Dryden considered poetry's main purpose to be providing delight to readers. For dramatic poetry, he supported tragi-comedy genres that combined joy and pain. In tragedies, he defined the goal as expelling arrogance and inspiring compassion, though he doubted a play could achieve purgation in just a few hours. Dryden felt epics were superior to tragedies as they could present greater actions, more elaborate structures, and more lasting effects through words alone. He disagreed with the strict interpretations of the classical unities of time, place and action, finding they constrained plots and imagination. Dr. Johnson considered Dryden the father of English criticism for systematically discussing principles of composition and touching on a wide range of literary

1. 22 nd February 2011 III B. A. Literature John Dryden

18. To be continued