University of Toronto Press Enchanted Ground: Reimagining John Dryden (UCLA Clark Memorial Library Series)

At the time of his death in 1700, John Dryden was acknowledged as England's greatest writer, his reputation even rivaling that of Shakespeare. Certainly, whether considered as a poet, a dramatist, or as a critic, Dryden far outstripped his contemporaries in the sheer scope and variety of his literary production. The amazing versatility of his pen was matched only by the transformational energy that shapes individual works, from heroic dramas to great satires. For Enchanted Ground, Jayne Lewis and Maximillian E. Novak have brought together many of the world's experts on Dryden, and their essays reflect a range of new, uniquely twenty-first-century views of him. The book is divided into two sections. The first explores Dryden's role as a public poet who had made himself the voice of the restored Stuart court. The second considers Dryden's relationship to the arts and particularly to the past and to Shakespeare. Dryden was a poet for all ages. These essays provide fresh readings of Dryden and bring scholarship on him fully up-to-date. From the Inside Flap 'This is a fine collection of essays that makes a useful and original contribution to scholarship on Dryden. It is an informative and insightful book one that I very much enjoyed reading.' About the Author Jayne Lewis is a professor in the Department of English at the University of California, Los Angeles.