Mac Flecknoe as a Satire - 2412 Words

Written about 1678 and published in 1682 Mac Flecknoe (full title: Mac Flecknoe; or, A satyr upon the True-Blew-Protestant Poet, T.S.[1]) is a verse mock-heroic satire written by John Dryden. It is a direct attack on Thomas Shadwell, another prominent poet of the time. As an English poet, John Dryden is classified as classic writer. When compared to romantic verses, Dryden’s poems, found lacking that love of nature. His verses are commonly simple. He loved to apply intellectual approach. Brower (1959) comments him that the whole account of poetic composition indicates clearly that Dryden sought for intellectual strength and rational precision in form. This indication is found as well in Mac Flecknoe. Dryden’s role as a poetic prophet to†¦show more content†¦He is the king of mediocrity. The poem is also a commentary the on Art and its’ relation to Nature. Dryden saw Art as â€Å"Nature’s handmaid†, that is, true Art should imitate nature a s closely as possible. The flaw of MacFlecknoe’s poetry is that it is unnatural – poetry doesn’t flow naturally from his pen – his creative process is compared to labouring – he threshes out forced metric lines: â€Å"thy Paper in thy Thrashing-Hand†. Even the music in his plays is antithetical to nature: â€Å"The Treble squeaks doe fear, the Bases Rore;† Thus, Shadwell’s work is not true art because it is not a mirror of nature.1 Part of this conception of a non-masculine and unnatural art emerges in images of pregnancy or fertility which do not result in creative output – what Dryden calls â€Å"Pangs without birth, and fruitless Industry†. 2) Historically speaking Flecknoe assumed the throne as King of Nonsense. .When the time comes for him to choose which of his sons is worthy to succeed him and â€Å"wage immortal war with wit† (line 12), Flecknoe decides that the son most like him should receive the honor. That son is Thomas Shadwell, who has been â€Å"mature in dullness from his tender years† (line 16) and is the only one of his offspring who stands â€Å"confirmd in full stupidity† (line 18). .......So Shadwell inherits the throne as Mac Flecknoe (son of Flecknoe). .......Shadwell is so witless (and,Show MoreRelatedMac Flecknoe1091 Words   |  5 PagesDryden’s ‘Mac Flecknoe’ as a satire. A. John Dryden’s Mac Flecknoe, as part of his corpus of satirical verse, is a short piece, and not as overtly political as, say, Absalom and Achitophel. It does aim to censure through indirect ridicule rather than direct condemnation, but, being a censorious poem directed specifically at an individual subject, Dryden’s literary rival Thomas Shadwell, it seems more a lampoon, as defined in Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, than a proper, high satire. The objectRead MoreImagery in Mac Flecknoe787 Words   |  4 PagesThe title of Dryden’s poem Mac Flecknoe initiates the theme of familiar succession thus presenting many father/son or successor pairs. The poem begins with a mock sentential in the ponderous, aphoristic manner of a heroic poetry, gradually unveils the pathetic monarch of â€Å"Nonsense Absolute†. The first four lines which open the poem are in the high style with a delicate Horatian irony controlling the mock heroic inversions of term s. In the opening twenty lines of the poem Dryden introduces the readersRead MoreThe Changing Face of Love in English Literature1528 Words   |  7 Pagestime seem to center themselves upon more academic subjects. While Swift is very concerned with politics and social class, other authors are analyzing and satirizing the works of other authors, as Dryden does in â€Å"Mac Flecknoe† and as Pope accomplishes in â€Å"The Rape of the Lock† in which he satires the epic poem. The writers of this era have begun to write about writing and many of their works are nonfiction pieces. Unlike their predecessors, who created characters and contrived situations for their stories