Tom Stoppard's Arcadia Analysis

Analysis of Susanne Vees-Vees-Gulani’s “Hidden Order in the ‘Stoppard Set’: Chaos Theory in the Content and Structure of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia”

In the article, “Hidden Order in the ‘Stoppard Set’: Chaos Theory in the Content and Structure of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia”, the author Susanne Vees-Vees-Gulani, makes this rather interesting argument: “Using chaos theory in both content and structure, Stoppard also goes beyond these issues and touches on universal questions about the organization and evolution of our world and about place and role within it” (411).This thesis explains Vees-Vees-Gulani’s thought that Stoppard uses the principle of chaos theory to explain various issues within his play as well as universal questions about how the world

Vees-Gulani’s article is organized into five sections —each with a heading. These headings allow the reader to quickly see the main focus of that particular section. In addition, these headings can be compared to an ascending tier. With each tier, Vees-Gulani adds more complex information on top of the basic principles and applications of chaos theory that she presented under her first heading. With this organization, Vees-Gulani can thoroughly explain chaos theory without causing the reader to feel bombarded with information. For instance, under her first heading labeled “Chaos Theory”, she describes the principles and applications of chaos theory generically in order to familiarize the reader with the concept. She states that one application, fractals, “offer a better model for some natural structures than do traditional mathematics” (413). After she made this statement, she showed the connection to Arcadia within her second heading, “Chaos Theory in Arcadia”. She states that Thomasina, a main character in the play, understands that regular geometry cannot accurately describes “natural objects” and shapes; she knows that an iterated equation, a fractal, would describe it more accurately (414). Having already outlined fractals within the content of Arcadia, she goes

Specifically, she uses “Stoppard’s major source for his treatment of chaos theory”, Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick, to support the principles and applications that she describes within her first heading. For instance, she describes that “processes [such as weather patterns] that can be labeled as ‘chaotic’ are not random” (412). Then, she adds textual evidence by citing a quote from another primary source, a novel about Chaos Theory written by David Peak and Michael Frame, that states that “Chaos is not chance or randomness” (412). However, Vees-Gulani not only cites direct quotes from primary sources. She also cites visual aid from a primary source. Within her final section, Vees-Gulani cites a line graph created by Peak and Frame to help support her thought that “initial conditions of nonlinear systems can never be reconstructed entirely” (420). She adds two graphs side-by-side that shows the nonlinear progression of chaotic system with multiple pasts on one graph, and the linear progression of an unique past on the other. By juxtaposing these graphs, the reader can see visual aids that supports her statement that “the present state [of a chaotic system] could have developed from not just, but several possible past states”