Dryden\u27s Adaptations of Shakespeare

It is the purpose of this study to discuss Dryden\u27s adaptations of Shakespeare\u27s The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra, and Troilus and Cressida. As a background for this study, Restoration drama will be discussed from the standpoint of the following criteria: relationship to Elizabethan drama; Restoration audiences, theaters, and fashion; adaptations, primarily of Shakespeare; D’Avenant, Dryden, and heroic drama; and finally, English opera in the Restoration period. The first of the five chapters in this discussion will be concerned with the items listed above. Succeeding chapters in order will discuss Dryden\u27s adaptations of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra, Troilus and Cressida, and in a summary chapter some critical conclusions will be given. In chapters two, three, and four dealing with the plays of Shakespeare which Dryden adapted, the discussion will be concerned with the theme of the plays, the structure, the plot, major and important minor characters, and imagery, and it will close with a critical summary