20th Century Lit. Week 11.
Arcadia
Well two more drama performances done, and done well. Just my group left which is, I'll admit, a tad daunting. Still nothing for it.
As a play "Arcadia" is much more comprehensible then "Under Milk Wood". Although it transitions between time periods frequently (sometimes line by line) It is still easy enough to grasp the 'nuts and bolts' of Arcadia. Gifted student far ahead of her times dies in a fire. The play gives us two separate times. One in which people in the present are trying to piece together what happened to the people in the past. So we have the present time, with it's academics trying to prove and disprove one another about Lord Byron and the mysterious hermit and we are shown the past, where many of the present day academics are proved to be completely wrong. I wonder if that is in itself a part of what Thomas Stoppard was trying to say? That Academics are all just guessing when it comes down to it. All they ever have is theories based on limited evidence. Perhaps not, but it's a nice jab at academics all the same. It's a charming play that (in it's own words) deals with "literature and sex". It's funny, it's serious, it's unfinished and it's complete. How about that for double talk???
Seriously tho, It has humor and sobriety blended in measure and a lot of things are left unsaid in the play but a carefull read through shows the complete story as hinted at through the work. I won't pretend I've done anything but scratch the surface today, but scratched or not it's still a great play.
John M.
P.S.
I got a little over excited this week and commented on two journals.
I commented on Reilly's dream/poem: http://reilly88.livejournal.com/13829.html
And I commented on a poem by Nancy: http://nancy-m.livejournal.com/18097.html
Well two more drama performances done, and done well. Just my group left which is, I'll admit, a tad daunting. Still nothing for it.
As a play "Arcadia" is much more comprehensible then "Under Milk Wood". Although it transitions between time periods frequently (sometimes line by line) It is still easy enough to grasp the 'nuts and bolts' of Arcadia. Gifted student far ahead of her times dies in a fire. The play gives us two separate times. One in which people in the present are trying to piece together what happened to the people in the past. So we have the present time, with it's academics trying to prove and disprove one another about Lord Byron and the mysterious hermit and we are shown the past, where many of the present day academics are proved to be completely wrong. I wonder if that is in itself a part of what Thomas Stoppard was trying to say? That Academics are all just guessing when it comes down to it. All they ever have is theories based on limited evidence. Perhaps not, but it's a nice jab at academics all the same. It's a charming play that (in it's own words) deals with "literature and sex". It's funny, it's serious, it's unfinished and it's complete. How about that for double talk???
Seriously tho, It has humor and sobriety blended in measure and a lot of things are left unsaid in the play but a carefull read through shows the complete story as hinted at through the work. I won't pretend I've done anything but scratch the surface today, but scratched or not it's still a great play.
John M.
P.S.
I got a little over excited this week and commented on two journals.
I commented on Reilly's dream/poem: http://reilly88.livejournal.com/13829.html
And I commented on a poem by Nancy: http://nancy-m.livejournal.com/18097.html