an analysis of the political approach of john dryden's plays and their appraisal through the ideas of

263 Pages·2014·2.17 MB·English

AN ANALYSIS OF THE POLITICAL APPROACH OF JOHN DRYDEN’S
PLAYS AND THEIR APPRAISAL THROUGH THE IDEAS OF EDMUND
BURKE

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY

PETER JEREMY DORE

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS
IN
ENGLISH LITERATURE

JULY 2014
Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences

____________________
Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık
Director

I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of
Master of Arts.

_______________________
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Birlik
Head of Department

This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully
adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts.

_______________________
Asst. Prof. Dr. Margaret J-M Sönmez
Supervisor

Examining Committee Members

Asst. Prof. Dr. Nil Korkut Naykı (METU, ELIT) ___________________________

Asst. Prof. Dr. Margaret J-M Sönmez (METU, ELIT) _______________________

Asst. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kırca (ÇANKAYA,TINS)__________________________
I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also
declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and
referenced all material and results that are not original to this work.
Name, Last name :
Signature :
iii
ABSTRACT
AN ANALYSIS OF THE POLITICAL APPROACH OF JOHN DRYDEN’S
PLAYS AND THEIR APPRAISAL THROUGH THE IDEAS OF EDMUND
BURKE
Dore, Peter Jeremy
M.A., in English Literature
Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Dr. Margaret J-M Sönmez
July 2014, 248 pages
This thesis is an analysis of the political approach of the plays of John Dryden and
an analysis of it through the ideas of Edmund Burke. This work establishes that
Dryden had a political program, it being the use of his literary work to promote the
concept of monarchical legitimacy so as to support Charles II and the legitimate
succession to his rule. Dryden engages in this program in his dramas by depicting
the legitimate rulers within them as exceptionally virtuous. He additionally uses his
plays to make further political points within the framework of his program. In order
to explain the relevance of the political concerns of Dryden, this thesis relates the
historical and theoretical context in which Dryden wrote about kingship. It also
provides an examination of his political program within his poetry and playwriting
during the reign of Charles II before making a more detailed analysis of four
specific plays. After this analysis, this thesis then analyses the political approach of
Dryden through the ideas of the conservative political thinker Edmund Burke. By
using the ideas of Burke, it is revealed that whilst he would concur in the main with
Dryden on his political program, there is in fact a flaw within it. Burke shows that
by coupling the idea of legitimacy with another concept, it weakens the concept of
legitimacy itself. Hence Dryden, by linking virtue and legitimacy, actually
undermines his whole political program.
Keywords: Dryden, Burke, Drama, Renaissance, Divine Right of Kings
iv
ÖZ

JOHN DRYDEN OYUNLARINDAKİ SİYASAL YAKLAŞIMIN BİR
ANALİZİ VE EDMUND BURKE’ÜN FİKİRLERİ ARACILIĞIYLA
DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ
Dore, Peter Jeremy
Yüksek Lisans, İngiliz Edebiyatı
Tez Yöneticisi: Yrd. Doç. Dr. Margaret J-M Sönmez
Temmuz 2014, 248 Sayfa
Bu tez, Edmund Burke’ün fikirleri aracılığıyla John Dryden oyunlarındaki
siyasal anlayışın bir analizidir. Çalışmada, eserlerini kralı II. Charles ve haleflerinin
meşru iktidarını desteklemek, dolayısıyla monarşik meşruiyet düşüncesini teşvik
etmek için kullanan Dryden’ın siyasi bir tasarısı olduğu gösterilir. Dryden, planını
gerçekleştirmek için oyunlarında meşru hükümdarları benzersiz bir erdeme sahip
şahsiyetler biçiminde vasıflandırır. Tezde oyunlarını öteki birçok siyasi noktaya
değinmek için de kullanan Dryden'ın, siyasi kaygılarının anlaşılması için, hakkında
yazdığı krallığın tarihsel ve teorik bağlam ile ilişkisi kurulur. Ayrıca, dört
oyununun analizine geçilmeden önce, II. Charles dönemindeki şiiri ve oyun
yazarlığı çerçevesinde Dryden'ın siyaset planıyla ilgili bir inceleme ortaya konur.
Oyunların incelenmesinin ardından, muhafazakar siyasi düşünür Edmund Burke’ün
düşünceleri aracılığıyla Dryden'ın politik yaklaşımı değerlendirilir. Bu yoldan
Burke'ün görüşlerinde, ekseriyetle Dryden’ın siyasi düşünceleriyle çakışmasa da,
uyuşmazlık gösterdiği bir noktaya dikkat çekilir. Burke’e göre meşruiyet fikri
başka bir kavram ile birleştirildiğinde zayıflatılmış olur. Bu bakış açısından
Dryden’ın, fazilet ve meşruiyeti birleştirmekle, aslında tüm siyasi tasarısını
temelden sarsmış olduğunun altı çizilir.
Anahtar Sözcükler: Dryden, Burke, Drama, Restorasyon, Kralların Tanrısal Hakkı
v
To Jeremy Frank Dore

vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My particular gratitude is first and foremost to be directed at my supervisor
Asst. Prof. Dr. Margaret J-M Sönmez, who I feel went far above and beyond the
strict requirements of her position and was a constant source of assistance and
invaluable criticism throughout the writing of this work.
I am also grateful to the jury members, Asst. Prof. Dr. Nil Korkut Naykı and
Asst. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kırca for their fairness, support and geniality.
I am also particularly thankful to my beloved wife Fatma for her constant
moral and material support and her seeming unlimited patience without which this
thesis simply could not have come into being. I would also like to thank members
of her family for backing me in this endeavour. In particular I am appreciative in
this regard to Hanım Kambalı who has never ceased in her interest and support for
this work. In addition to her, I would also like to thank Kübra Satılış and Ayşe
Satılış for their encouragement. My gratitude is also directed at my English family,
that is my sister Charlotte and my aunt Mary for the moral support they have given
me. Finally, thanks are also due to some special friends of mine, in particular
Tuğçe Yıldırm who has been particularly supportive and helpful, as well as Tina
Tse and Yasemin Turhalı.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS

PLAGIARISM ....................................................................................................... iii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... iv
ÖZ ........................................................................................................................... v
DEDICATION ........................................................................................................ vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. xiii
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
1.1 Seventeenth Century England and Its Political Literature ........ 1
1.2 John Dryden’s Political Program .............................................. 2
1.3 The Aim and Approach of the Study ........................................ 3
1.4 The Use of Edmund Burke in the Study ................................... 6
2. THE HISTORIC AND CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND TO
DRYDEN’S POLITICAL PROJECT ........................................................ 13
2.1 Historical Background .............................................................. 13
2.1.1 The Middle Ages to the Stuart Dynasty ..................... 13
2.1.2 The Stuart Dynasty, the Civil War and
the Commonwealth ............................................................. 16
2.2 Dryden as a Propagandist Writer for the Stuarts ....................... 21
2.2.1 Poetry Celebrating the Restored King ........................ 21
2.2.2 The Charge of Hypocrisy against Dryden .................. 24
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2.2.3 Annus Mirabilis .......................................................... 29
2.2.4 Overview of Dryden as a Playwright ......................... 36
2.2.5 The Popish Plot and Dryden’s Defence of
Traditional Stuart Legitimacy through Satire ...................... 38
2.3 Forms of Monarchic Legitimacy ............................................... 46
2.3.1 Monarchic Legitimacy through Primogeniture .......... 48
2.3.2 Equal Male Hereditary Monarchic Legitimacy
in the Islamic World ............................................................ 54
2.3.3 Elective and Designative Monarchic Legitimacy ...... 55
2.3.4 Monarchic Legitimacy through Marriage .................. 58
2.3.5 Usurpation .................................................................. 58
2.4 The Divine Right of Kings ........................................................ 62
2.5 Princely Virtues ......................................................................... 71
2.5.1 The Literary Sources for Understanding Princely
Virtue ................................................................................... 73
2.5.2 Overview of Princely Virtue ...................................... 78
2.5.3 Wisdom ...................................................................... 81
2.5.4 Justice ......................................................................... 82
2.5.5 Courage ...................................................................... 85
2.5.6 Temperance ................................................................ 86
2.5.7 Piety ............................................................................ 88
2.5.8 Magnanimity .............................................................. 90
2.5.9 Further Princely Virtues ............................................. 92
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2.5.10 Virtue and the Ruler ................................................. 92
2.5.11 Masculine Prowess and Physical Attractiveness ...... 93
3. THE ANALYSIS OF THE PLAYS ....................................................... 97
3.1 Marriage à la Mode (1671) ...................................................... 97
3.1.1 The Characters and Legitimacy .................................. 97
3.1.2 Analysis of the Virtues of the Character of
Leonidas .............................................................................. 99
3.1.3 Analysis of the Virtues of the Character
of Polydamas ..................................................................... 107
3.1.4 Further Political Points in Marriage à la Mode ....... 113
3.2 Aureng-Zebe (1675) ................................................................ 117
3.2.1 The Characters and Legitimacy ............................... 118
3.2.2 Analysis of the Virtues of the Character of
Aureng-Zebe ..................................................................... 119
3.2.3 Analysis of the Virtues of the Character of the
Emperor ............................................................................. 125
3.2.4 Analysis of the Virtues of the Character of
Morat ................................................................................. 129
3.2.5 Analysis of the Virtues of the Character of
Nourmahal ......................................................................... 133
3.2.6 Further Political Points in Aureng-Zebe ................... 136
3.3 Oedipus (1679) ....................................................................... 143
3.3.1 The Characters and Legitimacy ............................... 144
x