John Dryden (1631-1700) was an influential English poet, playwright, literary critic and translator. He was born in Northamptonshire, England and died in London, being buried in Westminster Abbey next to Geoffrey Chaucer. Dryden came from a landed family with connections to Parliament and the Church of England. He received an education at Westminster School and Trinity College, where he studied classics, rhetoric and mathematics. As a writer, Dryden was a leading figure of the Restoration period in England, known for works such as Absalom and Achitophel and Mac Flecknoe. He made major contributions as a poet, playwright, and literary critic through works such as An Essay on Dra

1. JOHN DRYDEN
(1631-1700)

2. SYNOPSIS
BORN
9 August 1631
Northamptonshire,
England
DIED
1 May 1700 (aged 68)
London, England
OCCUPATION
poet, literary critic, playwright,
librettist
ALMA MATER
Westminster School
Trinity College, Cambridge
NOTABLE WORKS
Absalom and
Achitophel, Mac Flecknoe

3. JOHN DRYDEN WAS BORN
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, ENGLAND ON
AUGUST 9, 1631.
JOHN DRYDEN DIED IN LONDON ON
MAY 12, 1700, AND WAS BURIED IN
WESTMINSTER ABBEY NEXT CHAUCER.

4. FAMILY
JOHN DRYDEN CAME FROM A LANDOWNING
FAMILY WITH CONNECTIONS TO
PARLIAMENT AND THE CHURCH OF
ENGLAND.
 HIS IS MATERNAL GRANDFATHER WAS
RECTOR OF ALL SAINTS.
SON OF ERASMUS DRYDEN AND MARY
PICKERING.
HIS FAMILY WERE PARLIAMENTARY
SUPPORTERS WITH PURITANS LEARNING.

5. HE WAS AN ENGLISH POET, DRAMATIST AND
CIRITIC.
HE WAS ALSO A LEADING FIGURE OF THE
RESTORATION AGE.
HE WAS SO DOMINATING PERSON THAT THE
WHOLE AGE WAS KNOWN AS ‘AGE OF DRYDEN’.
WALTER SCOTT CALLED HİM AS ‘GLORIOUS JOHN’
HE LEFT BEHIND ALMOST 30 WORKS FOR STAGE
AS WELL AS A MAJOR CRITICAL STUDY (AN ESSAY
N DRAMATIC POESY) AND A NUMBER OF
TRANSLATIONS INCLUDING THE WORKS OF
VIRGIL.

6. • AFTER JOHN DONNE AND JOHN MILTON, JOHN
DRYDEN WAS THE GREATEST ENGLISH POET OF
THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
• AFTER WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE AND BEN
JONSON, HE WAS THE GREATEST PLAYWRIGHT.
• HE HAS NO PEER AS A WRITER OF PROSE,
ESPECIALLY LITERARY CRITICISM, AND AS A
TRANSLATOR. OTHER FIGURES, SUCH AS
GEORGE HERBERT OR ANDREW MARWELL OR
WILLIAM WYCHERLEY OR WILLIAM CONGREVE,
MAY FIGURE MORE PROMINENTLY IN
ANTHOLOGIES AND LITERARY HHISTORIES,
BUT DRYDEN‘S SUSTAINED OUTPUT IN BOTH
POETRY AND DRAMA RANKS HIM HIGHER.

7. EDUCATION
 HE STUDIES AS A KING’S SCHOLAR AT THE
PRESTIGIOUS WESTMINSTER SCHOOL OF
LONDON.
THERE, DRYDEN WAS TRAİNED IN THE ART
OF RHETORICAL ARGUMENT, WHICH
REMAINED A STRONG INFLUENCE ON THE
POET’S WRITING AND CRITICAL THOUGHT
THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE.
HE ENROLLED AT TRINITY COLLEGE IN
CAMBRIDGE THE FOLLOWING YEAR,
WHERE HE LIKELY STUDIED THE CLASSICS,
RHETORIC, AND MATHEMATICS.

8. WORKS
AFTER SHAKESPEARE, HE WROTE THE
GREATEST HEROIC PLAY OF THE CENTURY,
THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA (1670)
THE GREATEST TRAGICOMEDY, MARRIAGE A-
LA-MODE (1671)
HE GREATEST TRAGEDY OF THE
RESTORATION, ALL FOR LOVE (1677)
THE GREATEST COMITRAGEDY, DON SEBASTIAN
(1689)
ONE OF THE GREATEST COMEDIES,
AMPHITRYON (1690)

9.  DRYDEN THE POET IS BEST KNOWN TODAY AS A SATIRIST,
ALTHOUGH HE WROTE ONLY TWO GREAT ORIGINAL
SATIRES, MAC FLECKNOE (1682) AND THE MEDALL (1682).
 HIS MOST FAMOUS POEM, (MASTERPIECE) ABSALOM AND
ACHITOPHEL (1681)
 DRYDEN'S OTHER GREAT POEMS— ANNUS MIRABILIS
(1667), RELIGIO LAICI (1682), THE HIND AND THE PANTHER
(1687), ANNE KILLIGREW (1686), ALEXANDER'S FEAST (1697),
AND "TO MY HONOUR'D KINSMAN" (1700)
 HIS FIRST PLAY, THE WILD GALLANT (1663),

13. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
MERVE KURT