John Dryden, All for Love, or The World Well Lost

Peter Byrne (Independent Scholar - North America)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1678

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

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All for Love, or the World Well Lost (1677),

Dryden’s tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra, represents a turning point in his career as a dramatist. Abandoning his practice of composing his plays in rhymed couplets (a method he had earlier encouraged in his

Essay of Dramatic Poesie

)(1668), Dryden shows here the mastery of an artist at the height of his powers. The play is especially impressive in creating genuine emotion and dramatic tension within the rigorous strictures of the neoclassical theatre; the unities of time, place, and action are strictly observed, but the story loses none of its power as a result. The work has obviously suffered in its inevitable comparison to Shakespeare’s

Antony and Cleopatra

—when read, Dryden’s play is usually offered as an illustration of the…

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2823 words

Citation: Byrne, Peter. "All for Love, or The World Well Lost". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6773, accessed 26 November 2024.]

John Dryden, All for Love, or The World Well Lost

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