Originally published in 1973, this is foremost a study of Dryden as a writer, but, the author maintains, his ideas cannot be separated from his art. Dryden’s concern with familiar 17th Century problems – the inadequacy of royalist theory in the face of power politics, the rise of philosophical materialism, make him almost as important to the historian as to the student of English Literature. William Myers’ overall picture of Dryden’s works ranges chronologically from the Restoration to the Glorious Revolution. Each play or poem is judged in its own right and as part of a strikingly honest literary life. Particular emphasis is given to the writings following The Hind and the Panther. Then at last Dryden was able to unite his total mastery of prose and verse both with a fully developed sense of what had happened to English society and with his own unyielding commitment to a traditional political philosophy and a traditional theology.
