The Realm of Nonsense
What's a king without a kingdom? Thomas Shadwell is heir to the throne of the "realm of nonsense," and this is the fictional setting in which the poem's action takes place. The "realm of nonsense"...
Dullness and Stupidity
In case you missed it, "Mac Flecknoe" pretty much entirely consists just of John Dryden going really out of his way to call someone stupid. That being said, Dryden offers no shortage of hilarious j...
Epic Imagery
Totally epic, bro. Much of the poem's success depends on Dryden's ironic use of the kind of elevated diction and grandiose imagery typical of the epic genre. All this epic-ness makes the decidedly...