John Dryden as a Satirist.

Satire is a literary form which searches out the faults of men or
institutions in order to hold them up to ridicule. Dryden considered the
“true end of satire to be the amendment of vices by correction”. But without humour, satire is invective.  Satire may be (i) personal or (ii) impersonal. Personal satire is against individuals and impersonal satire is aimed at types, and hence universal and lasting.

Dryden is a master of the classical form of satire. He shows the influence of classical writers of Rome like Horace and Juvenal. Dryden
combines the urbane laughter of Horace with the vigorous contempt of
Juvenal in his satire. A characteristic example of this combination is in
the portrait of Zimri in “Absalom and Achitophel”: "It is not bloody, but
it's ridiculous enough”.

The important satirical works of Dryden are "Absalom and
Achitophel". "The Medal". "Mac Flecknoe" and a contribution of 200
lines to Nahum Tate's "A bsalom and Achitophel" Part II. All his satires
usually show artistic control and urbanity of manner.

Political satire
Dryden's political satire is manifest in “Absalom and Achitophel”, a
brilliant piece of satirical allegory in which the cause of King Charles II
is championed. It satirizes the attempt of Shaftesbury to overrule the succession of the Duke of York and set the Duke of Monmouth in his
place. An allegorical version of a story from the Bible suits the purpose.
Charles II is David and the Duke of Monmouth is Absalom, while
Shaftesbury is the satanic, cunning and dangerous Achitophel. The
series of satirical portraits in the poem is its chief attraction and strength.

Careful selection of details, moderation and tolerance mark the satire. Moral indignation is never affected; Dryden's attitude is cool and not ill-humoured. He does not show mean malice.

Controlled contempt
Dryden's satire is remarkable as an artistic expression of controlled
contempt. Of the three great English satirists, Dryden is a master of
scorn or contempt, Pope of rage, and Swift of disgust. Dryden speaks as
one civilized person to another, without invective. The suave Horatian manner marks his political satire. Without using malice, Dryden reduces his opponent to a ridiculous position. He controls his satirical spirit, and skilfully selects the points and the manner of his attacks. The result is a humorous, disdainful, and yet incisive mockery. Dryden was aware that the satirist should make a man "die sweetly", and call him a fool or rogue without using those "opprobrious terms". He talks of the satirist's dexterous stroke which severs the head but leaves the rest of the body standing. His own satire shows this dexterous stroke. Dignified contempt and ironical praise achieve Dryden's purpose as a political satirist. He also shows remarkable power of reasoning in poetry.

Personal satires
Juvenalian vigour marks his personal satires. The supporters of
Shaftesbury provoked Dryden to write “The Medal”, which is marked for biter invective against Shaftesbury. Part of the work is also directed against Republican institutions of England. As a work of art, it falls short of “Absalom and Achitophel”.  As a result of “The Medal”, several hostile satiric works sprang up, one of which was Shadwell's “The Medal of John”
Bayes. Dryden's reply was the severe personal satire of “Mac Flecknoe”. Flecknoe, whose successor is Shadwell, rules over an empire of dullness.
He rules "through all the realms of Nonsense, absolute". Dryden's power at contemptuous wit is evident in his portraiture of Shadwell. Personal and witty attacks on Shadwell's corpulence and literary weaknesses are, however, combined with humour. Sharp wit and humour mingle in “Mac Flecknoe”. Good-natured contempt and an ironic tone mark his treatment of Shadwell. “Mac Flecknoe” is a mock-heroic satire.

Elevating style
Dryden's style never becomes low or vulgar. He does not generally
indecent imagery or idiom. He elevates his very opponents-that is
the masterly technique of Dryden as a satirist. His poetry exalts the very characters whom his scorn depresses and diminishes. Thus his “Moc Flecknoe” is much more important than the real Shadwell. The real Titus Oates is less important than the artistic Corah. It is his exalting style which helped to give importance to the satire as a literary form. Dryden master of "fine raillery". He not merely lampoons but also writes panegyric in his  ‘satire’ is “not only used for these discourses which decried vice or exposed folly, but for others also, where virtue was recommended", said Dryden. His satires have thus
wider scope. Positive as well as negative, they decry faults and
recommend virtues at the same time. “Mac Flecknoe” decries Shadwell
but appreciates the merits of Ben Jonson at the same time.

Use of the heroic couplet
The "exalting" effect is possible because Dryden perfected the
heroic couplet and made it an appropriate verse medium for satire. The neatness, polish, epigrammatic cogency and witty phrasing that
Dryden brought to the heroic couplet, made it fit for satire. He fully
exploited the scope it offered for balance and antithesis. It became a handy vehicle for the expression of ironic contempt.

Dryden's couplets have the stinging power of a slap in the face. It is
the combination of smoothness, lucidity of style and urbanity of manner, made possible by mastery over the couplet form, which makes Dryden's satire so very remarkable. Lucid, clear and majestic, Dryden's satire gets its sting from his use of the heroic couplet.   

Dryden's achievement as a satirist
Dryden ranks very high as a satirist. His satirical portraits are
remarkably effective. He has a marked ability to reason or argue through verse. He gave to satire its own importance as a literary form. "He never painted a type without individual significance, or an individual that was not hugely typical", says Humbert Wolge. Never purely malicious, even
his personal satires are generally marked by urbane smoothness, which makes the satire all the more effective. Indeed, as Hugh Walker points out, "the work of Dryden fixed for several generations the course of
English satire."