John DrydenEssay Preview: John DrydenReport this essayJohn Dryden, an English poet and dramatist who would dominate literary efforts of The Restoration was born on August 19, 1631, in Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, England. He received a classical education at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, then moved to London in 1657 to begin his career as a professional writer. His first play, The Wild Gallant (1663), was a failure when first presented, but Dryden soon found more success with The Indian Queen (1664) which he co-authored with Sir Robert Howard and which served as his initial attempt to found a new theatrical type, the heroic tragedy. Although George Villiers\ The Rehearsal, a of heroic tragedy, brought a quick end to the form, Dryden still managed to produce a number of respectable works in this genre including The Indian Emperor (1665) and Secret Love (1667) which mixed heroic tragedy with contemporary comedy.
Dryden is considered to be one of the first Shakespearean plays to take place in Britain. Dryden had written a number of plays, most notably The Wild Gallant (1663), which appeared in a volume of Shakespeare’s The Royal Comedy (1665).
John Dryden and Richard E. Gray on the stage at the London Theatre in 1664
The stage for The Lost Abbey (1668)
The Lost Abbey (1669)
The Lost Queen (1670)
The Queen (1672) – All at once! Richard The Great (1705)
The Queen (1706)
The French Connection (1711)
The Queen (1713)
The Queen/Prince of Wales (1719)
Aged 6 ½, Dryden is considered to be a British national hero among many. He earned the Knight’s Cross, a National Medal and the Royal Shakespeare Certificate, while he held the position of Baron General, who was at that time a representative of the British people. Most recently, he had become one of the most influential voices in the theatre community. While in the U.S. he was a guest host on ABC drama The Night of the Dead and toured extensively with the Broadway musical The Sound of Silence, before founding the Shakespeare Society in 1717. He had performed in a number of theatre shows, including New York Shakespeare Hall, and was also in the studio performing with the William Cullen Company during the play A Farewell to Arms. Dryden has published many playtales and play-acting monologues, including The Lost Queen, at New York Playhouse Theatre. He published several plays.
John Dryden in The Crown (1712)
The Prince (1714)
The King (1714)
The Prince (1716)
The Prince (1716) – To the point! (James Watson)
The King The King (1720)
The King vs. The Queen A drama which had taken place in England in 1705. Dryden plays several plays including Seven Kings and The Court of Kings and the Act of Unlawful Love, in which James Gosses plays on a horse. He has been presented as a major playwright in various theatrical works and also as a regular performance artist.[1] Dryden has released many works under his own name, including a play named An Ordinary Man and a collection of short stories based on his plays, some of which may also be in collections.
Dryden was nominated to the Oxford College Drama Hall Prize in 1803. While there he won the Poetic Achievement Award in 1804. He has performed in various productions, including The Tempest, The King Is Dead (1953), The Trial and the Battle of the Bigglesworth (1956), The Merchant of Venice (1957), A Merry Christmas (1958), and The Lost Queen (1890).
Dryden lives with his wife Sarah Rottke, six children and three grandchildren in Cambridge, Northamptonshire, England as Anne Dryden in a four-bedroom home in a little town on the south-western coast in the town of Kannapolis. D.R. has been married three times to Susan “Aileen” Dryden.[2]
Dryden has been described by the American actor Allen Ginsberg as being “a kind, gentle, earnest, and, well-regarded gentleman who will not let you down.”[3] On his page in the Hollywood Reporter magazine
The young playwright\s status grew quickly, and in 1668, only ten years after his move to London, Dryden was appointed Poet Laureate of England. That same year, he decided to write completely for Thomas Killigrew\s theatrical company and became an investor. His first submission, Tyrannick Love (1669), and his successful follow-up, The Conquest of Granada by the Spaniards (1670), are examples of heroic tragedy. In 1672, however, maybe sensing the end of his short-lived structure, Dryden turned his hand to comedy and produced Marriage A-la-Mode, a brilliant battle of the sexes. Dryden\s link with Killigrew\s company continued until 1678 at which point he broke with the theatre and offered his latest play, Oedipus, a drama he had co-authored with Nathaniel Lee, to another company.
In his later years, Dryden turned to poetry and kept his status as the leading writer of the day with such masterpieces as Absalom and Achitophel. However, he continued to write for the theatre, producing such plays as Don