@article{ART001834210},
author={Hye-Gyong Kwon},
title={“In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia},
journal={Journal of Modern English Drama},
issn={1226-3397},
year={2013},
volume={26},
number={3},
pages={5-31}
TY - JOUR
AU - Hye-Gyong Kwon
TI - “In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia
JO - Journal of Modern English Drama
PY - 2013
VL - 26
IS - 3
PB - 한국현대영미드라마학회
SP - 5
EP - 31
SN - 1226-3397
AB - In his 1993 play, Arcadia, Tom Stoppard appropriates scientific theories, such as chaos theory, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, entropy, and fractals, as literary metaphors. Overall, Stoppard covers a shift in the scientific paradigm from the mechanical, predictable universe described by Newton to the unpredictable determinism described by deterministic chaos. He pointedly utilizes chaos theory to show that there is underlying order to seemingly random events. For this, he draws heavily from James Gleick’s famous 1987 book Chaos: Making a New Science.
In Arcadia, Stoppard suggests a connection between twentieth-century chaos theory and early nineteenth-century British Romanticism. He sets up a contrast between the classical gardening styles and the Romantic ‘picturesque’ style. Irregularity found in the picturesque style is related to irregularity in nature that Thomasina pursues in her iconoclastic studies. Her “Geometry of Irregular Form” is essentially fractal geometry, which is realized as fractal images through Valentine’s computer. As he puts it, “In an ocean of ashes, islands of order,” Arcadia dramatizes Stoppard’s view of the world which comprises a complex, dynamic interaction of randomness, determinism, and metaphysics.
From the opening line’s reference to “cardinal embrace” to the final image of dancing, sexual energy drives much of the play. Mrs. Chater, Mrs. Croom, and even Chloé are its heroines. As it is called “the attraction that Newton left out,” sexual energy represents the deterministically unpredictable side of humanity. Sexuality is not only literally creative of life, but also gives meaning and value to life. Sexual energy plays an important role in presenting theatrical vitality and also shows resistance against death, the entropic dissipation of a human being. The last waltz scene consisting of two couples from two centuries gives a beautifully moving finale as these couples celebrate a moment of eternity. The play becomes a metaphor for loss and recovery.
KW - Tom Stoppard;Arcadia;Chaos theory;the Law of Thermodynamics;fractal;iterated algorithm;deterministic chaos;landscape gardening
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Hye-Gyong Kwon. (2013). “In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. Journal of Modern English Drama, 26(3), 5-31.
Hye-Gyong Kwon. 2013, "“In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia", Journal of Modern English Drama, vol.26, no.3 pp.5-31.
Hye-Gyong Kwon "“In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia" Journal of Modern English Drama 26.3 pp.5-31 (2013) : 5.
Hye-Gyong Kwon. “In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. 2013; 26(3), 5-31.
Hye-Gyong Kwon. "“In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia" Journal of Modern English Drama 26, no.3 (2013) : 5-31.
Hye-Gyong Kwon. “In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. Journal of Modern English Drama, 26(3), 5-31.
Hye-Gyong Kwon. “In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. Journal of Modern English Drama. 2013; 26(3) 5-31.
Hye-Gyong Kwon. “In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. 2013; 26(3), 5-31.
Hye-Gyong Kwon. "“In an Ocean of Ashes, Islands of Order”: Chaos Theory in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia" Journal of Modern English Drama 26, no.3 (2013) : 5-31.
