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What disagreement did John Dryden have with Sir Robert Howard about rhyme in drama?

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

The disagreement between John Dryden and his brother-in-law, Sir Robert Howard, centered on the use of rhyme in drama.

The dispute began when Howard, in the preface to his Four New Plays (1665), opposed the views Dryden had expressed in his dedicatory epistle to The Rival Ladies (1664). Dryden had argued that rhymed verse was superior to blank verse for heroic tragedy.

The two authors exchanged critical arguments in their subsequent publications:
* Dryden defended his position in Of Dramatick Poesie, an Essay (1668).
* Howard replied with a more personal tone in the preface to his play The Duke of Lerma (1668).
* Dryden ultimately concluded the debate with his Defence of an Essay of Dramatick Poesie, which was prefaced to his play The Indian Emperour (1667).