Macflecknoe Essay

303 Words2 Pages
In Macflecknoe,written bt John Dryden different allusions are used on different levels. These allusions are taken from various sources such as myth,bible, the literature of his time, history etc. All these allusions are used to fulfil the satirical purpose. There are plenty of biblical allusions in M. Some of them are taken from the old testament and some are taken from the new testament. The first instance of biblical allusion can be found when Flecknoe declares that he “was not but to prepare” Shadwell’s way. It reminds the readers of what John the Baptist says in Matthew 3:3, John the Baptist said, “A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the way for the lord, Make straight paths for him.” Another instance—In Mark 1:11 God says to Jesus, “You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” This very clearly echoes with Flecknoe’s declaration. Flecknoe says, “Thou art my blood”. Some biblical allusions are much controversial. Most of the critics consider that the line “Shadwell alone my perfect image bears” is the allusion of God-Christ relationship. On the contrary, Michael Wilding says in his essay “Allusion and Innuendo in Macflecknoe” that the phrase “perfecr image” has been used to for indicating the relationship between satan and his daughter,sin. In Paradise Lost, Satan falls in love his daughter and says, “Thy self in me thy perfect image” . That means Flecknoe and Shadwell are not like God and Christ but like the depraved, nercisstic, incestuous, obscene parody of God-christ relationship. However one phrase is not enough to prove this. The whole epic develops the resemblances between God-christ relationship and Flecknoe-Shadwell relationship. The inappropriateness of this comparison makes it a true mock epic
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