Dryden's Essay: Of Dramatic Poesy: review of Short Video Lectures

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1) First video: After watching first video we come to know that why Dr Samuel Johnson called Dryden ‘The father of English criticism. Father in a sense because he was the parson after Aristotle who is giving us a very well formed definition of a play. A neoclassical critic because his influences are say Aristotle Longinus the classical critics, neo classical scholars, critics are influenced by the classical minds. And also give the definition of play.

2) In second video : Dryden is neo classical poet, the age of Dryden comes after the Elizabethan age. As a poet Dryden come to realize that he needed a kind of sanitized, Dramatic poesy meaning the poetical art form of drama so he looks back to his connecting the entire critical and history of criticism and history of dramatic texts.

3) Video 3: Dryden’s definition of play ‘A play ought to be just a lively means there is no a artificiality. It should be very natural just a lively image so it should not be artistically considered. Then representation of human nature is also important. It means not only copy or imitation it is presentation and representation.

4) Video 4:there was discussion about the superiority of ancient and moderns. Lisideius argued that French drama is superior to English dramas while Eugenius favours the Morden over the ancient – argued that the Morden exceed the ancients because of having learned and profited from their example.

5) Video 5: Dryden himself begins this tradition, writing plays in verse. Neander supports the writing of serious plays, tragedy in verse. Where as Crites says that nothing is just and lively can be so artificial that it takes primes. There are some objections and some of them are quite hilarious for example: would anybody scold one's servant in rhyme or there party would that be in rhyme. he says that write it in verse take away the naturalness. Dryden seems to have moved on not followed his own strongest character Neander rhyme advocating verse.

6) Video:6 meander stands for the use of rhymed verse. crites says that rhyme is unnatural to the play. He says that it is not a proper way to carry ‘just and lively’ image of human nature. Crites says that-“no man without premeditation speaks in rhyme”. So this is the solid ground where time argues that it should not be use. Crites also argued that blank verse should not also carry just and lively human image.