DRYDEN, John, English poet, dramatist and critic: b. Aldwinckle All Saints, North amptonshire, 9 Aug. 1631; d. London, 1 May 1700. 'His family were landed gentry, of Puri tan affiliations. He was educated at West minster School and at Trinity College, Cam bridge, where he probably continued in residence until 1657. He then settled in London, which remained his home until his death. His life is exclusively that of a man of letters, and may be divided into three periods: 1657-81, 1681-88, 1688-1700. In the first of these he is primarily a dramatist, in the second a satirist and con troversialist, in the third a translator.
Dryden's first known work, a stilted elegy, 'Upon the Death of the Lord Hastings.' pub lished in 1649, is written in a style marked by conceits of the school of Cowley, and with its harsh versification gives no promise of future power. His real career opened with his resi dence in London, when he began to eke out by literary work the scanty income (about L40) that he inherited from his father. In 1659 he published his 'Heroic Stanzas consecrated to the Memory of His Highness Oliver, Late Lord Protector.' The author was probably under the influence of his uncle, Sir Gilbert Pickering, who had stood high in Cromwell's favor. In 1660, however, Dryden joined the throng of poets who celebrated the return of King Charles II, and composed his (Astrcea Redux' (1660), and his poem, 'To His Sacred Majesty, a Panegyric on His Coronation) (1661). Hence forth he was a consistent royalist, and with the possible exception of a short interval in 1680-81 a consistent member of the court party, until the revolution of 1688. His most important non-dramatic work of this period, (Anus Mira bilis) (1667), celebrates the naval victories over the Dutch and the great fire of London in 1666. Here as in his poem on Cromwell Dryden adopts the four-line stanza of Davenant's 'Gon dibert,' and shows the influence of Davenant's direct and simple style, to which he adds a vigor peculiarly his own.
After his change of politics Dryden formed new associations. He became intimate with the family of the Earl of Berkshire, and on 1 Dec. 1663 married his daughter, the Lady Elizabeth Howard, thereby gaining a substan tial increase in his income. Scandal, uncon firmed by any decisive evidence, reports that Dryden's bride had been guilty of misconduct, and that the marriage proved unhappy. Dry den's numberless sneers at marriage may be only the reflection of a prevailing fashion; and surviving letters of his wife show her to have been an affectionate mother. The three sons born to her and Dryden died within a few years after their father, leaving no descendants.
At the Restoration Dryden turned to the drama as the surest avenue of success for a young author. His first play, 'The Wild Gal lant' (1663), a prose comedy, was a failure; his second, 'The Rival Ladies' (1663 or 1664), a tragicomedy in blank verse, with some scenes in rime, had better fortune. He then collabo rated with his brother-in-law, Sir Robert How ard, on 'The Indian Queen' (1664), a tragedy, or more strictly a "heroic and encour aged by his success, produced independently a similar play, The Indian Emperor' (1664 or 1665). These "heroic plays," the one type of drama in which Dryden excels all other authors, are always written in the heroic couplet, are half operatic in tone, and with no pretense at realism attempt to reproduce on the stage the effect of an epic poem. "Love and valor," to use Dryden's phrase, are the subjects of them; and their drawing of character is strongly affected by that of Tasso and other epic poets and by that of the French romances of Calprenede and Mlle. de Scudery. These short-lived plays offend our present taste by their artificiality and insincerity; in their own time they pleased a public French enough to enjoy exaggerated gal lantry, English enough to endure bombast and to love the sight of single combats and battles on the stage.