18th Century Literature

English Literature John Dryden, English poet and critics who was is well-known for his political and religious poetry, explicates on the nature of good writing in his essay, "An essay of dramatic poesy." In this discourse, Dryden looks into the qualities that best defines good writing in literature as a literary work created through three important elements: the work must have a purpose, has a well-conveyed message comprehensible to the reader, and is expressed with wit and intelligence in the simplest and easiest language to understand.

For Dryden, works of literature must be created for a purpose, an honest purpose with strong effectiveness, not a literary works written for the writer's benefit only. This kind of writer, which Dryden identifies as the 'first sort of poetry' -- that is, good poetry -- is synonymous with the writer who is "...so much a well-willer to the satire that he spares no man .. And .. ought to be punished for his action ..

" The strong influence of the good writer's work is readily compared with the uninspiring work of the bad writer, who is characterized as one who " .. affects plainless, to cover his want of imagination .. The highest flight of his fancy is some miserable antithesis ..

" It is also important that the message of the poem becomes clear, yet thought-provoking for the reader, and this can be achieved by using what Dryden terms as "easy language." These qualities are reflected in his discussion of the comprehensibility and thought-provoking nature of good literary works written by good writers: "A thing well said will be wit in all languages; and though it may lose something in the translation, yet to him who reads it in the original, 'tis still the same: he has an idea of excellency ..

though it cannot be rendered in our language, yet leaves an impression on our souls .. " In sum, the universality of the writer's literary work marks the pivotal point in which s/he has become a good writer. As exemplified in the discussion of Dryden's "An essay of dramatic poesy," the great English poet and critic considers literary criticism as a form of exercise in which writers are given a guideline on what their purpose should be in writing a creative literary piece.

For Dryden, literary criticism attempts to create meaning to the writer's work; any literary work devoid of meaning and lacks the universal appeal Dryden talks about is considered as bad writing, and the writer, a bad writer. The most beneficial kind of literary criticism is similar to an important piece of literature: it must have a well-defined purpose and universality of message and language that every individual of any culture in the world can readily identify with and understand the literary work.

Pope, meanwhile, has a similar thesis as Dryden: literary criticism must have a well-defined purpose, especially when it concerns poor writing and writers. However, unlike Dryden's principle of universality in literary writing, Pope's style encourages the use of subjectivity and writing for the benefit, not of the general public, but also for the writer.