Conservatism In Tom Stoppard’s Plays

The fact that Tom Stoppard is a self-claimed conservative has a direct and profound impact on his plays,which inevitably shapes the general conservative mood in his works.Analyzing the influence of Stoppard’s conservatism on his plays with the reference to some basic concepts of conservatism as the theoretical framework,this dissertation aims at exploring Stoppard’s conservative ideas about religious faith,individualistic morality and traditional aesthetics from the aspects of philosophy,politics,literature and science.The dissertation contains seven chapters,including the Introduction Part,five chapters of arguments and Conclusion.The Introduction part is to give a literature review of previous studies about Stoppard’ s plays,presenting the significance of the topic,the methodology as well as the framework of the dissertation.Chapter One seeks to define conservatism by tracing back to the root of its tradition,thereby providing the theoretical support for later argumentations.And by studying Stoppard’s influence on his works,this chapter also explores the cause and content of his conservatism in the plays.Chapter Two to Chapter Five are devoted to textual analyses,exploring different aspects of conservatism in Stoppard’s plays,i.e.,philosophy,politics,literature and science.Chapter Two focuses on the study of Stoppard’s early philosophical plays:Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Jumpers.While the former is about existentialism,the latter analytic philosophy.Through the critique of these two philosophical trends,Stoppard conveys his conservative stance in philosophy,which is shown in his objection to the deconstruction of ultimate meaning and his insistence on moral absolutes.Chapter Three studies Stoppard’s political plays,including Professional Foul,Every Good Boy Deserves Favour,and The Coast of Utopia.By analyzing Stoppard’s negative attitude towards collectivist morality and Utopian idealism,this chapter analyzes his tendency of political conservatism,which is featured in his criticism of political rationalism.Chapter Four takes Travesties,Dogg’s Hamlet,Cahoot’s Macbeth,and Artist Descending a Staircase as examples to analyze the significance of Stoppard’s aesthetic conservatism in art,shown in his insistence on the maintenance of literary and artistic tradition.In Chapter Five,such science plays as Hapgood,Arcadia and The Hard Problem are examined to manifest Stoppard’s cognitive change of conservative views in scientific issues,from his initial skepticism in science towards his final abandonment of science and conversion to theism,showing a clear trajectory of his increasingly stronger conservative mind.The dissertation concludes that the conservatism in Stoppard’s plays can be summarized in three aspects:firstly,his defense of religious faith in philosophical and science plays;secondly,his advocation for "the politics of morality" by criticizing political rationalism in his political plays;thirdly,his insistence on aesthetic tradition through the critique of aesthetic radicalism.Meanwhile,the chronological study in this dissertation also elucidates the development and strengthening of the conservatism in Stoppard’s plays.Though showing a tendency towards the extreme,conservatism which has permeated Stoppard’s plays,contributes to his unique style.