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Dryden's 'Absalom and Achitophel.' (John Dryden)

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From: The Explicator
Date: 19930622
Author:Kelchner, Heidi

John Dryden ridicules the Renaissance belief in the superiority of illegitimate offspring in 'Absalom and Achitophel.' The prevailing attitude was that illegitimate children were superior due to the passionate nature of their conception. Dryden's ironic treatment of this theme undermines the apparent praise for Absalom.

Among John Dryden's numerous allusions in Absalom and Achitophel we should add a Renaissance topos. In the opening lines of an extended portrait of Absalom, the poem states of him:

Whether, inspired by some diviner lust,

His father got him with a greater gust, ...

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