Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (a play)

BossArky

I finished reading Arcadia last night, a play of approximately 130 pages. A friend of mine told me that it was brilliant... I found it rather dull. No real story line, and the scenes flip backwards and forward from past to present without conjuring up much interest in what is going on. I was dissappointed.

Opinions? Did I miss something?

tSubh Dearg

I'm currently reading this and I am finding it most enjoyable. I like the way the scenes shift back and forth and how various objects collect on the table. There is a quite clear story line in my opinion and I'm eager to see how it turns out.

I haven't finished it yet but so far I like it. Previously the only thing I had read by Stoppard was Rozencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. I liked that too.

Talliesin

I first saw Arcadia performed brilliantly at The Gate and have read it a few times since.

Each of the two parallel storylines was gripping, and the fact that each allows the audience to know more than the characters of either era doesn't lead to too much of a flattering sense of being cleverer than the characters (as the same device often does) but rather to a strong sense of the impossibility of having a truly accurate picture of events, which is appropriate for the themes of the play (of course you do get to feel cleverer than Lady Croom ).

The idea of tying in the Second Law of Thermodynamics (by which we know that the very universe itself is mortal) and the preoccupation with ephemerality of the Romantic era has been done before, but it works very well.

Throughout though the themes of mortality, death, unpredictability, the limits of scientific prediction and human understanding and the suggestion of all endeavour being futile is prevented from becoming too weighty by the humour throughout, often deftly light but also frequently hilarious.

BossArky

I am suprised by both of your reactions and feedback. Thanks.

I would be interested to see the play acted out. I still found that reading it was dull. Perhaps a second attempt will give fresh insight.