Audiobook58 minutes
Absalom and Achitophel
Written by John Dryden
Narrated by LibriVox Community
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this audiobook
John Dryden published Absalom and Achitophel: A Poem in 1681. It is an elaborate historical allegory using the political situation faced by King David (2 Samuel 14-18) to mirror that faced by Charles II. Each monarch had a son whom a high-ranking minister attempted to use against him. James Scott, first Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's illegitimate son, was detected planning a rebellion late in 1681, supposedly instigated by the Earl of Shaftesbury, who was tried for high treason, and it is believed that Dryden wrote the poem in an effort to sway the jury in his trial. The fates of both Absalom (Monmouth) and Achitophel (Shaftesbury) are left unspecified at the end of the poem (Monmouth did rebel in 1685, after his father's death, and was executed, and Shaftesbury was acquitted), but we are left to surmise that their fates would resemble those of their Biblical counterparts: Absalom was killed against David's instructions and Achitophel hanged himself.
The poem can be enjoyed without any special knowledge of either the Bible or seventeenth-century English history, but it is useful to understand why Monmouth (AKA Absalom) was such a useful tool to use against his father: Charles had many illegitimate offspring, but his wife was barren, so at his death the crown would pass (did pass) to his brother, James, who was Catholic, but Monmouth was Protestant as well as well-beloved by both the king and the people. England had good reason to dread a return of officially enforced Catholicism. The narrator's urbane attitude toward David's amatory adventures in the opening of the poem and his burlesque of the supposed Jebusitical plot (the "Popish Plot" of 1678) establish clearly his Tory bias in favor of the Establishment and his disdain of the panic caused by fear of Catholicism (Dryden himself converted to the Catholic faith at some time before 1685).
The poem can be enjoyed without any special knowledge of either the Bible or seventeenth-century English history, but it is useful to understand why Monmouth (AKA Absalom) was such a useful tool to use against his father: Charles had many illegitimate offspring, but his wife was barren, so at his death the crown would pass (did pass) to his brother, James, who was Catholic, but Monmouth was Protestant as well as well-beloved by both the king and the people. England had good reason to dread a return of officially enforced Catholicism. The narrator's urbane attitude toward David's amatory adventures in the opening of the poem and his burlesque of the supposed Jebusitical plot (the "Popish Plot" of 1678) establish clearly his Tory bias in favor of the Establishment and his disdain of the panic caused by fear of Catholicism (Dryden himself converted to the Catholic faith at some time before 1685).
Author
John Dryden
John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was made England's first Poet Laureate in 1668. Vinton A. Dearing, editor of the California Dryden edition, is Professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles.
More audiobooks from John Dryden
The Restoration Poets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Poetry of June Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Poetry Hour - Volume 15 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Rhyme A Dozen - England: 12 Poets, 12 Poems, 1 Topic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Absalom and Achitophel
Related audiobooks
Abbey Poets Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLittle Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor Vol 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemos to President Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Best Presidential Writing: From 1789 to the Present Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarren Hastings Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Copyright Question Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlexander's Bridge (version 2) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Life of Andrew Jackson Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Speeches and Writings of Abraham Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Departed Days Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Self-Made Man: The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1809 – 1849 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best of American Heritage: Lincoln Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joe Biden: A Biography of an American President Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Man Without a Country Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great and Inspiring Speeches of the 20th Century Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Prelude Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst Inaugural Address Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Woodrow Wilson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anti Federalist Papers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History's Greatest Speeches - Vol. VI Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Remarkable Mother Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Greatest Americans Series: Abraham Lincoln: A Selection of His Writings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bingsop's Fables Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Lives of the Presidents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5TWO REVOLUTIONS AND THE CONSTITUTION: How the English and American Revolutions Produced the American Constitution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPatton: The Pursuit of Destiny Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Youth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5History's Greatest Speeches - Vol. II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Poetry For You
Every Word You Cannot Say Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Poems of T.S. Eliot Read by Jeremy Irons Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Strength In Our Scars Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rumi's Little Book of Life: The Garden of the Soul, the Heart, and the Spirit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Inferno of Dante Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Raven Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Milk and Honey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Classic Hundred Poems: All-Time Favorites Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prophet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Raven and Other Poems: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf: Translated by Seamus Heaney Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Ching: The Book of Change Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sun and Her Flowers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beholding: Deepening Our Experience In God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Poetry of Walt Whitman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad: The Fitzgerald Translation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gift of Rumi: Experiencing the Wisdom of the Sufi Master Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey: The Fitzgerald Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Home Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf: A New Translation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Citizen: An American Lyric Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Metamorphoses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Absalom and Achitophel
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews