophel?
Answer: The poem is based on the Biblical story of King David, Absalom, and Achitophel from the Old Testament.
20. What is the main theme of Absalom and Achitophel?
Answer: The poem explores political ambition, rebellion, manipulation, loyalty, and the importance of lawful monarchy.
21. Who is represented by Absalom in the poem?
Answer: Absalom represents James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, the illegitimate son of King Charles II.
22. What is Dryden’s greatest contribution to literary criticism?
Answer: Dryden established literary criticism as an independent discipline based on reason, judgment, and comparative literary analysis.
23. What is the form of An Essay of Dramatic Poesy?
Answer: The work is written in dialogue form, allowing different speakers to discuss dramatic theories and criticism.
24. Name the four speakers in An Essay of Dramatic Poesy.
Answer: The four speakers are Crites, Eugenius, Lisideius, and Neander, each representing different critical viewpoints.
25. Which speaker represents Dryden?
Answer: Neander represents Dryden and expresses his opinions regarding drama, criticism, and literary excellence.
26. What is the main subject of An Essay of Dramatic Poesy?
Answer: The essay discusses the merits of ancient and modern drama and compares French and English dramatic traditions.
27. What is Dryden’s opinion of Shakespeare?
Answer: Dryden praises Shakespeare as the greatest natural genius who possessed extraordinary imagination and understanding of human nature.
28. How does Dryden describe Ben Jonson?
Answer: Dryden describes Ben Jonson as the most learned English dramatist, admired for scholarship, discipline, and craftsmanship.
29. What is Dryden’s view on rhyme in drama?
Answer: Dryden supports rhyme in heroic drama because it adds dignity, elegance, and artistic beauty to serious subjects.
30. Who appointed Dryden Poet Laureate?
Answer: King Charles II appointed John Dryden Poet Laureate in 1668, recognizing his literary achievements and reputation.
31. What is Dryden’s famous elegy?
Answer: Threnodia Augustalis is Dryden’s famous elegy written on the death of King Charles II.
32. What is the significance of the Restoration Age?
Answer: The Restoration Age restored monarchy, reopened theatres, encouraged literary growth, and promoted wit, satire, and criticism.
33. Why is Dryden called the representative writer of the Restoration Age?
Answer: Dryden embodied Restoration values through his poetry, drama, criticism, and political writings, influencing the entire literary period.
34. Which qualities characterize Dryden’s style?
Answer: Dryden’s style is characterized by clarity, balance, wit, precision, reason, elegance, and powerful satirical expression.
35. Why is John Dryden important in English literature?
Answer: Dryden is important as poet, critic, dramatist, translator, and leader of Restoration literature and English neoclassicism.
36. Which literary age is known as the Restoration Age?
Answer: The Restoration Age refers to the period between 1660 and 1700 following the restoration of Charles II.
37. What was the most popular literary genre during the Restoration Age?
Answer: Drama was the most popular literary genre because reopened theatres attracted audiences seeking entertainment and social commentary.
38. What is Restoration Comedy?
Answer: Restoration Comedy is a witty dramatic form depicting fashionable society, love intrigues, social manners, and hypocrisy.
39. What is Heroic Drama?
Answer: Heroic Drama presents noble heroes, honour, love, warfare, and grand actions, usually written in heroic couplets.
40. Name Dryden’s famous heroic drama.
Answer: The Conquest of Granada is Dryden’s most famous heroic drama celebrating heroism, honour, love, and military glory.
41. What is a Comedy of Manners?
Answer: A Comedy of Manners satirizes social behaviour, fashionable customs, hypocrisy, and artificial relationships among upper-class society.
42. Why is satire important in Restoration literature?
Answer: Satire exposed political corruption, social pretensions, literary weaknesses, and human follies through humour and irony.
43. What is Neoclassicism?
Answer: Neoclassicism emphasizes reason, order, balance, decorum, restraint, and imitation of classical Greek and Roman models.
44. Which literary genre made Dryden famous as a critic?
Answer: Literary criticism made Dryden famous, especially through An Essay of Dramatic Poesy, a landmark critical work.
45. What is the significance of heroic couplets in Restoration poetry?
Answer: Heroic couplets provided clarity, precision, balance, wit, and elegance, becoming the dominant poetic form of Restoration literature.
Leave a Reply