ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -An Essay on Dramatic Poesy is written in the form of a dialogue among four gentlemen: Eugenius, Crites, Lisideius and Neander. Neander speaks for Dryden himself. Eugenius favours modern English dramatists by attacking the classical playwrights, who did not themselves always observe the unity of place.

Detailed explanation-2: -“An Essay of Dramatic Poesy” was probably written in 1666 during the closure of the London theaters due to plague. It can be read as a general defense of drama as a legitimate art form-taking up where Sir Philip Sidney’s “Defence of Poesie” left off-as well as Dryden’s own defense of his literary practices.

Detailed explanation-3: -Summary of “An Essay on Dramatic Poesy” These four interlocutors represent four real literary scholars of the day. Crites is Sir Robert Howard, Eugenius is Charles Sackville, Lisideius is Sir Charles Sedley and Neander is Dryden himself.

Detailed explanation-4: -Four interlocutors namely Crites, Eugenius, Lisideius and Neander are travelling by boat to see the battle and start a discussion on modern literature.