Parallel Structure In Arcadia

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Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard, explores various subjects; of these history, mathematics, and physics are three of the major themes explored. By utilizing parallel structure throughout the course of the play, Stoppard is able to connect seemingly unalike themes across centuries, showing stark contrast as well as similarity between the present day and the early nineteenth century thoughts concerning these topics. One of the more unalike comparison being the link made between Lord Byron and the concept of entropy.
Throughout this seven scene play, the conversation banters back and forth between the two eras, creating the effect of a play devoid of any sense of time. Through the seamless transitions from one time period to the other, Stoppard creates a feeling of universality for the audience, and a sense of timelessness for the play. The room on the stage remains the same, serving its purpose in two separate eras, defying time. In theoretical Physics time and space are not common sense realities, on the stage the past and present are represented as separate entities and also as the same. Parallels are drawn through this method to show people still living either frivolous lives or seeking other ways of …show more content…
These are highlighted through the parallel structure and lets the audience see the connectedness as well as the contrast from both time periods side by side. The most obvious of these dissimilarities is chaos versus order. The center-stage table that collects props from both time periods throughout the play is a vivid metaphor of the chaos/order dichotomy. The action of the play is shown in a settled social order which moves to chaos by the end of the play. However, there is still some order to be found within chaos as Valentine declares in Act 2 Scene 7, "In an ocean of ashes, islands of order. Patterns making themselves out of nothing." Stoppard was able to find these patterns and make connections from
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