Arcadia (play) - Language

Language

In its simplest form, the language of Arcadia switches between the colloquialisms of early 19th century England and those of modern England. Although Stoppard uses language reflective of his periods—historical or modern speech patterns and lexicons in keeping with his characterizations—this is a stylised dialogue used to convey "look and feel" according to the perceptions of the modern audience. The stylization, however, allows sufficient latitude in register to make plain the relationships between the characters. For example, Septimus, after failing to deflect a question from Thomasina with a joke, bluntly explains to his thirteen-year-old pupil the nature of "carnal embrace", but this is far removed from the bluntness with which he repudiates Chater's defence of his wife's honour, which "could not...be defended with a platoon of musketry". With Lady Croom, for whom Mrs Chater is a "harlot", Septimus delicately admits that "her passion is not as fixed" as a suitor might wish.

In the modern sequences the dialogue is more realistic, but Bernard consciously assumes some stylization of language: he not only tries out his forthcoming public lecture using heightened, flamboyant rhetoric, but also engages in a polemical piece of "performance art" to diminish Valentine's belief in the supremacy of scientific thought: not through spite, but merely as a "recreation". The scientific aspects of the play are set out in its historical sections, but Thomasina's precocious (or even anachronistic) references to entropy, the deterministic universe and iterated equations are delivered in an artless, throwaway, manner. The counterpoint in the modern era is when Valentine explains to Hannah the significance of Thomasina's rediscovered notebook with detail that reflects Stoppard's careful research in the scientific basis of his play.

There are conscious textual echoes, across the time frames, of phrases throughout the play. The most notable is when Chloë asks Valentine if, "the future is all programmed like a computer", is she the first to think that the theory is discredited, "all because of sex". Thomasina had been there before her: "Am I the first person to have thought of this? ...If you could stop every atom in its position and direction...you could write the formula for all the future". The difference is significant: Chloë's version allows for the effects of chaos, thus illustrating Stoppard's theme of interdependence of science and art.