Mac Flecknoe Literary Elements

The story or poem is told in the third person from the point of view of an unnamed narrator whom we can conclude with relative certainty is Dryden. From time to time, the narrator recounts lines as though quoting directly from characters in the story, and accordingly switches to first person.

Heroic couplets

Simile:
1. Shadwell is "Thoughtless as monarch oaks, that shade the plain" (line 27). This suggests he is still, dull, and lacking in dynamism.

Metaphor:
1. "Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray, / His rising fogs prevail upon the day" (lines 23-24). Dryden uses a metaphor of night and fog to show how Shadwell is all darkness and obfuscation, admitting no light or sense.
2. "No Persian carpets spread th'imperial way, / But scatter'd limbs of mangled poets lay" (lines 98-99). Dryden uses a metaphor of severed body parts lining the streets to depict how Shadwell ran roughshod over real poets and writers, cutting them to pieces and walking over them in triumph with his subpar works and embrace of inanity.
3. Shadwell swears "Ne'er to have peace with wit, nor truce with sense" (line 117). Dryden uses a metaphor of war to show how Shadwell constantly fights with sense and will never come to terms with it.

Alliteration:
1. "And, spread in solemn state, supinely reign" (line 28).
2. "...did at length debate / To settle the succession of the State" (lines 9-10).

Assonance:
1. "Like mine thy gentle numbers feebly creep, / Thy Tragic Muse gives smiles, thy Comic sleep" (lines 197-198).

The poem is utterly stuffed with irony; its tone is ironic, its imagery is ironic, its entire conceit is ironic. Much of this is discussed in the analysis, but here are a few examples:

1. It is ironic that the realm of Nonsense is compared to the great Roman empire.
2. It is ironic that Flecknoe is so proud of someone who is dull and has no sense.
3. It is ironic that the dull and corpulent Shadwell is compared to Greek heroes like Arion.
4. It is ironic that the coronation site is in a neighborhood filled with brothels and bad theaters.

Poem; satire; mock-heroic

Late-17th-century Restorian England

Satirical, effusive, ironic

The protagonists are "The King of Nonsense" (i.e., Richard Flecknoe) and "Sh--" (i.e., Thomas Shadwell).

Richard Flecknoe, The King of Nonsense, is looking for an heir to replace him; he settles upon the dullest of all of his sons, Thomas Shadwell. There is no true conflict in the story relayed by the poem. The satire serves, however, as a commentary on conflict that Dryden has observed within the world of poetry - a conflict between inane, dull works catering to baser instincts, and high art.

There is no traditional climax, but a version of one comes at the end of the poem when all of a sudden Flecknoe drops below the stage, concluding his effusive speech.

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There are dozens of allusions in the text; please refer to the Characters and Analysis sections in the text for illumination on most.

Metonymy:
1. "Thou art my blood" (line 75). Blood is used to refer to Shadwell being Flecknoe's son.

1. "Fate summons" (line 2).
2. "The treble squeaks for fear, the basses roar" (line 46).

1. "Methinks I see the new Arion sail" (line 43).

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