This paper examines John Dryden's political poem "Absalom and Achitophel" as a work of historical allegory and satirical commentary on 17th-century English politics. The analysis covers Dryden's use of the biblical story of Absalom's rebellion against King David as a parallel for the Exclusion Crisis, the Popish Plot, and the Monmouth Rebellion. The paper also explores the poem's poetic techniques — including iambic pentameter, heroic couplets, and continuous verse structure — and considers the broader political intentions behind the work, including its possible function as royal propaganda designed to legitimize Charles II and demonize his rivals.
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John Dryden was one of the most important literary figures of the 17th century, excelling in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry alike. Dryden was a master of many literary techniques, most particularly the extended metaphor. His poem "Absalom and Achitophel" is a political satire that deals with the then-current political situation in England in a sly and intelligent way. The piece is a historical allegory in which the author uses ancient events to explore the deeper meaning behind more recent events that had shaped his own society. The rebellion of Absalom against King David is used to parallel the various plots to seize the throne of England through the Exclusion Crisis, the Popish Plot, and the Monmouth Rebellion. Dryden uses the relative safety of allegory to make a scathing remark about the politics of his country and to subtly recommend ways in which the country could be strengthened through certain changes.
The story of Absalom would of course have been very well known to the people of 17th- and 18th-century England, Christianity being the national religion and a large part of everyday life for most people of the period. David's heir Absalom, unwilling to wait until David's death to become king, decides to lead a revolution against him. Achitophel, who had been one of the king's most trusted advisors, chooses to work against him in the ensuing conflict, becoming the worst kind of traitor. At the end of the story both traitors have been killed, hinting to any reader that those who would dare defy the king in the modern day would likely also find themselves dead.
Dryden uses this well-known story to compare the perpetrators of the plots against England's royal family to the villains in King David's tale. At the time Dryden was writing, England was going through a tumultuous period in which various figures in King Charles II's life were colluding to seize the throne at his passing. In order to prevent the Catholic King James from ascending to the throne, Charles' lead advisor Shaftesbury urged Charles to legitimize his illegitimate son Monmouth. However, it emerged that had this failed, Shaftesbury and Monmouth were prepared to take the throne by force, leading to the arrest of both men. Dryden utilizes the extended metaphor of the biblical allegory to make the struggle Charles II was then facing both more palpable to the reader and more significant, by placing their king in the same position as King David so many centuries before.
In terms of poetic technique, John Dryden employs iambic pentameter throughout "Absalom and Achitophel." This was the most popular form of poetic meter during the Renaissance and continued well into the 18th century, favored by William Shakespeare as well as the sonneteers and poets of the period. Iambic pentameter consists of a series of metric feet within a single line: ten syllables arranged in a pattern of unstressed followed by stressed syllables, making five sets — hence pentameter, from the Latin prefix penta-, meaning five. This gives the piece a natural rhythm and places it stylistically among its classical counterparts from the literary period, lending it authority both as a work of art and as a piece of political commentary.
The rhyme scheme consists of paired couplets: each odd-numbered line rhymes with the line that immediately follows it and does not necessarily correspond to any other rhyme elsewhere in the poem. The effect is a sing-song pattern that makes the story feel like an oral history transcribed rather than a composition that originated as a written work. Rather than being divided into stanzas, as is the case with most poetry of the age, Dryden instead shapes the poem into one long, continuous passage, giving it more in common with the epic poems of Homer than with the works of his contemporaries. These three elements working together — iambic pentameter, heroic couplets, and unbroken verse — give "Absalom and Achitophel" a sense of historicity, as though it were a relic of a bygone era and thus all the more important an achievement.
"Poem as satire and possible royal propaganda"
Charles was a disputed king himself, and there was as much turmoil around his own ascension as there was around that of his heir. With so many factions trying to seize power, the population of England was no doubt deeply concerned about the future of their country and of their potential rulers. Dryden's poem casts the situation in biblical terms, elevating Charles to the position of David and transforming those who would betray him into villains of biblical evil. It exonerates Charles and demonizes his enemies. There is even evidence to suggest that the piece may have been commissioned by the royal family itself to serve as propaganda, ensuring that the king emerged from the crisis looking heroic and wholly devoted to the best interests of his country.
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