Absalom and Achitophel

MP3 Audio CD. Published in two parts - one in 1681,which is undoubtedly written by John Dryden, and the second in 1682, believed to have been only partially written by Dryden, most of it coming from another great poet of the time, most probably Nahum Tate - Absalom and Achitophel is one of the most masterfully political satires in English literature.

The frame of the poem is a story taken from the Old Testament, the story of King David?s son, Absalom and Achitophel, a friend of his who convinces Absalom to revolt against the rule of King David. The characters in the verse pamphlet are symbolic equivalents of the political figures of Dryden?s time ? Absalom is the Duke of Monmouth, the illegitimate son of King Charles II, Achitophel is the Earl of Shaftesbury, seeking to eliminate the Duke of York from the succession to the throne in favour of Monmouth, while King David is King Charles. In the satire, Dryden takes a stand in favor of the King and against the rebels ? David is depicted as a loving father, while Absalom dies hanging by his own hair from an oak tree.

The satire was written and published in turbulent times. When King Charles? health started to deteriorate, the problem of legitimate succession increased the tension in the lines of the aristocracy. Charles was known to have been a philanderer and had lots of illegitimate children, the Duke of Monmouth, one of the most charismatic public figures of the time and a supporter of the Protestant cause being one of them, but the only legitimate successor was Charles? brother, the future King James II and a Catholic. For fear of the country coming under Catholic rule, the Lord of Shaftesbury initiated a bill that could have excluded Catholic succession, but the law was not passed by the House of Lords, failure that brought about the Monmouth Rebellion, put down in 1685.