John Dryden (1631-1700) 

was a seventeen century English Poet, Playwright

and Critic.  He was the first Poet Laureate of England (1668) and known as
the Father of English Literary Criticism.  He was the voice of the seventeen
Century therefore the age is also known as The Age of Dryden.  His Famous
literary essay “An Essay Dramatic Poesy” (1668), is considered as the
pioneering work of English Literary Criticism, in this essay he called himself
as “Neander” which means ‘New Man’.  Dryden is credited for the Revival of
English Drama in the reign of Charles II (1660-80), Dryden wrote almost 30
plays.  But Dryden is known, today, for his satires, in which he attacked his
rivals and King Charles’s opponents.   Absalom and Achitophel (1681), The
Medal (1682) and Mac Flecknoe (1682).

 Religious Background of Mac Flecknoe

In the seventeenth century, English society was divided into the lines of
religion.  The majority of the population followed The Church of England and
also known as Anglican the other sect was Protestant and Catholic.  The
British Parliament had passed several laws that proscribed non-Anglicans from
holding Public Office.  Protestants and Anglicans often opposed each other
but their common enemy was Catholicism because it was considered as
foreign.  Thomas Shadwell was a Protestant and Dryden was influenced and
attracted by the Catholic Religion to which he later on converted in 1686. 

 Political Background of Mac Flecknoe

The religious differences gave birth to the two Modern Political Parties in
England: Whigs and Tory.  The Tories were supporters of King, Conservatives
and Elite further sided with the Church of England.  Tories had a soft corner for
the Catholics, therefore many Catholics were members of Tory. The supporters
of Tory were land-owning elites.  On the other hand, Whigs represented the
voice of the emerging middle-class, like merchants’ tradesmen and non-land
owning people and they were against Monarchy.  Dryden was a Tory and
Thomas Shadwell was a Whig.  Therefore, Tory Dryden considered Shadwell
his Opponent.  Not only these two writers were divided on had differences in
their political support there were many writers who, openly, took the side of one
or the other political party.

 Literary Background of MacFlecknoe

Earl of Shaftsbury used terror to stop James I from becoming the King of

England because James I was a Catholic,  Shaftsbury brought armed followers
to the parliament and for this, he was imprisoned and sent to Tower (Prison) on
high treason.  Meanwhile, Whig Jury rejected the charges of Shaftsbury and
freed him and awarded him a Medal.  Dryden, who was a Tory, wrote a satirical
Poem The Medal, in which he strongly criticized Shaftsbury.  In reply to
Dryden’s The Medal, Thomas Shadwell wrote The Medal of John Bayes: A
Satire against Folly and Knavery (1682).

In reply to Shadwell, Dryden Wrote MacFlecknoe (1682) in which he criticized

Shadwell.  Richard Flecknoe (1600-78), was a Patron of Shadwell in
poetry.  Richard Flecknoe was a mediocre poet and Andrew Marvell had Called
him ‘an English Priest of Rome’ and Dryden ‘a Prince of Dullness’. 

In MacFlecknoe, Flecknoe was a king of the Non-sense realm and a very dull
poet, who must find his successor, who must be duller than him therefore he
chooses Shadwell who has no sense at all.  

Thus, Dryden and Shadwell were friends once, but due to their political and
Religious Differences they became the opponent and rivals of each other and
their feud is very well known in the literary world.
Satire
Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose
and criticize people's stupidity or vices with a view to correcting
them.

Satire is the use of humour and irony to ridicule ignorance and bad behaviour in
the hope that public shame might bring a better society.  The dark side of the
satire is to hurt.  Satire has a very rich history starting from Aristophanes, a
Greek Playwright to the current period.  Satire is a technique employed by
writers to expose and criticize the foolishness and corruption of a society or a
person by using irony, humour, and exaggeration or ridicule.  A writer uses the
fictional characters which stand for real people to expose and condemn their
follies and corruption.  A writer may point a satire toward a person, a country or
a world.  Usually, satire is a comical piece of writing which makes fun of an
individual or a country to expose their stupidity and shortcomings.  He hopes
that those he criticizes may improve their shortcomings. 
 
 Mac Flecknoe: a Satire

Mac Flecknoe (1682) is a satire written by Dryden on his rival Thomas

Shadwell.  Mac Flecknoe was a reply to Shadwell’s The Medal of John Bayes:
A Satire against Folly and Knavery (1682) in this poem Shadwell has satirized
Dryden. 

Mac Flecknoe means Son of Flecknoe, Richard Flecknoe was a poetaster and
Patron of Shadwell.  In this poem, Flecknoe is portrayed as a King of the Non-
sense world, who has become old and must find a successor to his throne.  For
all his life Flecknoe has written bad poems and he wishes that his successor
should be worst than him.  Among all his sons he chooses Shadwell because he
thinks that Shadwell is the only son who will carry forward his legacy of
nonsensical poems.  He says that Shadwell has no sense and wit can never
conquer Shadwell.  Dryden makes fun of Shadwell’s poetic art and indirectly
suggests that Shadwell had no poetic talent, albeit Shadwell was to succeed him
as Poet Laureate of England later on.  Dryden criticizes Shadwell because they
had Political differences and Shadwell was (Considered as) a celebrated
Playwright during his time. 

Shadwell was chosen as a successor only because he had no talent for writing
poems and he was popular amongst the fools.  Flecknoe was sure that no matter
what happens Shadwell would never become sensible.  Shadwell also promises
that he will write dull poems till the last breath of his life and he wows to fight
with wit all his life.  Flecknoe expects that his son, Shadwell rule over all the
world and he will be more successful than him.  He, further, says that Shadwell
is born dull poet and he is dunce, he need not have to labour hard for dullness,
dullness in his blood.  Shadwell is an enemy of wit, if he writes Tragedy it will
be considered as Comedy, his satire would never hurt anyone.  Flecknoe says
that Shadwell, his son, would torture a word in thousand ways and it is a talent
of Shadwell to write dull poetry and it’s a very tough ask.   

Thus, Dryden satirizes Thomas Shadwell in Mac Flecknoe portraying him as

the worst writer of English Literature. 

 Mac Flecknoe by John Dryden: Summary

Mac Flecknoe is the finest short satirical poem in which Dryden has treated
Thomas Shadwell with humorous contempt. Mac Flecknoe is both a personal
and literary satire. Dryden presents Shadwell as a dull poetaster, a corpulent
man and a plagiarist. Dryden uses the heroic couplet for satirical purposes.

Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel was followed by his other piece The Medal,

which was answered by Thomas Shadwell in Medal of John Bayes, a coarse
satire on Dryden. He decided to avenge himself on Shadwell and Dryden fully
revenged himself by the publication of Mac Flecknoe in 1682.
Mac Flecknoe is the first substantial mock-heroic poem and Thomas Shadwell
is the hero of this epic. The poem illustrates the qualities of Dryden's satire- the
fund of truth at the bottom, the skilful adjustment of the satire so as to make
faults of the merits which are allowed, the magnificent force and variety of the
verse, and the constant maintenance of a kind of superior contempt never
degenerating into the mere railing or losing its superiority in petty spite.
The poem opens with Richard Flecknoe's decision to abdicate the throne and to
find a worthy successor. Flecknoe's name has already become a synonym for a
fool. The name of his kingdom is Nonsense. Flecknoe's choice falls upon
Shadwell. Among his sons, Shadwell is the fittest for he resembles him most in
dullness. He never deviates into sense. Flecknoe, with parental pride, dwells on
his son's achievements. Shadwell has a 'goodly fabric that fills the eye' He is the
master of repetition; he is a faithful follower of bad poets like Heywood and
Shirley. Even Flecknoe, 'a dunce of more renown than they' is inferior to his
son. He, therefore, concludes that his son, Shadwell is the worst possible poet
and thus deserves the crown of dullness. Flecknoe continues his eulogy of
Shadwell's merits by referring to his pretensions as a musician. All arguments,
Flecknoe points out, lead to the conclusion that for "anointed dullness"
Shadwell is made.
Dryden then describes the place chosen by Flecknoe for Shadwell's throne.
Quite appropriately Flecknoe selects "Nursery": an actual London theatre for
boys and girls to study drama for this purpose. Great poets like Fletcher and
Jonson cannot enter there. Here Dekker had once prophesied that a mighty
prince who would declare an eternal war against wit and sense should rule,
producing dull classics like Psyche, The Miser and The Humorists.
Once Flecknoe has chosen Shadwell as his successor, the news gets a wide
publicity. Instead of carpets, there are the remains of neglected poets; bad poets
like Ogleby come out from their dusty shops. Flecknoe sits on a throne with
Shadwell, and "lambent dullness plyed around his (Shadwell's) face." Poppies
overspread Shadwell's temples. At the time of consecration twelve owls fly over
the spot. Shadwell, then vows to uphold the dullness so successfully maintained
by his father.
Flecknoe crowns Shadwell and bursts into prophecy. He praises his son and
successor who would rule from Ireland to Barbadoes. He advises him to
advance ignorance and to promote dullness. He even suggests that Shadwell
need not work very hard in this attempt; rather, let dullness come naturally to
him. He counsels him not to imitate Ben Jonson, but to emulate his father and
Ogleby. He prophesies that Shadwell would write weak verse, bad plays and
ineffective satires. Let Shadwell set his own songs to music and sing them.
Before Flecknoe's speech ends, he is sent crashing through a trap door, while his
mantle falls on Shadwell.

Character of Flecknoe
Who is Shadwell
How he is presented( satire, mock)
Why he is portrayed in this way?
Real life incident
সআমারি থেকে কিছু অংশ + satire থেকে কিছু অংশ)

T.S., Sh--, or Shadwell (i.e., Thomas Shadwell)

Thomas Shadwell is the target of Dryden's satire and derision in Mac Flecknoe.
Shadwell was an English dramatist and poet laureate. He was known for his broad comedies
of manners and, more significantly, as a frequent target of John Dryden’s satire. In Mac
Flecknoe, Dryden casts him as the heir of the fictional "Kingdom of Nonsense," which is
presided over by Flecknoe. Shadwell is a large, proud man who revels in the bombast of his
coronation. He has no sense, is dull, and runs roughshod over the work of other, better poets.

A Mock Epic Poem

A mock-heroic poem uses the formal elements which characterize the epic
genre to depict a trivial situation. It thus creates a contrast between the form and
content that results in a satiric and absurd effect, ridiculing the characters in the
plot and their actions.
                        In the form and style, MacFlecknoe is a kind of mock-epic or
mock-heroic poem. The very opening of Mac Flecknoe is characterized by
epic inflation which has a comic effect. Flecknoe who is known to be a
worthless poet is compared to Augustus Caesar.  The mock-heroic vein is
continued throughout the poem in the portrayal of Shadwell as Mac Flecknoe.
Mac Flecknoe is regarded by his father as the suitable person to succeed to the
throne of dullness because he looks majestic with his huge bulk, like the huge
oak trees and is at the same time devoid of the power to think like them. We
find another touch of mock-heroic and ironic picture when Mac Flecknoe is
compared to Arion, a musician whose music attracted the dolphins, but Mac
Flecknoe attracted only “little fishes”.  The name Shadwell was sounded from
several localities, but the localities named by Dryden were sordid and inhabited
by uncultured people. MacFlecknoe is then ironically called “prince of thy
harmonious band”.
We find another example of the same style and technique in the description
of the place which has been chosen as the site of Mac Flecknoe’s coronation.
The ceremony of the coronation is described with the use of inflated language
bombastic language which ill-accords with triviality of the theme and gives
rise to laughter because of this incompatibility. At the same time, no abusive
words are used and the tone is ironic politeness. Flecknoe is called “the hoary
prince” who appeared in majesty, high on a throne. Thus herein also blooms the
epic style. But what is most interesting is that here also we find mockery scene.
The throne is one which Flecknoe had built with his own efforts and consisted
of a pile of books written by him. At his right hand sat Ascanius, Rome’s hope
and pillar of the state. “Last great prophet of tautology” mighty prince” who
was “born for a scourge of wit and flail of sense”

                        Moreover, we find another mockery picture when Shadwell

takes the oath that he would maintain genuine dullness in his kingdom
throughout his life and would never establish any link with wisdom or
intelligence. Then in a mock-epic style, Dryden tells us that Shadwell held, in
one hand, not the globe but a large mug of strong beer and in the other hand, not
a sceptre but a worthless book written by Flecknoe. Again, twelve vultures had
appeared to augur Remulus’s victory over Remus. Now twelve aged owls
appeared over Shadwell to promise an empire of dullness for Shadwell to rule
over.
                        conveys mockery when applied to Shadwell:
The speech begins in the right epic style but then we come to the lines in which
Shadwell is ridiculed. Flecknoe calls upon his son to keep progressing in the
field of ignorance and thus exhorts him:
Success let others teach, learn thou from me.
Pangs without birth, fruitless industry.
The mockery continues till the end. Shadwell’s tragic scenes, says Flecknoe, are
amusing rather than pathetic; and his comic scenes are so dull.
Indeed, Dryden conceived Mac Flecknoe as a satire against his
contemporary playwright Thomas Shadwell. The title itself points to the absurd
dimension of the poem by making Shadwell the son of (Mac) Richard Flecknoe,
another writer whom Dryden despised. Flecknoe is described as a king, which
recalls the status of epic heroes, but his kingdom is Nonsense, a name that
mocks his supposedly heroic status. He abdicates in favor of the most obtuse
of his children, Shadwell, who, just because of his intellectual weakness, is
the suitable heir to the throne. The scene of the coronation, usually a noble
topic, is significantly set in a dilapidated environment, thus deflating its
nobility.
To conclude, the mechanism of the mock-heroic genre consists in praising the
characters for their triviality and vulgarity. Thus, Dryden never directly attacks
Shadwell, rather he obtains his result of belittling him by exalting his ignorance
and bad writing.

 Flecknoe declares that Shadwell alone of all his sons was “mature in s from his tender years and
stood confirmed in stupidity. Others sometimes allow a ray of intelligence into the darkness of their
stupidity, but not so Shadwell. He was supreme in his dullness and ‘rising fogs’ ensured an eternal
lack of wit. The manner is often like Milton’s, but the effect is satirical.

The aim of the mock-heroic form is to deflate a victim by enhancing him. Dryden never belittles
Shadwell. He constantly enhances his victim – he calls him Prince, monarch, mature, etc. By using
Elevated words, ideas and images for Shadwell, Dryden reduces him to a helplessly ridiculous
level

Style
The poem is written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, also known as heroic
couplets. Whew, that's a whole lot of terminology to take in at one. To see what we mean, take a
look at lines 11-14:

And pond'ring which of all his sons was fit
To reign, and wage immortal war with wit;
Cry'd, 'tis resolv'd; for nature pleads that he
Should only rule, who most resembles me:

Notice how each line is comprised of five iambs—that's just the fancy literary term for an unstressed
syllable followed by a stressed syllable (it makes a sound like daDUM). That's the iambic pentameter
part (penta- just means five). Of course the entire poem is made up of rhymed couplets, which
combined with iambic pentameter, gives you your classic heroic couplet.

This form is typical of epic poetry, but "Mac Flecknoe" is no epic. It's a satire, employing the
meter, rhyme, and elevated language of the epic to make an ironic point. You could call it a mock-
epic, or mock-heroic, a unique poetic style that Dryden popularized in English Restoration literature

Richard Flecknoe
Richard Flecknoe (1600-1678) was an English dramatist and poet. His work was ridiculed by
Dryden as well as poet Andrew Marvell (1621-1678). In Mac Flecknoe, he is cast in the
fictional role of the “King of Nonsense.” He is getting older and decides he must appoint a
successor in one of his sons. He chooses Shadwell because he is the most like him; he is dull
and devoid of wit and sense. At the end of the poem, he drops below the stage and Shadwell
assumes his mantle.

Augustus
He is the founder of the Roman Empire and the first emperor. Also known as Octavian or
Octavius, he was adopted by Julius Caesar.

Criticism of bad poetry

Sh is depicted, finally, as lacking not just the talent and learning but even the
character necessary for producing significant literature. Instead of possessing
the sociable objectivity that enables the poet's observation to extend
meaningfully outside himself and learn from men and books permanent truths
about human nature (later a central theme in Battle of the Book and Essay on
Criticism), Sh evinces pride, impudence, barren introspection, and eccentric
individualism. He is "swelled with pride" (40). His pride is associated with lack
of learning when Flecknoe enjoins:
". . . my Son advance / Still in new Impudence, new Ignorance" (145—146).
In a distortion of the traditional literary imperative, Follow Nature, Flecknoe
exhorts Shadwell to excel as a poor writer by relying exclusively on his
personal, subjective resources:
And when false flowers of Rhetoric thou would'st cull,
Trust Nature, do not labour to be dull;
But write thy best, and top; and in each line,
Sir Formal's oratory will be thine . . . (165—168)
With noteworthy adroitness Dryden even implies that Sh's pretence to write
comedy of humor is his humor, or eccentric deviation from the balanced human
norm:
By which one way, to dulness, 'tis inclin'd,
This is that boasted Byas of thy mind,
Which makes thy writings lean on one side still,
And in all changes that way bends thy will. (189—192)
But Sh—'s lack of sense and objectivity implies his incapacity to succeed even
here; without judgment and observation, his pretence to write humor can merely
evince his own humorous pride ("boasted Byas").
This portrait of supreme poetic incompetence is intensified by a number of
degrading images. Sh 's corpulence sometimes implies intellectual heaviness.
His "goodly Fabrick" (25) "seems design'd for thoughtless Majesty" (26):
Thoughtless as Monarch Oakes, that shade the plain,
And, spread in solemn state, supinely reign. (27—28)
Other times Dryden uses Sh 's "mountain belly" (193) to connote
intellectual vacuity: "thine's a tympany of sense" (194):
A Tun of Man in thy Large bulk is writ,
But sure thou'rt but a Kilderkin of wit. (195-196)
The image of empty swelling is connected with pride and with the metaphor of
pregnancy:
Swell'd with the Pride of thy Celestial charge;
And big with Hymn . . . (40—41)
But, as McFadden has noted, Sh 's poetic pregnancy is false, causing
"Pangs without birth, and fruitless Industry" (148). Sh 's lack of genius
is emphasized also by recurring imagery of night, fogs, and damps (23—24,
110, 135—136) and by such signs of sovereignty as "twelve reverend Owls"
(129), the bird of darkness; "a mighty mug of potent Ale" (121); and
a wreath of poppies instead of laurel (126), an emblem having "three
significances: the poppy is soporific (e.g. Aen. iv. 486), parching and
sterilizing (Georgics, i. 78), and aphrodisiac but not fertilizing (see Browne,
Pseudodoxia Epidemica, vii. 7)".19
Although Dryden concentrates on Sh 's deficient genius, the attack extends
beyond the writer to his work and its effect on the audience.
Defective genius, education, and character predestine the writer to produce
inept and ineffectual work; without "wit writing" there can be no "wit written".2
" Instead of wit and sense Sh—'s work manifests tautology
(30, 56), flippant indecency (181), plagiarism (183—184), and feeble
versification (197). Such work inevitably misses the intended effect:

For the future, Sh is enjoined to reign, according to his genius, over the realm of
literary absurdity and triviality (203—210). Thus Dryden rounds out his portrait
of the anti-poet, surprisingly systematic anatomy of poetic dullness. Fittingly,
the metaphor of dullness descends on Sh throughout the poem as Dryden's most
ironic benediction.
Dryden's portrait of the anti-poet has a paradoxical satiric effect. It intensifies
the invective to the utmost, yet the obvious exaggeration causes it to transcend
the historical Thomas Shadwell and to become a comic satiric symbol of
Literary Incompetence. Dryden's criticism illuminates the ramifications of the
symbol, which implies as its opposite the Augustan ideal of the poet, the norm
of the satire.

Real personal events and MacFlecknoe

......."Mac Flecknoe" is a mock epic. Such a work uses the elevated style of the
classical epic poem such as The Iliad to satirize human follies. A mock epic
pretends that a person, a place, a thing, or an idea is extraordinary when—in the
author's view—it is actually insignificant and trivial. For example, a mock epic
about an inconsequential U.S. president such as Millard Fillmore might
compare him to such rulers as Pericles, Julius Caesar, Saladin, Louis XIV, and
George Washington.
.......In writing "Mac Flecknoe," John Dryden imitated not only the
characteristics of Homer's epics but also those of later writers such as Virgil,
Dante, and Milton.

Mac Flecknoe" first appeared in 1682 in an unedited, and probably unauthorized

John Dryden wrote "Mac Flecknoe" to satirize another English writer, Thomas
Shadwell (1642-1692), author of eighteen plays and a small body of poetry.
Dryden and Shadwell had once treated each other amicably but became enemies
because of their differing views on the following:
1...Politics. Dryden was a Tory; Shadwell was a Whig.
2...Religion. Shadwell offended Dryden when he satirized Catholic and
Anglican priests in a play entitled The Lancashire-Witches, and Tegue o Divelly
the Irish-Priest (1682). Dryden was considering becoming a Catholic at the time
(and did in 1686).
3...Literature: Dryden and Shadwell differed strongly on who was the better
writer: Shakespeare or Ben Jonson. Dryden took the part of Shakespeare;
Shadwell idolized Jonson.
.......When Shadwell attacked Dryden in The Medal of John Bayes (1682) and in
a political work, Dryden retaliated with "Mac Flecknoe," a masterpiece of
satire.
.......Although many of Shadwell's plays were popular in his time, critics
generally regard him today as a writer of small merit. Dryden, on the other
hand, enjoys a reputation as one of the greats of English literature.
Richard Flecknoe

.......Richard Flecknoe (1600-1678) was an English dramatist and poet whose

writing was ridiculed by poet Andrew Marvell (1621-1678), as well as Dryden.
In "Mac Flecknoe," Dryden casts him in the fictional role of the King of
Nonsense. When the time comes for the aging king to select his successor, he
chooses Thomas Shadwell. (In the poem, Dryden casts Shadwell as the son of
the King of Nonsense.) Shadwell accedes to the crown as Mac Flecknoe. (Mac
means son of.)