A Background to the story of Absalom and Achitophel

The Restoration of the English monarchy began when the English, Scottish and Irish

monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the

Three Kingdoms. The term Restoration is used to describe both the actual event by which the

monarchy was restored, and the period of several years afterwards in which a new political

settlement was established.[1]It is very often used to cover the whole reign of Charles II (1660–

1685) and often the brief reign of his younger brother James II (1685-1688). Charles II (29 May

1630 – 6 February 1685) was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the

climax of the English Civil War. Although the Parliament of Scotland proclaimed Charles II

King of Great Britain and Ireland in Edinburgh on 6 February 1649, the English

Parliament instead passed a statute that made any such proclamation unlawful. England entered

the period known as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth, and the country

was a de facto republic, led by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell defeated Charles II at the Battle of

Worcester on 3 September 1651, and Charles fled to mainland Europe. Cromwell became virtual

dictator of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Charles spent the next nine years in exile in

France, the United Provinces and the Spanish Netherlands.

A political crisis that followed the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in

the restoration of the monarchy, and Charles was invited to return to Britain. On 29 May 1660,

his 30th birthday, he was received in London to public acclaim. After 1660, all legal documents

were dated as if he had succeeded his father as king in 1649.

John Dryden was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who was

made Poet Laureate in 1668. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to

such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden. Walter

Scott called him "Glorious John." After the Restoration, Dryden quickly established himself as

the leading poet and literary critic of his day and he transferred his allegiances to the new

government. Dryden's greatest achievements were in satiric verse: the mock-heroic Mac

Flecknoe, a more personal product of his Laureate years, was a lampoon circulated in manuscript

and an attack on the playwright Thomas Shadwell. Dryden's main goal in the work is to "satirize

Shadwell, ostensibly for his offenses against literature but more immediately we may suppose for

his habitual badgering of him on the stage and in print." It is not a belittling form of satire, but

rather one which makes his object great in ways which are unexpected, transferring the

ridiculous into poetry. This line of satire continued with Absalom and Achitophel (1681) and The

Medal (1682

Absalom and Achitophel is a landmark poetic political satire by John Dryden. The poem

exists in two parts. The first part, of 1681, is undoubtedly by Dryden. The second part, of 1682,

was written by another hand, most likely Nahum Tate, except for a few passages—including

attacks on Thomas Shadwell and Elkanah Settle, expressed as Og and Doeg—that Dryden wrote

himself. The poem is an allegory that uses the story of the rebellion of Absalom against King

David as the basis for discussion of the background to the Monmouth Rebellion (1685),

the Popish Plot and the Exclusion Crisis. According to the Bible, Absalom or Avshalom "Father

of peace") was the third son of David, King of Israel. He was the most handsome man in the

kingdom. Absalom eventually rebelled against his father and was killed during the Battle of

Ephraim Wood. A fateful battle was fought in the Wood of Ephraim and Absalom's army was

completely routed. Absalom himself was caught by his head in the boughs of an oak-tree as the

mule he was riding ran beneath it—an irony given that he was previously renowned for his

abundant hair and handsome head. He was discovered hanging there still alive by one of David's

men, who reported the matter to Joab, The king’s commander Joab being accustom to avenging

himself took this opportunity to even the score with Absalom. Killing Absalom was against

David’s command saying, Beware that none touch the young man Absalom. Even so Joab took

three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in

the midst of the oak; and when David heard that Absalom was killed although not how he was

killed he greatly sorrowed thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would

God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

Biblical background

The story of Absalom's revolt is told in the Second Book of Samuel in the Old

Testament of the Bible (chapters 14 to 18). Absalom rebels against his father King David. The

beautiful Absalom is distinguished by extraordinarily abundant hair, which is probably meant to

symbolize his pride (2 Sam. 14:26). When David's renowned advisor, Achitophel (Achitophel in

the Vulgate) joins Absalom's rebellion, another advisor, Hushai, plots with David to pretend to

defect and give Absalom advice that plays into David's hands. The result was that Absalom takes

the advice of the double agent Hushai over the good advice of Achitophel, who realising that the

rebellion is doomed to failure, goes home and hangs himself. Absalom is killed (against David's

explicit commands) after getting caught by his hair in the thick branches of a great oak: "His

head caught fast in the oak, and he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule

that was under him went on" (NRSV 2 Sam. 18:9). The death of his son, Absalom, causes David

enormous personal grief. The title of Faulkner's novel Absalom, Absalom! is taken from David's

mourning

Historical background

In 1681 in England, Charles II was in advanced years. He had had a number of mistresses

and produced a number of illegitimate children. One of these was James Scott, the Duke of

Monmouth, who was very popular, both for his personal charisma and his fervor for

the Protestant cause. Charles had no legitimate heirs, and his brother, the future James II of

England was openly a Roman Catholic. When Charles's health suffered, there was a panic in

the House of Commons over the potential for the nation being ruled by a Roman Catholic king.

In the Spring of 1681, at the Oxford Parliament, Shaftesbury appealed to Charles II to legitimate

Monmouth. Monmouth was caught preparing to rebel and seek the throne, and Shaftesbury was

suspected of fostering this rebellion. The poem was written, possibly at Charles's behest, and

published in early November 1681. On 24 November 1681, Shaftesbury was seized and charged

with high treason. A trial before a jury picked by Whig sheriffs acquitted him.

Later, after the death of his father and unwilling to see his uncle James II become King,

the Duke of Monmouth executed his plans and went into full revolt. The Monmouth Rebellion

was put down, and in 1685 the Duke was executed. Dryden's poem tells the story of the first

foment by making Monmouth into Absalom, the beloved boy, Charles into David (who also had

some philandering), and Shaftesbury into Achitophel. It paints Buckingham, an old enemy of

Dryden's (see The Rehearsal for one example), into Zimri, the unfaithful servant. The poem

places most of the blame for the rebellion on Shaftesbury and makes Charles a very reluctant and

loving man who has to be king before father.