Absalom and Achitophel
by John Dryden
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At a glance:
- Author: John Dryden
- First Published: 1681
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Type of Plot: Satire
- Setting: London
- Characters: David, Absalom, Achitophel
- Genres: Satire, Poetry, Lyric sequence, Mock-heroic poetry
- Subjects: England or English people, Seventeenth century, Kings, queens, or royalty, Biblical times, Israel or Israelis, Jews and Gentiles, Heads of state, Monarchy
- Locales: Europe, Asia, London, England, Jerusalem, United Kingdom
The Poem:
The political situation in Israel (England) had much to do with David’s (Charles II’s) virility, which, though wasted on a barren queen, produced a host of illegitimate progeny, of which by far the fairest and noblest is Absalom (duke of Monmouth). David’s kingly virtues are equally strong but unappreciated by a great number of Jews (Whigs), who, because of a perverse native temperament, want to rebel. Although David provides no cause for rebellion, as the wiser Jews (Tories) point out, a cause is found in the alleged Jebusite (Catholic) plot to convert the...
(The entire page is 2322 words.)
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