Father And Son

Father And Son

As related to Absalom and Achitophel

Absalom and Achitophel begins in the world of Old Testament history. The

vague biblical past of the opening lines lets the narrative to be set

from 2 Samuel in a wide historical frame that hopes to legitimize the

king's promiscuity by associating the king as father of the land:

In pious times, e'r priestcraft did begin, Before polygamy was made a sin;

When one man on many multiplied his kind, Ere one to one was cursedly confined;

When nature prompted and no law denied Promiscuous use of concubine and bride;

Then Israel's monarch after Heaven's own heart, His vigorous warmth did variously impart

To wives and slaves; and, wide as his command, Scattered his Maker's image through the land. (l. 1-10)

The association between God and David is made through the clever

comparison of divine and human fertility. There is some irony in seeing

God's abundant creation reflected in the king's sexual extravagances, but

the irony doesn't reduce the status of the king. It serves, at the

beginning of the poem, to separate the person of the king from the office

of the king.

The opening scenes emphasize David as an indulgent father, not as head of

the country. David's pleasure in Absalom parallels God's attitude toward

Adam in the Garden. All of Absalom's motions are accompanied with grace,

And paradise was opened in his face.

With secret joy indulgent David viewed

His youthful image in his son renewed:

To all his wishes nothing he denied;

And made the charming Annabel his bride. (l. 29-34)

The easy going nature of Absalom, put together with the specific

reference to paradise, help establish him as the figure from Eden that

will be seen again in the temptation. The characterization of David

emphasizes a combination of divine and human paternity. Like God, David

takes great joy in his creation; like God, he supplies Absalom with a

worthwhile bride. This serious presentation of David in his fatherly joy

and indulgence, as compared to the divine model, cannot be taken as

criticism of the king. It strengthens the casual relationship between God

and David established at the opening of the poem. When attention is

called to indulgence or weakness in David's character, it is in a context

that shows David's indulgence to be a reflection of his paternal, rather

than kingly, capacity:

What faults he had (for whom from faults if free?)

His father could not, or he would not see. (l. 35-36)

The emphasis is on David's paternal indulgence. The initial presentation

of David and Absalom closes with a declaration of the calm of David's