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How did heroic plays portray the conflict between love and honour?

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Poet John Dryden — John Dryden John Dryden, oil painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1693; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

In Restoration England, the heroic play was a genre defined by its focus on exalted ideals, most notably the tension between love and honour. These plays, popularized by John Dryden, featured characters of near-superhuman stature who navigated these conflicting values within elaborate, often exotic settings.12

The conflict was typically portrayed through the lens of "blustering heroes" who, despite their martial prowess and courage, found themselves in "awed submission" before the charms of their heroines. This dynamic served as a central engine for the drama, where the characters' internal struggles between their duty to honour and their devotion to love were heightened by the genre's characteristic use of "rant and extravagance," rhymed couplets, and intense emotional stakes.21

In works such as The Conquest of Granada, this thematic conflict reached its climax, showcasing the genre's reliance on epic and romantic conventions to explore how these competing virtues shaped the lives of noble figures.12