A mock-heroic poem uses the formal elements which
characterise the epic genre (heightened poetic diction, elaborated and lengthy similies,
archaic words) to depict a trivial situation. It thus create a contrast between form and
content that results in a satiric and absurd effect, ridiculing the characters in the
plot and their actions.
Dryden conceived Mac
Flecknoe as a satire against his contemporary playwright Thomas Shadwell. The
title itself points to the absurd dimension of the poem by making Shadwell the son of
(Mac) Richard Flecknoe, another writer whom Dryden despised. Flecknoe is described as a
king, which recalls the status of epic heroes, but his kingdom is Nonsense, a name that
mocks his supposedly heroic status. He abdicates in favor of the most obtuse of his
children, Shadwell, who, just because of his intellectual weakness, is the siutable heir
to the throne. The scene of the coronation, usually a noble topic, is significantly set
in a dilapidated environment, thus deflating its
nobility.
The mechanism of the mock-heroic genre consists
in prasing the characters for their triviality and vulgarity. Thus, Dryden never
directly attacks Shadwell, rather he obtains his result of belittling him by exhalting
his ignorance and bad wrinting.
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