John Dryden’s Dramatic Poesy

This is a blog task assigned by Barad sir. In here we learned about Dryden’s “Essay of Dramatic Poesy”. You can read all about it here. I shall try to answer the questions to the best of my ability. 

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

To see the difference we first have to see the definitions. 

Aristotle’s definition of Tragedy -  

"An imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions." 

Dryden’s definition of Play - 

“ Just and 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.”

Differences-

Now the first thing that we should keep in mind is that Aristotle’s definition only deals with Tragedy. Whereas Dryden’s definition encompasses a wider range of dramas. 

If we see the end of the definition of Aristotle puts emphasis on the concept of “Catharsis”. He believes that tragic plays should produce strong emotions in the audience. 

Dryden ends with equal emphasis on instructions or moral preachings as well as delight of the audience.

Aristotle also considered Unities very important. This is not so important for Dryden.  Dryden argues that these Unities can be ignored as it creates a very interesting drama.

Hence, a few differences are seen in definitions of Dryden and Aristotle. These differences are also expected as both these literary scholars are product of different time periods.

2. If you are supposed to give your personal predilection, would you be on the side of the Ancient or the Modern? Please give reasons. 

I personally prefer the Modern English criticism. Here are my reasons for it:- 

I think the three Unities rule really restrict creative writing. The Modern freedom to ignore this rule helps dramatists in producing grand dramatic works. The main story can also be explored freely if the unities rule is ignored. 

Another great feature of Modern Criticism, which here means from Neo-classical age, is that some elements of classics are present. However, Modern techniques are also incorporated in their works. The work produced here is an updated version of classics.