『아카디아』에 나타난 스토파드의 세계관

Abstract

Tom Stoppard is one of the most representative contemporary playwrights in England. Arcadia, which is hailed as his most brilliant and fascinating play, is not only a story of two contemporary researchers, Hannah and Bernard, who try to find out what really happened in Sidley Park, but also an intellectual discourse about a variety of scientific, mathematical, and philosophical arguments. In this thesis, I aim to investigate the symmetries in structure, characters and ideas, and ultimately inquire into Stoppard’s world view. Arcadia has a symmetrical time structure. Stoppard uses two different historical periods to elaborate plots and demonstrate that it is impossible to know what happened using fragments of the past. Arcadia abounds in contrasting or symmetrical characters who represent his basic ideas. Through the symmetrical characters, he doesn’t overtly show his own opinion of “who is right?” or “who is wrong?”. Instead, he metaphorically describes the modern world where there exist various ideas. He not only fosters the audiences’ or readers’ interest but also stimulates their intellectual curiosity through contrasting, versatile ideas. In particular, there are many references to contrasts between Enlightenment and Romanticism, which are well expressed in the remodelling plan of the garden in Sidley Park. In addition, he tries to deal with many scientific ideas like chaos theory, the second law of thermodynamics, entropy, and Newtonian physics to display the metaphysical conditions of our modern world. In conclusion, the real intention of Stoppard’s writing is not to intentionally lead the audiences or readers to disorder but to show them the diversity of our world where versatile theories are mixed with confusing human relations.