Satirical works of Kshemendra (study)
by Arpana Devi | 2017 | 60,954 words
This page relates ‘Summary of the Absalom and Achitophel� part of the study on the Satirical works of Kshemendra: an 11th century poet from Kashmir, who composed three satirical works. Kshemendra himself says that in composing the satirical works his only motive is to reform the mindset of the people.—He exposes all the vices and follies prevailing in the society with the intention to reform it.
8.2. Summary of the Absalom and Achitophel
The Absalom and Achitophel is a notable satirical poem of John Dryden. Dryden was the greatest English satirist of the second half of the 17th century. He was born at Aldwinkle All Saints, Northamptonshire and was son of Erasmus Dryden. Dryden was the most diversified poet and his time came to be known as the Age of Dryden. He was not only a poet but also a dramatist and a literary critic. He compiled works in almost all the literary genre. He began to compose satirical poems from 1680. The Absalom and Achitophel was published in 1681 and he established himself as the greatest verse satirist.
The Absalom and Achitophel is the greatest political satire in heroic couplets. The poem deals in allegorical form with the attempt by Lord Shaftesbury’s party to exclude the Duke of York from the succession and to set the Duke of Monmouth in his place. Absalom is the Duke of Monmouth, the unlucky aspirant to the succession and Achitophel is his injudicious counsellor. The poem is found in two parts. The second part of the poem was mainly the work of Nahum Tate, but contains at least two hundred lines of Dryden that were directed at his literary rivals Elkanah Settle and of Thomas Shadwell. In the Absalom and Achitophel, the Whig leaders of his time are satirized. Herein, English political life is portrayed in a vigorous and acute manner.