Absalom and Achitophel as a political satire

Absalom and Achitophel written by John Dryden is a political satire. Since Dryden was belong to Restoration period so we can easily say Dryden’s this work is mirror of that period. We have found several historical stories through this poem. 

In this period, there were several political parties in England. Among them Whig and Tory were common. Whig was Protestant and against the king and Tory was Catholic and supporter of king. As the relation between these two parties was not good so when they expressed anything through their writing they used satire form in their writing for opposite party. In this way, satire became popular form among the parties, but as a poet or writer, Dryden used satire as a literary form in his poem in a good way. 

Before describing Absalom and Achitophel as a political satire, we need to know the definition of the widely used literary technique, satire. Satire is a literary attack on the follies and vices of individual or society in order to correct them through laughter and ridicule. It has some characteristics. These are-

·         Literary form of expression.

·         Disgust at the ugly and foolishness.

·         Humour. 

    ·    A sincere desire to correct or reform.

The only intention of Dryden to write this poem was to support King Charles II. The King himself asked Dryden to write a poem satirizing the Whig party and particularly its leader Shaftesbury. Dryden was also supporter of Tory. He was called Staunch Tory. He used satire very strictly for that people who were against the King Charles II and made plan to dethrone him. 

First, Dryden attacked Earl of Shaftesbury. With his brilliant tricks he represented Shaftesbury as hypocrite. We found Shaftesbury a smooth talker and with his this capability, he convinced Duke of Monmouth to go against his father. 

Dryden also attacked Protestant group. The Protestant group was in fear that if James, the brother of King Charles II, came to the throne then Roman Catholics would be beneficial and would be in power. Here, it is notable that James, the Duke of York was thought to be a follower of Pope of Roman Catholic. Instead, Protestants wanted to see the Duke of Monmouth in the throne of England. In Absalom and Achitophel, Dryden tried to show the traitorous activities of the Whig against their king. 

In the seventeenth century England, religion played a big role in ruling the country and politics and religion were closely related to each other. Both Protestant Christians and their rival Roman Catholic were in cock fight to grab the power of the country. To prevent Roman Catholics from getting into the power of England, a clergyman, Titus Oates, in favor of Protestants, also made a plan and claimed that James and Roman Catholics had tried to kill the King Charles II in order to make James as the king of England which was later proved wrong. 

Dryden in Absalom and Achitophel also criticized Duke of Buckingham with whom he had personal conflict. When Dryden joined as a poet-laureate and historiographer to the government in 1670, he got both money and recognition. Being jealous of Dryden’s such prosperity, some contemporary high officials started making fun of him. Duke of Buckingham was one of those people. In his literary work, The Rehearsal, he strongly criticized Dryden. In Absalom and Achitophel, Dryden took the revenge of making fun of him. In his poem, Dryden compared the Duke of Buckingham to the Biblical character Zimri, who being lured of the throne of Israel, killed his master and ascended to the throne thought Zmiri could only survive for seven days as the king of Israel. In reality, Duke of Buckingham was initially a friend of King Charles II, but when the religious chaos between Whig and Tories started, he joined the Whig, the rebel group of King Charles II. 

In Absalom and Achitophel, Dryden did not focus much on the Duke of Monmouth who in the poem is compared to Absalom. Instead, he criticized much about Shaftesbury who is compared to Achitophel. According to Bible, Achitophel was a counselor to the court of King David, father of Absalom. When Absalom set to fight against his father, King David, Achitophel joined Absalom’s side. So, Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel would be much more related to the Biblical incident of Absalom and Achitophel, if he gave much importance on the Duke of Monmouth while making satire. However, Dryden mostly attacked Shaftesbury (symbolizing Achitophel in the poem). There are some political reasons behind it. At that time in England, Shaftesbury was in lead of the Whig, who placed “The Exclusion Bill” to the House of Commons. So, Dryden wanted to save King Charles II from any volatile situation due to the continuing rebellion. That is why; Dryden gave much importance while making satire. Another reason is that Dryden might have though that if he criticized Duke of Monmouth much then he would be more furious and as the Duke of Monmouth was an illegitimate child of King Charles II, Dryden tried to make a compromise between the King and Duke of Monmouth so that the movement over the religion and power could be stopped. 

In Dryden’s time, satire became popular, especially among the political parties. In that time, Dryden wrote this poem. It is his best work. Now, this satire poem is considered as a classical work of Dryden in English literature.