John Dryden, Poet and Playwright
John Dryden was a prominent English poet who lived during the 17th Century. At various times also a critic, translator and playwright, Dryden had such a significant impact on the literary landscape of England during the Restoration era that this period was also known as The Age of Dryden.
John Dryden was born on August 19th, 1631 in Aldwinkle near Northamptonshire. His grandfather on his mother's side was the Rector of All Saints in Aldwinkle and Dryden himself was actually born in the village rectory there.
Dryden was born the eldest out of fourteen children to Erasmus and Mary Dryden who were both Puritans who came from a familial lineage of landowners. They were ardent supporters of the Puritan ethnic and of the Parliament of England. As such both parents sought to instil the same values into their children.
It is believed that Dryden received his earliest educational instruction from teachers in the village of Titchmarsh were he lived as a young boy. His next step along the path to education was taken when he attended Westminster School by virtue of a scholarship from the King.
His headmaster at Westminster was Dr. Richard Busby who was by equal parts a stern disciplinarian and a compelling teacher. The school then was a lot different than it would be later on when it was re-opened by Elizabeth I and taking on the teaching methods of one of Dryden's future colleagues John Locke. During John Dryden's stay at Westminster, the school was fervently pro-Royalist and had a strong Anglican leaning in stark contrast to the more moderate atmosphere it would cultivate later on.
It remains unclear how Dryden took to the school's affinity although what is known is that he held Dr. Richard Busby in very high regard and in fact he would later send his own two sons to study there. The school would later establish a house bearing Dryden's name.
Westminster School undoubtedly had a lasting effect upon Dryden, which is clearly evident in his later writings, which featured the dialectical patterns favoured by the school. Westminster, being a humanist grammar school, practiced a curriculum, which heavily emphasised the fine art of rhetoric and the practice of presenting both sides of an argument in the resolution of any given issue. This curriculum included translation assignments that were given weekly and doubtless honed Dryden's capacity for assimilation.
Even at this early date, Dryden wasted no time entering the literary world and it was at Westminster that he published his first poem, a stirring elegy on the death of his friend, Henry, Lord Hastings. This poem showed a glimpse of Dryden's strong pro-Royalist leanings and included among other things a reference to the execution of King Charles I, which had taken place on January 30th, 1649.
The year 1650 would find Dryden attending classes at Trinity College in Cambridge University where the religious and political grounding that he had received from early childhood would be reinforced. This time Dryden would find a mentor in the Master of Trinity Thomas Hill, a Puritan preacher who also happened to have been a rector in Dryden's hometown.
Dryden received much the same instruction at Trinity College as would any other student, with heavy emphasis on the classics, rhetoric and mathematics. It was in 1654 when he graduated from the college at the top of his class and received his BA.
The same year that Dryden graduated from Trinity College, his father died and left him a bit of land as inheritance. Although this parcel of land would make a little income, it was not enough to sustain Dryden financially and he had to find other means to make a living.
John Dryden published his first important work during the Protectorate era in 1658 entitled Heroique Stanzas, which was an eulogy on the death of Oliver Cromwell. While Dryden's admiration for the Lord Protector was evident, he was careful to tone down his emotional display in this work.
When the Restoration period ended, Dryden was by all accounts one of the foremost poets and literary critics of the time. His influence and renown would grow steadily until he fell out of favour after refusing to support the new government after James was overthrown. Nevertheless, Dryden would remain a well-respected literary figure and would remain so to this day.
John Dryden died on May 12th, 1700.
Original Authors: Doods Pangburn
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 21/07/2008
