John Dryden As The Father Of English Criticism.

Introduction

Dr. Johnson calls Dryden the father of English criticism in his famous short biography and critical review of 52 poets, "Lives of the English Poets" (1779–1781). "Dryden can be considered the father of English criticism because he was the first author to teach us to value writing," said Dr. Johnson, who rightly awarded the honor to Dryden for There are no consistent reviews in the UK. . before him. Although Sidney and Ben Johnson are among the golds of English literature, they are often observed without often performing critical work or establishing critical theory.

 

The main idea of the criticism of Dryden

According to Dryden, a critic must understand that a writer writes about his own time and about those to whom he belongs. He advises studying the old models carefully so as not to blindly imitate them but to use them as a torch to light the way. Dryden asserts that the critic's job is not to identify minor flaws but to discover the sublime beauty that makes it immortal.

 

Innovative Critical Methods

The “Essay on Dramatic Poetry” is developed as a dialogue between four different types of literary characters or four speakers representing a literary era. They are:

• Crites speaks for the ancient playwrights.
• Lisideius speaks for the French.
• Eugenius talks about English literature of the “end times.”.
• Neander speaks for England and freedom.

Dryden thus developed forms of historical criticism, comparison, and description, and eventually gave his own opinion through Neander's responses. It respects ancient Greek and Roman principles but refuses to submit to their slavery, especially in the case of tragedy, and respects the three dramatic units. Thus, Dryden began a path of great innovation as the "father of English criticism.".

 

Historical Critical Method

Dryden was the first critic to use the historical critical method. He believes that each literary work bears the mark of the era in which it was created. A literary work can be judged by placing it in the historical and social context in which it is produced. Many of Shakespeare's plays, Spenser's Faerie Queene, Ben Jon's comedies, or Bacon's essays cannot be appreciated without placing them in Elizabethan times. It is impossible to appreciate Chaucer's Canterbury story proposal without the historical and social context of medieval England. Dryden was the first critic to apply this method of historical criticism.

Descriptive Criticism

Among Dryden's critical works, perhaps the most valuable passages are those that constitute descriptive criticism. In his excellent book “Literary Critics," George Watson divides literary criticism into three main categories:

• Legislative criticism, including rhetorical books.
• Critique of theory.

• Descriptive criticism.

Dryden is clearly the founder of descriptive criticism in English. Before him, all English literary critics, such as Puttenham, Sidney, and Ben Jonson, were theoretical critics. Sidney praised Shakespeare and commented on his contemporaries. Elsewhere, Dr. Johnson's claim, "the first writer to teach us to value composition based on principles," demonstrates that Dryden was the first in England to attempt to critically describe extensive. Thus, Dryden is the father of descriptive criticism.

 

Comparative Criticism

According to Scott-James, "Dryden opens up a new field of comparative criticism." In his critical works, the critic Dryden compares Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, Chaucer and Ovid, Chaucer and Boccaccio, Horace and Juvenal, ancient and modern plays, contemporary French and English plays, and Elizabethan and Renaissance plays. rhyme, rhyme, and blank sentences as means. Drama, etc. This method of comparative criticism is rich and bright and is a favorite tool of modern critics.

 

Liberalism, Skepticism, Dynamism, and Probability

As a literary critic, Dryden was undoubtedly influenced by ancient Greek and Roman critics such as Aristotle, Longinus, and Horace, followed by contemporary Italian and French critics such as Rapin and Boileau. But this influence does not go too far, as he fully embraces the spirit of his time. His fundamentalist liberalism, skepticism, dynamism, and probabilism have helped him resist many dogmas and conventions imported from abroad.

 

Conclusion

Dryden's main critical work was his Essay on Courtesy, making him the first historical critic, the first comparative critic, the first descriptive critic, and the first literary critic. British independent critic.