Absalom and Achitophel

One of the greatest political questions in Dryden’s time was whether England should maintain a traditional monarchy or whether the more radical democratic ideas of the Civil War era should prevail and establish a permanent commonwealth. In “Absalom and Achitophel”, Dryden refers to the anti-monarchical ideas that were openly professed during the Civil War era and which remained a threat to the restored monarchy: “These Adam-wits, too fortunately free / Began to dream they wanted liberty” (Lines 51-52). Dryden mocks those who dream of more democratic rule, and the poem depicts democracy as regression instead of progression. The poet claims that such men simply wish to revert to a more primitive and anarchic state, since they “thought that all but savages were slaves” (Line 56, italics mine). Instead, Dryden sides explicitly with the traditional forces of monarchy, defending the king’s prerogative and depicting more democratic ideals as nationally destabilizing—King David’s more sensible Jewish subjects, he claims, “curst the memory of the civil wars” (Line 74) and accept that it is better to remain loyal to the king. By the same reasoning, the poet implies that sensible Englishmen should do the same.

Dryden is also harsh in his representation of the average subject’s political savvy.