LITERATURE QUESTIONS
LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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He advocates their strict observance
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He does not advocate their strict observance
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He says that every dramatist should decide it for himself
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He is silent about this issue
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Detailed explanation-1: -John Dryden condemns both the ancients and the French dramatists. Because they slavishly followed the unities of Time and Place, and made their plays simple and their imagination narrow. Besides, they sacrificed many beauties by sticking up to the unities. Many of their plays were obscene and the characters unfitting.
Detailed explanation-2: -e) To the view that observance of the unities is justified on the ground that (i) their violation results in improbability, (ii) that it places too great a strain on the imagination of the spectators, and (iii) that credibility is stretched too far, Dryden replies that it is all a question of ‘dramatic illusion’.
Detailed explanation-3: -He pays special attention to the epic similes and metaphors and the point of view from which the tale is being told. He looks for meaning in the text itself, and does not refer to any biography of Milton.
Detailed explanation-4: -He defends the classical drama saying that it is an imitation of life and reflects human nature clearly. 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.
Detailed explanation-5: -In All for Love, Dryden follows the dramatic unities of time, place, and action, which he regarded as ornaments of tragedy, though not indispensable.