Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
World Languages and Literatures Symposium, Denizli, Türkiye, 1 - 03 Haziran 2022, ss.1-2
The term “Restoration theatre” has come to represent a set of
assumptions about the trajectory of the English theatre in the aftermath of the
Interregnum period. One common tendency in dramatic criticism is the premise
that the period somehow marks the beginning of the “decay” of the English
theatre due to the dominance of the comedy genre that incorporates aristocratic
licentiousness and lavish urban lifestyles. While comedy is, from a Russian
formalist perspective, the dominant in theatre of the age, the body of works
produced during the period is in fact remarkably diverse. Ranging from comedy
to tragicomedy, from musical theatre to Shakespeare adaptations, dramatic
literature in the Restoration years manifests both thematic and generic
diversity. “Heroic drama” is among the leading dramatic modes of the period in
which the conditions of a political settlement are explored with propositions
for a new socio-political order. Heroic plays mainly focus on how the new
social contract between the monarchy and the citizenry would be negotiated and
carried out. Alongside such thematic content, heroic plays modelled after the
heroism and “epic grandeur” of mythological figures, warriors, and political
leaders, which suggest that the presence of a powerful monarch is an essential
component of the new political regime built after the Civil War. However, such
a “heroic ethos” is not without its reservations; for a proper functioning of
the political system, each constituent of the political spectrum - monarchy,
nobility, parliament, and citizenry- are to establish a reciprocal relationship
in which “virtues” are the basis for the settlement. In other words, both the
monarchy and the other constituents of the political system are expected to
maintain a logic of virtuous co-existence in heroic plays. John Dryden’s
Aureng-Zebe (1675) attests to such characteristics of the heroic drama. Set in
the exotic land of India during the Mughal Empire, the play openly expresses a
disdain for political extremism while exploring the questions of just
government and public loyalty. In this presentation, I will take a look at how
John Dryden uses theatre as a space for intellectual involvement in politics.
By paying attention to the verbal exchanges between various characters where
political roles are discussed, I will historicise the play as a Restoration
dramatic piece in which the conditions of a political settlement are surveyed
with a theatrical outlook on the socio-political responsibilities of the
period.