Abstract: Essay of Dramatic Poesy by John Dryden has been regarded as a work of literary criticism with a focus on the three unities. This paper aims to break through this traditional interpretation and point out the ignored significance of Essay of Dramatic Poesy. By reading this work closely against the literary and historical background of the West, we can find that both the setting and the interlocutors in Essay of Dramatic Poesy are more imaginary than real. Essay of Dramatic Poesy is a fictional literary dialogue. Dryden suggests more than once about this fictionalization in the part of dedication to his patron before the dialogue proper. The naming of the four characters also points to this fictionalization. The arguments involving the three unities, comparisons between English and French drama, and between the ancient and the modern drama, are all closely related to the quarrel of the ancients and the moderns, and are in fact embodiments of this quarrel. Dryden’s juxtaposition of the dialogue between the four speakers on the Thames and the encountering of the English fleet with the Dutch at sea near the mouth of the Thames is by no means random, but in fact purposeful and related to this quarrel. However, this has seldom been mentioned by scholars. In short, Essay of Dramatic Poesy as a fictional literary dialogue has proved to be a tool with which Dryden takes part in this quarrel. This research will to some extent update the scholarship on Dryden and Essay of Dramatic Poesy.

Keywords: Essay of Dramatic Poesy; literary dialogue; quarrel of the ancients and the moderns; dramatic poesy; literary theory

摘要： 约翰•德莱顿的《论戏剧诗》一直被视为探讨三一律的文艺理论作品。本文将突破这一传统解读，以对这部作品的细读为基础，并将其置于西方文学与西方历史的大背景下加以审视，挖掘出该作品被人忽略的其它内涵。本文指出，《论戏剧诗》的对话背景和对话角色与其说有一定的真实性，不如说是作者想象力的产物。《论戏剧诗》是一部虚构意味浓厚的对话体文学作品。综合考察对话者围绕三一律、英法戏剧诗的比较和古今戏剧诗的比较进行的争论，会发现它们都与那个时代盛行的古今之争有着密切关联，甚至都是古今之争的体现。简言之，虚构的文学对话《论戏剧诗》是德莱顿参与古今之争的工具。本研究将一定程度上刷新学界对于德莱顿以及《论戏剧诗》的相关认知。

关键词: 《论戏剧诗》, 文学对话, 古今之争, 戏剧诗, 文学理论