Blog Post 2

 John Dryden


John Dryden lived at a time in history that a man could be arrested or killed if they went against the king or talked badly about powerful people. This fact did not stop Dryden from becoming one of the most renowned satire writers of his time. Dryden would become famous for his heroic poems, different plays, and criticisms but his satire is what separated him from the rest. More about John Dryden.  Satire is defined as a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn. Dryden would use satire as a way to public mocked his personal and public enemies in a way that would not have any repercussions to him. Using satire this way is extremely similar to how people or comedians use satire today. 

Comedians today all practice using satires in their standup or on the shows. Comedy Centrals television shows The Daily Show with Trevor Noah is a perfect example of today's satire. Noah uniquely uses satire to illustrate the issues with President Trump. 



Dryden's use of satire and Noah’s use are similar in many regards as Noah is using current events to make his satire. One major difference between the two is that Dryden would most likely be killed if he wrote anything derogatory about the king but Noah is more than willing to highlight all of Trump's mistakes. I believe that if Dryden was alive today and was allowed to have the same level of freedom, Dryden would have been an extremely successful comedian. 










John Dryden quote: Those who write ill, and they who ne'er durst ...

Dryden beliefs in what he considered good satire or what he believed was essential to creating something good was shown through is rivalries. Dryden's Rivalries. Through his rivalry with Shadwell, Dryden shows the important characteristics that he believed to be essential. First being the wit of the satire was more important than the point being made. If the satire is too easily understood it was not good. By giving this criticism Dryden describes how Shadwell is a poor writer of satire and is lazy or used cheap jokes Dryden's criticisms were highly regarded and gave Dryden the power to decide ultimately what was considered good or bad. 


Sources

 Marshall, Ashley. John Dryden’s Satiric Poetry, https://www.bl.uk/restoration-18th-century-literature/articles/john-drydens-satiric-poetry

Poetry Foundation. John Dryden. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-dryden

 Meriiam Webster. Satire. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/satire

Trevor Noah: Trump's Response To coronavirus Is Exposing His Lack Of Leadership. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2xPTP5hr6o


Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 26, 2020 at 9:53 PM

    This is a great explanation of John Dryden and his take on satire. I do see a similarity between talk show comedians' use of satire and Dryden's. The only thing I'd argue is that the intent behind the wit of his satire was to generate more of an appreciation of the jab rather than his target to take offense. This was a focus on the subtlety of the wit, to which you pointed out in the last paragraph as being essential. It has to be almost completely missed and I agree wholeheartedly. But I see where you're coming from; during his time it was probably better to keep satire as a easy thing to miss in a reading as a way of saying, "ha! you couldn't get it!" You bring a good point that has me thinking, would he, in modern times, become a comedian? I honestly don't know.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Room for Improvement

Image
  Do you feel your blog meets all the rubric criteria? If not, then what areas need work? I do feel that I met seral areas of the rubric criteria such as the due date but there is still plenty of room that needs work. I know one of the early blogs did not meet the word count and then I did not fully answer the question.   Which aspects of writing assignments on a blog confuse or create stress for you? Honestly, nothing on the blog is confusing or creates stress I just feel as if I sometimes do not fully answer the question. Are you putting your best efforts into assignments and blog writing? I would like to say that I am putting the effort into the assignment but the grade does not reflect it. I need to do more and I will. Do you review and revise your blog posts for grammar, mechanics, and readability? I work on my blog all week and do edits until I feel as if it reads well. Writing on a blog can be risky since the blog is public and will be seen by others. How do you
Read more

Religion and Science Coming Together

Image
Throughout the history of humankind, it is fair to say that science and religion have not agreed. Currently today there are thousands of different religions with twenty major ones that the majority practice .  Twenty Major Religions . The number of scientific theories is much larger but still have the same number of most popular ones that most people are familiar with. Ten popular theories . With each religion and each theory, they all offer different answers to some of the greatest questions still left unanswered. What is life's purpose? Is there a soul? Does God exist? However, neither science nor religion has proof of what they claim to have the answers for; religion believes in faith in what it promises, and science believes in logic in its answers.  John Bunyan is known to the world for being a Christian writer and preacher. He believes that the world was created by one god and as humans it is our destiny to find our way back to god. In his famous book “    The Pilgrim’s Pr
Read more

The Prentend Anti-slaver.

Image
  Pro-slave ry or A nti- slavery Oroonoko: Or, The Royal Slave In the story Oroonoko, the author Aphra Behn is proud of herself for writing such an amazing anti-slave novel that comes from her own personal life experiences. However, was this really anti-slave? Throughout the story, she constantly shows how there is a clear difference between Oro onoko and white people as she quickly points out that he has many desirable traits but is b lack. The story in itself shows all of the horrors of the slave trade and how millions of slaves were kidnapped from their homes and forced into slavery. One could say that the fact that Oroonoko was royalty is just an example of how any African could be a slave and their social status means nothing. This brings up the question, was Behn against slavery or how slaves were treated? She goes into great detail about how badly slaves are treated or killed by the example of Oroon oko’s death however she writes the story in favor of the slave owners winn
Read more