The Literature Network - Fathers, Sons, and Lovers: The Transformation of Masculine Authority in Dryden's Aureng-Zebe

Fathers, Sons, and Lovers: The Transformation of Masculine Authority in Dryden's Aureng-Zebe

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From: The Eighteenth Century
Date: 20050701
Author:Maurer, Shawn Lisa

Abraham's relation to Isaac, ethically speaking, is quite simply expressed by saying that a father shall love his son more dearly than himself.

-Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling

First acted in 1675 against a backdrop of mounting fear and anxiety regarding the succession of the English monarchy, John Dryden's Aureng-Zebe: A Tragedy (published 1676)' manipulates the events of contemporary Indian history in controversial and fascinatingly provocative ways. seeming to provide Dryden with an apt political parallel to events at home, the vicious-indeed mortalcompetition among the four sons of the ...

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