Hidden Order in the "Stoppard Set": Chaos Theory in the Content and Structure of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia
1999; University of Toronto Press; Volume: 42; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.3138/md.42.3.411
ISSN1712-5286
Autores Tópico(s)Chaos, Complexity, and Education
ResumoIn his play Arcadia, published and first performed in 1993, Tom Stoppard explores a variety of ideas and themes along different time lines, ranging from history and chaos theory to gardening and sex. Despite this range, the play does not strike the audience as a clutter of unconnected parts. Rather, Stoppard succeeds in unifying the play with an all-inclusive structure. The principles and ideas of chaos theory, which form one of the central topics of the content, are also applied in the organization of the play as a whole — a point largely neglected by critics to date. Just as chaos theory attempts to offer a more universal approach to the way our world is arranged, Stoppard strives to explain his characters' behavior and thoughts as aspects of an "orderly disorder," which they, however, cannot fully perceive. By covering occurrences at three different moments of history on the stage, the past (1809 and 1812) and the present (1993), Stoppard offers the audience a scenario impossible outside the imaginary world: the exact description of events happening nearly 200 years apart. The interrelation of the past and the present together with the possibilities of interpreting or predicting either one thus form the central immediate concerns of the play. Using chaos theory in both content and structure, Stoppard also goes beyond these issues and touches on universal questions about the organization and evolution of our world and our place and role within it.
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