Inspired by the ideals of Enlightenment thinking and the conviction of the need for a systematic theory, Dryden wrote his own works of criticism. In them, he addresses various issues of poetry and plays, such as language and setting. More than simply using the works of the writers he admired to demonstrate good writing, Dryden was also eager to describe their weaknesses in his attempt to outline a poetic theory.
Dryden, for example, attempted to identify both the strengths and flaws in Shakespeare's plays. One of Dryden's most interesting criticisms is that Shakespeare violated the Greek ideal of the unity of time in plays, meaning that Shakespeare's plays would be better if they were written in real time (meaning the hours portrayed in the play would match the actual time of the play) rather than condensing months or years into a two or three-hour play.