The Acceptance Of Determinism In Tom Stoppard's Arcadia

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Tom Stoppard, in his hit play, Arcadia, utilizes many different themes to show how time affects the understanding of history; none of these themes have a greater impact than that of sex, or “carnal embrace”(1). Arcadia is built on a foundation of love and lust; characters from two different eras, the Regency era and the modern age, show parallels in their desires. “Carnal embrace” is inherent to Arcadia and this is shown when looking at sex’s effect through the lense of determinism. This theory of inevitability states that all things in life can be reduced into a formula that would be able to predict the future. Determinism is incessantly discussed in Arcadia and is even invented by Thomasina, a young girl from the Regency era who shows flashes …show more content…

Thomasina’s discovery lives the test of time and is scrutinized by a modern character, Chloe, “[The formula] doesn’t work...because of sex. The only thing going wrong is people fancying people who aren’t supposed to be in that part of the plan” (73). Sex stifles the formula which consequently ruins the inevitability of the future and makes the past nearly impossible to decode. Chloe’s theory of love and lust being being the reason life has no calculated formula is spot on and it is shown throughout Arcadia. The constant infatuation with sex is not confined to the modern era; in fact, the regent characters of Arcadia are much more liberal with their desires than the modern characters. These characters of the past, although way more eloquent in their confessions of lust, all have the same animalistic intentions at heart. These impulses of desire caused major rifts and plot points in the lives of these characters. One character that proved Chloe’s theory was Thomasina, the inventor of the theory of determinism. This thirteen year-old student showed the progression of how love takes a hold of a person and throws their life in an unpredictable direction. Thomasina began ignorant to the effect of love and even scrutinized humans for being too wrapped up in love; when talking about Cleopatra, she

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