num_pages: 131
description: Aureng-Zebe was John Dryden's last rhymed play and it is frequently considered his best. In this tragedy produced in 1675 published in 1676 the plot is loosely based on a contemporary account of the struggle between the four sons of Shah Jahan the fifth Mogul emperor for the succession to the throne. The hero is a figure of exemplary rationality virtue and patience whose stepmother lusts after him and whose father pursues the woman with whom Aureng-Zebe is himself in love. Dryden evinces a deeply disturbing awareness of the anarchy and impotence which threaten every aspect of human life emotional moral and political.
language: English
title: Aureng-Zebe
publisher: University of Nebraska Press