Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
CHAPTERI
JohnDryden:hislifeandcriticalstudies
Dryden’slifeagainstthehistoricalbackground
JohnDrydenwasbornin1631inAldwincle,nearOundle,North-
amptonshire,England.Beingthefirstson,youngJohnKwasrearedwith
considerableaffectionandconcern.’1Hisfamilyprobablysidedwiththe
ParliamentarypartyagainstCharlesI,andarelativeofDryden,SirGil-
bertPickering,heldthepostofahighofficialunderCromwellduringthe
CivilWarandtheCommonwealth.
On22ndAugust1642inNottingham,KingCharlesIdeclaredwar
againsthisParliament.TheLongParliament(1640-58)wasdividedinto
twoopposingfactions:theCavaliers,supportersofKingCharlesI,and
theRoundheads,supportersoftheParliamentaryparty.Around160
membersoftheHouseofCommonsdeclaredtheirsupportforthemon-
archy
,whereasnearly300membersstayedinWestminster.Thefirst
battlesbetweentheCavaliersandtheRoundheadstookabadcoursefor
Parliament.TheParliamentArmywasconstantlybeatenbyroyalists
inthesouth,probablyduetotheincompetenceoftwotardygenerals,
EssexandManchester.Theywerefrequentlydefeatedandwereunable
tofacethedeterioratingsituation.Parliament’ssupportersknewthat
thegeneralshadtobereplacedtostopthefailures.Inthiscontextthe
1
JamesAndersonWinn,JohnDrydenandHisWorld(NewHavenandLondon:Yale
UniversityPress,1987),p.17.
—17—
