Achitophel. -hit-fel, n. an able but unprincipled counsellor, from the name of David’s sage counsellor who treacherously abetted the rebellion of Absalom.
Who was achitophel in the poem?
Dryden based his work on a biblical incident recorded in 2 Samuel 1319. These chapters relate the story of King David’s favourite son Absalom and his false friend Achitophel (Ahithophel), who persuades Absalom to revolt against his father.
What did ahithophel do in the Bible?
Ahithophel, also spelled Achitophel, in the Old Testament, one of King David’s most trusted advisers. He took a leading part in the revolt of David’s son Absalom, and Ahithophel’s defection was a severe blow to David.
What does Absalom represent?
Absalom metaphorically represents Charles II’s illegitimate son James Scott, the 1st Duke of Monmouth, who rebelled against Charles and the throne in Dryden’s time.
How does Dryden define satire?
Dryden from the standpoint of the literary artist, says in his Essay on Satire, The nicest and the most delicate touches of satire consist in fine raillery. Dryden’s dictum for designing a perfect satire is that it ought only to treat of one subject; to be confined to one particular theme; or at least to one …
What type of satire is Absalom and Achitophel?
Satire. Absalom and Achitophel is generally acknowledged as the finest political satire in the English language. It is also described as an allegory regarding contemporary political events, and a mock heroic narrative. On the title page, Dryden himself describes it simply as a poem.
How is Absalom and Achitophel ended?
that the poem is accidentally inconclusive because it projects its ending into the future: shoud . . . conclude . . . with the Reconcilement of Absalom to David. These propositions together constitute the legend of the unsuccessful ending of Absalom and Achitophel.
What is the main theme of Absalom and Achitophel?
His Absalom and Achitophel is regarded as not simply a satire, but a poem as Dryden himself calls it a poem. The central theme is : Temptation, sin, fall and punishment.
What is heroic couplet in English literature?
A heroic couplet is a pair of rhyming lines that is present in a heroic poem or that relays themes of heroism within a larger poem.
Why did ahithophel betrayed David?
Because he was David’s chief counselor and if that would anyone who would attempt to correct David it would have been him. Notice that the person is attempting to warn David that she is the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah.
What did ahithophel do to David?
Curse upon Ahithophel When David again warned him of the malediction, Ahithophel counseled the king to throw a tile, with the ineffable name of God written upon it, into the cavity; whereupon the waters began to sink.
Where is giloh in the Bible?
Judah Giloh was a city in Judah. The biblical town has been identified with Beit Jala.
What is the purpose of writing Absalom and Achitophel?
The purpose of Absalom and Achitophel is explicitly political. To be more precise, Dryden sets out to exalt the reign of Charles II and damn his most implacable enemies.
What can you say about the form of Absalom and Achitophel?
The poem Absalom and Achitophel uses an aa, bb, cc, etc. rhyme scheme and is set in iambic pentameter. … After all, Shakespeare wrote parts of his plays in iambic pentameter (but did not always use rhyme). Much later in poetic history, Robert Frost used a loose form of iambic pentameter in his long poem Birches.
Who are represented through the characters of Absalom and Achitophel?
In Absalom and Achitophel, he represents William, Lord Howard Esrick, a Puritan preacher who supported the Exclusion Bill. One of David’s trusted men. According to the Bible, Zadock is the High Priest of Israel, and in Dryden’s poem he represents William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, a supporter of Charles II.
Why was Dryden sacked?
Dryden was the first and only Laureate to be removed from office. He was dismissed for his refusal to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the new monarchs William and Mary after the Glorious Revolution (1688/89).
What was Dryden famous for?
As a poet, Dryden is best known as a satirist and was England’s first poet laureate in 1668. In addition to satires, Dryden wrote elegies, prologues, epilogues, odes, and panegyrics. His most famous poem is Absalom and Achitophel (1681).
Which is the quality of Dryden poetry?
Dryden’s poems have the qualities of his playssome middling songs and unspontaneous lyrics, careful and melodic versification, and lack of poetic expression of the different emotions.
What is an allegory in Absalom and Achitophel?
The poem is an allegory that uses the story of the rebellion of Absalom against King David as the basis for discussion of the background to the Monmouth Rebellion (1685), the Popish Plot (1678) and the Exclusion Crisis. … Absalom is a misguided instrument in Achitophel’s hands.
Who was the rival of Dryden?
Beginning most likely in the summer of 1676, Dryden wrote one of the two greatest satires in English against rival poets, Mac Flecknoe (the other is Pope’s Dunciad, 17281743).
Who did Dryden satire in Absalom and Achitophel?
Absalom and Achitophel Dryden penned his greatest satire in the midst of the Exclusion Crisis (167981), which was an attempt to exclude Charles II’s Catholic younger brother James from the throne of England.
How many lines is Absalom and Achitophel?
200 lines However, it contains 200 lines by Dryden, in which he attacks two literary and political enemies, Shadwell as Og and Settle as Doeg.
What is Popish Plot in Absalom and Achitophel?
Dryden allegorizes the Popish Plot in Absalom and Achitophel as the plot, advanced by Achitophel and created by Corah, to discredit David and his brother and place Absalom on the throne.
Who is Zimri in Absalom and Achitophel?
In the Bible, Zimri is king of Israel for seven days, but he is no real threat to David or the throne in Absalom and Achitophel. Zimri likely represents George Villiers, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, an English statesman and poet who had disgraced himself in war, organized an unsuccessful plot against the government, …
Who is called Father of heroic couplet?
Use of the heroic couplet was pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Legend of Good Women and the Canterbury Tales, and generally considered to have been perfected by John Dryden and Alexander Pope in the Restoration Age and early 18th century respectively.
Is Canterbury Tales a heroic couplet?
Heroic couplet: iambic pentameter lines rhymed in pairs. … The largest part of the Canterbury Tales was written in heroic couplets.
Graduated from ENSAT (national agronomic school of Toulouse) in plant sciences in 2018, I pursued a CIFRE doctorate under contract with Sun’Agri and INRAE in Avignon between 2019 and 2022. My thesis aimed to study dynamic agrivoltaic systems, in my case in arboriculture. I love to write and share science related Stuff Here on my Website. I am currently continuing at Sun’Agri as an R&D engineer.