Dryden and the Clergy 9 views

The Dryden scholar soon becomes accustomed to his subject’s intractable nature. In critical opinion and religious views, Dryden has so far bedeviled scholars who have tried to find consistent patterns in his thought. Despite their most ingenious efforts, he remains elusory, primed with inconsistencies, paradoxes, and contradictions. For a number of years it appeared that Louis Bredvold had succeeded in pinning Dryden down, at least in terms of his religious thought.1 Now, however, it is apparent that Bredvold's argument for a continuous sceptical or fideistic strain in Dryden, connecting Religio Laici with The Hind and the Panther and thus bridging the gap between Dryden’s Anglicanism and his Roman Catholicism, is invalid. The fact remains that Dryden twice switched church allegiance; moreover, evidence indicates that he entered into each position with enthusiasm.

PHD (Doctor of Philosophy

Religion; Dryden, John, 1631-1700; Religious Criticism

English

All rights reserved by the author (no additional license for public reuse)

1969-05-15