Study of Dryden's "heroic" plays, which were immensely popular in his day (the Restoration) but are now very difficult to appreciate. Examining the meaning of the characters and their typical verbiage in the context of Dryden's time, the author seeks insight into the broader issue of changes in literary taste. He also touches on why Dryden and his contemporaries found Shakespeare primitive and unreadable, and why they felt his plays needed to be rewritten.