Mac Flecknoe

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1682

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

The Restoration Era was a period of refinement in English poetry, and this refinement was spearheaded by Dryden himself. Dryden was perhaps the most intentional poet of his generation, and, therefore, an understanding of his use of form is often essential to understand his works. “Mac Flecknoe” is no exception in this. Despite being a satirical take on the form (a mock-heroic), “Mac Flecknoe” is a case study in heroic verse. Heroic verse consists of lines of iambic pentameter (five metrical feet, each made of one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) that end in rhyming couplets. With the exception of the single triple rhyme at Lines 136-38—which is likely an intentional, comedic crescendo accentuating Flecknoe’s pomposity—Dryden constructs his mock-heroic using perfect heroic couplets.

Dryden’s poetic abilities are on full display in “Mac Flecknoe.” There are some poetic inversions, also called anastrophes, in which the conventional order of words is reversed, usually for metrical or emphatic purposes; for example, “sacred unction made” (Line 118). However, there are far fewer of these inversions than one might expect in a poem as complex and formally restrictive as “Mac Flecknoe.” As a result, the undisturbed syntax makes the poem seem effortless, belying the attention Dryden paid. This effortlessness is likely pointed, or at least a happy accident, as Dryden’s clear and natural verse lies in direct contrast to Shadwell, who “never deviates into sense” (Line 20). Dryden’s verse makes poetry look easy—and makes Shadwell’s inability to write it look even more astounding.

The quality of Dryden’s verse also establishes him as a strong poet and therefore a credible authority capable of evaluating others’ work. Like with Dryden’s classical allusions, he is always building himself up as a poet as he tears Shadwell down. The comparison Dryden draws between himself and Shadwell is complicated by his choice to use Flecknoe as the poem’s primary speaker. However, Dryden’s use of Flecknoe as a symbol rather than a representation of a historical figure (as discussed in this guide’s “Literary Context” section) creates an ironic distance between Flecknoe and his spoken words.

Literary and Real Allusion

“Mac Flecknoe” is a poem of its time, and its literary allusions combine with real characters to blur the boundaries of reality and poetry. This boundary-play heightens the work’s absurdist comedy and argues for Dryden’s belief in the power of creation. The boundary-play also provides commentary on England’s contemporary literary scene: While “Mac Flecknoe” imagines real poets, like Flecknoe and Shadwell, in sensational positions, other writers, like George Etherege and Charles Sedley, seem to exist in much the same position they did in their contemporary England (Lines 151, 163).

Dryden draws no apparent distinction between contemporary working poets, historical figures, and literary creations. This conflation allows Dryden to make his point through a variety of connections between people and creations of various realms. Dryden similarly makes such connections by employing the epic form—he brings the classical epic into his present and uses it to engage the creation of a new London literary scene. The implicit suggestion behind all of Dryden’s allusions, however, points to a moral and literary degeneration that Dryden observed in the evolution of England’s literary culture. This degeneration is distinctly evident in the comparison of “Great Fletcher” (Line 79) and “greater Jonson” (Line 80) with “gentle Simkin” (Line 81) and “Panton” (Line 84). Here, the great playwrights of the previous generation are literally being replaced by characters from second-rate farces.

Irony and Wit

Dryden’s wit and irony are instrumental to the poem’s larger argument. The high regard with which Flecknoe’s Kingdom of Dullness holds nonsense and stupidity, for example, represents one of the poem’s great ironic tensions. Flecknoe, Shadwell, and to a certain extent even the poem’s speaker, are unaware that the value they place on nonsense is misguided. The poem’s reader or listener, meanwhile, is meant to grasp the absurdity of valuing such negative qualities as nonsense. This ironic tension originates much of the poem’s comedy and satirical bite, but it also demonstrates the truth of Dryden’s aesthetic judgment.

While it is not impossible to value a negative quality, nonsense is particularly difficult to endorse. Most negative qualities that are seen as valuable are understood as such because they later make way for an actual virtue. For instance, demolition can make way for development, and there is thus a positive outcome from the destruction. Nonsense, however, is not the destruction of sense but its negation, and it therefore has no associated merit.

This value system has ramifications. When Flecknoe says that Shadwell “never deviates into sense” (Line 20), he creates a paradox; sense should not be a deviation but a guiding faculty. This paradox affects the entire kingdom. Through these ironic paradoxes, Dryden juxtaposes Shadwell’s characteristic dullness and nonsense with (sharp) wit and reasoned argument. In the poem’s kingdom, these virtues are not completely discarded; “Great Fletcher” (Line 79) and “greater Jonson” (Line 80) are respected for these qualities, for instance. Instead, the poem suggests that the virtues are rewarded less than the defects.