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Dramatic poesie - John Dryden

Bridge Course : Essay of Dramatic poesy by John Dryden

This blog is in response to the Bridge Course - Essay on Dramatic Poesy by John Dryden which is assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad Sir, Department of English MK Bhavnagar University. In this blog I am going to discuss my understanding of John Dryden's Essay of Dramatic Poesy and I will also deal with various aspects of it. So, Let's first have a brief introduction of John Dryden's "Essay of Dramatic Poesy" and Introduction of the writer himself.

John Dryden:- ( 1631-1700 )  

"we first make our habits, and then our habits make us." - John Dryden

Dryden is the greatest literary figure of the Restoration, and in his work we have an excellent reflection of both the good and the evil tendencies of the age in which he lived. If we can think for a moment of literature as a canal of water, we may appreciate the figure that Dryden is the 'Lock by which the waters of English poetry were let down from the mountains of Shakespeare and Milton to the plain of Pope's; that is , he stands between two very different ages, and serves as a transition from one to the others.

John Dryden was born in the village of Aldwinckle, Northamptonshire, in 1631. He was an English poet, Dramatist and literary critic. As a poet, dryden is best known as a satirist and was England's first poet laureate in 1668. His most famous poem is Absalom and Achitophel ( 1681 ). In 1667 he became more widely known and popular for his 'Annus Mirabilis', a narrative poem describing the terrors of the great fire in London and some events of the disgraceful war with Holland.

His Notable works:-

• Absalom and Achitophel
• Popish plot
• Essay on Dramatic poesie
• All for love
• Comedy of Manners
• Amphitryon

Sir Walter Scott calls John Dryden "Glorious John". Samuel Johnson calls John Dryden "The Father of English Criticism". He was the first poet Laureate of England. Father in sence of one who originates certain things. One who propagates in a particular, in a sustained manner.

Dryden is a Neoclassical poet. So The age of Dryden comes after an Elizabethan age. The Elizabethan age was having its free flow of imagination and romances and all that. And it was by reaction that the next generation of poets writing, satire, drama in verse, in the ancient sense poetry, because Aristotle uses poetry in the sense of literature but mostly in verse because that was a convention. So these neoclassical poets were trying to get back to some different sorts of inspiration other than that of the Elizabethan.

So, Now we discuss in detail An Essay on Dramatic poesie. It is a written by John Dryden.

An Essay on Dramatic poesie:- 

Essay of Dramatic poesie is a work by John Dryden, England's first poet Laureate, in which Dryden attempts to justify drama as legitimate form of "poetry" comparable to the epic, as well as defend English drama against that of the ancient and the French.

An Essay on Dramatic poesie was probably written in 1666 during closure of the London theatre due to plague. It can be read as a general defence of drama as a legitimate art form. In presenting his argument, Dryden takes up the subject that Philip Sidney had set forth in his Defence of poesie in 1580.

Meaning of Dramatic poesie:- 

Dramatic poetry is written in verse and meant to be spoken or read aloud or acted out to an audience. It involves actions and speech either spoken to others or oneself in the form of dramatic monologue, character sketch, and dialogue.

The Essay begins with a scene where four friends are sailing to see a Naval battle between the British and Dutch armies. These four Crites who are imagined as these four personages are,

Eugenius - Charles Sackville

Crites - Sir Robort Howard

Lucideus - sir Charles Sedley 

Neander - Dryden himself 

These four characters of the essay are thought to have been related to four Crites including Dryden himself. In between they talk about the Naval battle. The four men debate a series of three topics:

Eugenius - classical vs. Modern drama

Lucideus - French drama vs. English drama

Neander - Rhyme vs. Blank verse 

Invoking the so - called unities from Aristotle poetics, the four speakers discuss what makes a play "just and lively imitation" of human nature in action. So, in this essay all four present their view on Dramatic poesie. In this essay Dryden offers a definition of play. According to him,

"A play ought to be just a lively image of human nature, representing its passions and the changes of fortune to which it is subject, for the delight and instruction of mankind."

A play ought to be just lively ; it means there is no artificially or consciousness. It should be very natural, just a lively image so it should not be the Artificiality to be considered. While talking about the play , he doesn't say that he is giving definition of the play but, he says that he is rather giving description of the play. For a better understanding you can watch this video. 

Q.1 Do you see any difference between Aristotle 's definition of Tragedy and Dryden 's definition of play?

Definition of Tragedy:-

"A tragedy is the imitation of an action that is serious and also , as having magnitude , complete in itself; in appropriate and pleasurable language;... In a dramatic rather than narrative form; with incidents arousing pity and fear , wherewith to accomplish a catharsis of these emotions."

Definition of play:-

"Just a lively image of human nature, representing its passions and humours, and the changes of fortune to which it is subject , for the delight and instruction of mankind." 

Definition of Tragedy is given by Aristotle. Aristotle was a Greek Philosopher and scientist. Tragedy is the "Imitation of an action" (mimesis) according to the law of probability or necessity." Aristotle indicates that the medium of Tragedy is drama, not narrative; tragedy"shows " rather than"tells".

Aristotle gives six parts of tragedy:

Formative elements of tragedy:-

Plot

Character

Songs

Diction

Thought

Spectacle

The end of the tragedy is a catharsis of the tragic emotions of pity and fear. Katharsis is another Aristotelian term that has generated considerable debate. The word means "purging", and Aristotle seems to be employing a medical metaphor: tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and fear in order to reduce these passions to a healthy, balanced proportion. Aristotle also talks of the "pleasure" that is proper to tragedy, apparently meaning the aesthetic pleasure one gets from contemplating the pity and fear that are aroused through an intricately constructed work of art.

Definition of play is given by John Dryden.

According to the definition, play is an 'image' of 'human nature' and the image is 'just' and 'lively'. By using the word 'just' Dryden seems to imply that literature imitates human actions. For Dryden, 'poetic imitation ' is different from an exact, servile copy of reality, for, the imitation is not only 'just'; it is also 'lively'.

Aristotle's definition of Tragedy ended with the therapeutic word catharsis while Dryden's definition of play ended with delight and instructions. By the comparison, we can say that both have similar ideas but Dryden moves a step forward when he says it is for the delight and instruction of mankind.

Neander's final argument with Crites over whether rhyme is suitable in drama depends on Aristotle's poetic: Neander says that Aristotle demands a verbally artful"lively" imitation of nature, while Crites thinks that dramatic imitation ceases to be "just" when it depends from ordinary speech - i.e. prose or blank verse.

Q. 2 What would be your preference so far as poetic or prosaic dialogues are concerned in the play?

In Essay of Dramatic poesie, Eugenius, Crites, lucideus and all four present different opinions. 

Between the two characters Crites and Dryden himself, Neander. The last and very important part of the essay is which way of writing the play is more appropriate poetic or prosaic dialogues.

The Neo Classical way of writing the heroic couplet style of writing and Dryden himself being in this tradition, writing plays in verse. And therefore his mouthpiece Neander the writings of serious plays, tragedy in verse.

Crites:-

In this essay, Crites objects to rhyme in plays: "sunset no man without premeditation speaks in rhyme, neither ought he to do it on the stage." Whereas Crites first said that Even though blank verse lines are no more spontaneous than are rhymed lines, they are still to be preferred because they are "nearest nature ". "Rhyme is incapable of expressing the greatest thought naturally, and the lowest it cannot with any grace: for what is more unbefitting the majesty of verse than to call a servant or bid a door be shut in rhyme? He says that this kind of an artificiality puts stress on the playwrights to necessarily Rhyme.

Neander:-

Neander responds to the objects against rhyme by admitting that "verse so tedious" is inappropriate to drama. I would be on the side of prosaic dialogues. It is fine that the verses are very essays to remember , but it is very difficult to understand. For example, Shakespeare's works are written in blank verse and other works are written in verse , which language is very difficult to understand or even read. It is easy to read and understand prose dialogues. First, I would prefer the prose style of drama.

So by giving the arguments on rhymes and blank verse what Dryden wanted to communicate or say through an Essay on Dramatic poesie, your ideas and thoughts I think will remain helpful for the e - contect leaders for literary criticism. So we can say that the ideas of play given by Dryden is much more appropriate than earlier Crites. here I put a small YouTube video on Dramatic poesie.

Between the two characters Crites and Dryden himself, Neander. The last and very important part of the essay is which way of writing the play is more appropriate poetic or prosaic dialogues. The Neo Classical way of writing the heroic couplet style of writing and Dryden himself being in this tradition, writing plays in verse. And therefore his mouthpiece Neander the writings of serious plays, tragedy in verse. 

So , we can say that in this essay Dryden favours and understands English and French drama. So we can say that the definition of drama is an image of human nature and that the image is just as well as lively. And using the just too seems to imply that literature imitates human actions.

Thank you for visiting...

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Religious fervour and Tale of A Tub

Thinking Activity:-

Hello Readers, This blog is in response to the task which is assigned by Kavisha ma'am, the department of English, Mkbu. We have Swift's 'A Tale of A Tub' in our course which happens to be a religious satire. So here I compare A Tale of A Tub with Religious Fervour.

In this blog I am going to discuss the myth and science behind the festival "Shitala Satam" .

Religious fervour and Tale of A Tub:-

'Religion is a culture of faith,

Science is culture of doubt.'

                    - Richard p. Feynman 

Science and Religion are like two different windows for looking at the world. The two windows look at the same world, but they show different aspects of that world. 

fear of the lord or god phobia:- 

The Bible says that man should have a healthy fear of  The lord for betterment of life. However, an unhealthy, persistent or irrational fear of god is a specific Phobia to the sufferer and his loved ones. phobias are the mind's way of protecting itself.

As is the case with most phobias; fear of The Lord Phobia also originates in the unconscious under certain situations. A Real-life childhood experienced: bad grades, death of a loved one following a bad conduct might be linked to "God's wrath or bad karma". Mild cases of childhood Theophobia generally go away by the ages of six. However, some persist well into adulthood. Other catalysts for Theophobia include movies, stories, news reports which show example of similar Sitations. I have found that in the society, people are following such traditions by fear as all the belief  laid a kind of fear that if you will not do this you will be punished by the gods or goddesses for your disobedience. as a part of saving and proving their statements some people are even comparing those beliefs with the science, but only a few things or events can be viewed as having scientific insight. Otherwise all fail to prove that things.

so let's have discussion on the topic of Shitala satam. 

Myth of Shitala Satam:- 

The month of august is patriotic as well as religion month. In this month we can find independence day and month of  kranti and revolution. on the other side, we can find so many religious festivals like...month of shravan , Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtmi, Pateli, Bakri-Eid, Molakat- Gaurivrat, Divaso etc...

Shitala ( she who is cool ) Indian goddess of SMALLPOX and of other infections diseases. she is worshipped under this name throughout the regions of South Asia in which Indo Aryan languages are spoken. In India she is widely worshipped in the rural areas of west Bengal state. Her mythology is highly elaborated in west Bengal and Bangladesh, where Mangal Kavya ( auspicious poem) in Bengali, dating mainly from 18th and 19th centuries, describe the appearance of the goddess among mortals, their rejection of her, and the smallpox epidemics that she visited upon them. she is worshipped in Villagewide rites mainly in the dry weather of winter and spring, the season most Favourable to smallpox transmission. 

The origin of the myth of Shitala lies in Skand purana which states that Shitala purana which states that shitala holds the broom in one of her hands and a kalash in the other hand. The most astonishing thing is that people also take vrat on this day. The myth is taken so Seriousely in most parts of India that they even blindly worship Shitala anywhere, like on the road itself where they find the empty place. There are some Youtube videos describing the glory of Shitala, there are various myths surrounding this glory which you might be familiar with.

Have a look at one such video of a Shitala Satam,

God was an illusion and worship were reverting to childhood needs of security and forgiveness.

           - Sigmund Freud

So religion played a vital role in shaping human thinking. Every festivals born from fear. Firstly we can see there is some problem regarding this particular god and goddesses and then they become a god and people start connecting it with god and divinity. we had similar temple for corona virous. temple manager Anand Bharathi k said, we are worshiping the virus in the form of a goddess and praying to her every day to reduce the impacts of this disease. 

Corona Mata:- 

The first corona Mata temple appears to have been established in Kerala. "I am worshiping the coronavirus as a goddesses and doing daily pujas for the safety and well being of healthcare professionals, police personnel and scientists, who are toiling to discover a vaccine," the temple priest at Kollam district in Kerala explained. In its essence, the worship of corona Mata reflects the distinct outlook of the Hindu mind, which believes that humans will be reduced by divine Orses if the gods are paid adequate tributes in the form of offerings. we can say that in this 21st century, people believe in such things, which shows the dire situation of India. rather than being at home , people go to pray Mata corona at the mandir.

Science vs Shitala Satam:-

Shitala Satam is a Hindu festival in which people eat cold food which people eat cold food which was cooked a day before and not allowed to cook new Shitala Mata become angry and took your child away. there is one story behind the festival that....years ago there is a terrible disease called Shitala, and there is no medicine for it so people become restless from the death of this illness and they started to worship this Devi named Shitala and in the whole year at least one day they eat cold food. 

Question raised when one scholar found inoculation and vaccination for this diseases which we called smallpox. Now people raised questions about why we eat cold food on that particular day.

There one more science behind eating cold food is to overcome the deficiency of  B12. But at that time there is no practice to eat cold food to overcome the deficiency of  B12. People do this in the influence of fear of Devi Shitala. but after that three is one research paper done by great scientist Homi k. Bhabha that Shitala is the festival to overcome deficiency of B12.

Edward Jenner was a British physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines including creating the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. when Adward Jenner tried to tell the people that he found a vaccination for this illness he become hatred.... Becouse he ultimately tried to tell the people that there is nothing like a goddess Shitala and she is not going to cure your disease. so this is how science and religion always stand opposite. But we can say that,

"If there is no religion than there is no science and if there is no science than there is no religion."

The myth of Sisyphus the existentialist philosopher Albert camus compared the punishment to humanity's futile search for meaning and truth in a meaningless and indifferent universe. Sisyphus repeatedly tries to complete the task and so do mortal being repeatedly go to the temple and embrace the idol as their own which is totally absurd. 

The worship of Shitala is conducted only by women but now also take part in the ceremony. she is primarily worshiped in the dry seasons of winter and spring on the day, which is known as Sheetala Satam. There are many arti sangrah and stutis for the puja. some of them are Shri Shitala mata chalisha, aarati. According to common belief, many families do not light their stoves on Ashtami day and all devotees cheerfully eat cold food in the form of  prasad. The idea behind this is that as spring fades and summer approaches, cold food should be avoided. 

overtime, with this both science and religion suffer from corruption and perversion. when religion becomes narrow minded, they come in the way of scientific has given limitless material power to humankind.

so i conclude my remarks on a positive way. As we enter a new century likely to dominated by sweeping scientific and technological developments, the need for spiritual guidance will be stronger than ever. science alone cannot adequately cater for our spiritual needs, but any religion that refuses to embrace scientific discovery is unlikely to survive to the 22nd century. 

Thank you

 

Teacher's day celebration

 Teacher's day celebration 2022

"Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions".

Hello everyone ! On occasion of teacher day 5th September, 2022, the Department of English celebrated virtual Teacher's day. 

As we know that 5th September celebrated as Teacher's day. On this day we can include celebration on honour them for their special contribution in a particular field or area. We are celebrated to mark the birthday of "Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan" who was a scholar, philosophical, Bharatratna Awarded, a highly respected Teacher. They play a very important role in every student life.

As student from Department of English. I also prepared one short video on poem "Ozymandias". So please watch my video... Here I am placing that video by clicking on that you can watch the full video on my YouTube channel.

Preview of video

https://youtube.com/shorts/NJ16PPnOX-Q?feature=share

Click here to watch the video

https://youtu.be/yW5zYSY1-rY

I have prepared online quiz based on the video. Appear in online quiz and you will get an auto generated certificate with the score on your given email id.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1XaJ4O-lKcjlkWRhD680ELid6DIHmoxuC-i7_keTXYy8/edit?usp=drivesdk 

Happy Teacher's day

Thank you for visiting..