The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 04

In Short

This volume collects three major works of seventeenth-century English drama alongside critical essays that reveal the author’s bold, often polemical approach to literary theory. Centered on the grand, high-stakes heroics of The Conquest of Granada and the social, satirical complexities of Marriage-a-la-Mode and The Assignation, the book offers a window into the intellectual and artistic climate of the Restoration. It has lasted not only for its lyrical command of language but for how it articulates the shifting standards of taste, morality, and dramatic structure during a pivotal era in English letters.

The Story

In the two-part tragedy The Conquest of Granada, the fate of the Moorish kingdom is tied to the arrival of Almanzor, a legendary, near-invincible warrior. His prowess saves the city, but his volatile pride and his burgeoning, forbidden love for the betrothed Almahide ignite a series of political and personal disasters. As Spain’s forces close in, internal factions—driven by Zulema’s treachery and the divided loyalties of the Moorish court—tear the kingdom apart. Almanzor’s struggle is not merely military; he is a man of intense passion who refuses to conform to the "dram of scruples" seen in French plays, choosing instead to follow his own wild, heroic impulses. Ultimately, the King of Granada falls, the city is taken, and the heroic, if turbulent, world of the Moors dissolves into the new order of the Spanish victors.

Marriage-a-la-Mode shifts the tone toward the comedy of manners. Here, two couples navigate the complications of love, marriage, and courtly affectation. Rhodophil and Palamede, friends returning to the capital, find their romantic lives entangled in a web of jealousy and mistaken identity. The plot revolves around a usurped throne and the discovery of a long-lost royal heir, Leonidas, whose return forces the court to confront the validity of its own power structures. Through a series of witty exchanges and social blunders, the characters eventually reconcile their personal desires with their public responsibilities, moving toward stable unions that expose the absurdity of courtly posturing.

The Assignation, or Love in a Nunnery concludes the dramatic offerings with a lighthearted, often farcical look at Roman society. The plot centers on a series of romantic entanglements involving princes, noblemen, and the residents of a convent. The antics of Benito, a man desperately seeking a reputation for wit, provide a satirical counterpoint to the more earnest romantic pursuits of Prince Frederick and his companions. As these characters navigate the boundaries between the sacred space of the nunnery and the profane desires of the city, the play pokes fun at the hypocrisy of religious devotion and the inevitable, messy reality of human passion. The resolution brings a "general gaol-delivery," where the chaos of the evening is settled through marriage and the acknowledgment of love's unpredictable power, leaving the characters to navigate a world that is once again balanced, if fragile.

How It Unfolds

The heroic arrival Almanzor enters the Moorish court, an outsider whose unmatched martial skill immediately makes him the linchpin of the kingdom’s survival against the Spanish invaders. His presence disrupts the status quo, challenging the authority of the King and setting the stage for a conflict fueled by personal grievance and unbridled ambition.

The internal division Political instability rises as the brother of the Moorish king, Abdalla, seeks to leverage Almanzor's resentment toward the throne for his own gain. The court becomes a nest of factions, where love and power are weighed against one another in a dangerous game of shifting allegiances.

The social dance The focus shifts to the light, biting satire of the comedy Marriage-a-la-Mode, where the intrigue of the court is replaced by the pursuit of pleasure and reputation. Here, the characters use language as a weapon, masking their true intentions behind a veil of sophisticated, often cynical, dialogue.

The confrontation of identities The plot reaches a turning point with the emergence of a long-lost heir, forcing a confrontation that moves beyond social banter. The characters are stripped of their pretenses, and the underlying questions of lineage and rightful rule come to the fore, demanding a resolution that acknowledges both duty and desire.

The final reconcilement In The Assignation, the narrative descends into the confusion of the cloister, where lovers and fools collide in a series of farcical encounters. The resolution is reached through a stripping away of masks, where the characters finally confront the reality of their attachments and the absurdity of their earlier posturing.

The People

Almanzor stands as the quintessential hero of the heroic tragedy. Driven by an unrelenting sense of honor and an equally powerful, uncontrollable temper, he refuses to submit to the "dram of scruples" that define ordinary men. His journey is one of pure force, yet he is undone by his inability to reconcile his absolute power with the delicate, human nature of love for Almahide.

Almahide acts as the moral center of the tragedy, navigating the treacherous waters of courtly love and royal duty. She is forced to balance her virtue against the external pressures of a dying kingdom and the intense, often disruptive devotion of Almanzor.

In the comedies, Palamede and Rhodophil are the mirror images of courtly life. Both are defined by their wit and their pursuit of social advantage, yet they are constantly humbled by their own romantic complications. Their development moves from a state of superficial affectation to a more honest recognition of their own human vulnerabilities.

Benito serves as the cautionary figure, a man who desperately covets the title of "wit" but lacks the substance to support it. His constant failure to grasp the true nature of the social situations he navigates highlights the artificiality of the court, making him both a source of humor and a mirror for the vanity of those around him.

In Its Own Voice

"The word, which I have given, shall stand like fate; Not like the king's, that weather-cock of state."

Almanzor asserts his personal code of honor in defiance of the shifting allegiances of the Moorish court.

"Love, like a scene, at distance should appear, But marriage views the gross-daubed landscape near."

The King of Granada reflects on the disillusionment that follows the transition from the idealized state of courtship to the reality of wedlock.

"No sign of love in jealous men remains, But that which sick men have of life--their pains."

The King further laments the corrosive effect of his own suspicions, revealing the agony hidden beneath his royal facade.

What It's Really About

These works explore the fundamental tension between the individual’s pursuit of personal glory and the constraints imposed by social and political order. The plays interrogate the nature of "honor," asking whether it is an objective virtue or a performative social construct. Beneath the plot, there is a recurring skepticism toward the stability of power; titles, crowns, and religious vows are shown to be fragile, easily discarded or usurped by those with enough wit or force to claim them. The author asks how one can lead a life of authentic passion in a world defined by the "gross-daubed" realities of marriage and political compromise, ultimately suggesting that human desires are often the true forces that topple kings and institutions alike.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate the intellectual rigor of the seventeenth century will find much to admire in these pages. The book provides a fascinating, if sometimes challenging, immersion into the "heroic" style—a mode of writing that favors grandeur, elevated language, and an intense focus on the internal conflicts of the exceptional man. Those with a taste for the sharp, cynical humor of the Restoration will particularly enjoy the comedies, which anticipate the biting social satire of later centuries.

However, the modern reader should be prepared for the dense, highly stylized rhetoric of the tragedies, which can feel alien to contemporary sensibilities. The author’s explicit, sometimes arrogant, defense of his own dramatic theories in the essays may also strike some as polemical, yet this is part of the book’s enduring vitality. It is a document of a mind actively refining the boundaries of its craft. If you come to this volume looking for an easy narrative, you may find the length and the specific period attitudes taxing, but if you are interested in the evolution of English drama and the way a master writer navigated the changing tides of his audience’s taste, this collection remains a rewarding and essential testament to a brilliant, combative career.