On Tom Stoppard Literati Drama

The contemporary British playwright Tom Stoppard has already been the focus of the critics in the field of theatre for the special style of his works. Many critics from different aspects have tried to define Stoppard's plays or illustrate them. But for his long years'writing practice many critics'ideas are just based on the analysis of his earlier plays and can not get a final conclusion. Even worse, some critics'ideas are based on misunderstanding. In addition the analysis in the field of press are mainly based on the specific play and the superficial level. So the so-called"Stoppardian"are often limited within the technological level or the superficial ideas'research which is impossible to put the plays in the context of culture. This situation makes the definition of Stoppard's plays meaningful. The writer of the paper tries to find the real origin that leads to Stoppard's plays style in the western theatre context concerning Stoppard's personal background. In this way the writer tries to seize"Stoppardian plays"as a whole and systematically illustrates the style of Stoppard's plays.Stoppard's plays from the very beginning expose the characteristics of the play of elite. Here the definition of the play of elite refers to the historical and cultural significance of the plays in the respect of the choice of materials, construction of the plot, and the metaphysical exploration on the general problems that the modern people have to face. In the respect of the choice of materials Stoppard's plays have broken the traditional limit. And the materials almost cover the whole history of the European civilization which includes literature, philosophy, politics and the natural science, etc.. As for the construction of the plot Stoppard's plays have greatly gone beyond the styles and forms of different schools of theatre in history. The construction of his plays is the mixture of the different schools based on developing them. Stoppard's plays have not paid much attention to the current social and political problems. Instead he on purpose tries to keep a distance from the current reality so that he can possibly do the philosophical thinking about the metaphysical questions. Although in different period Stoppard's plays seem to be somewhat different in the forms and stage styles what is in common is the characteristics of the play of elite.The purpose of the paper is to illustrate the characteristics of the plays of elite in Stoppard's plays from the aspects of the choice of materials, the construction of the plot and significance of ideas. From the above three aspects, through the analysis of the major plays in his different period of writing, the paper tries to do a deep research on the nature of his plays and gives his plays a general definition and analysis. The paper is divided into six parts. Besides the preface and conclusion it has four chapters, which respectively does the research on the characteristics of the plays of elite of Stoppard's plays from the form to the contents. The first chapter tries to divide Stoppard's plays into different periods based on the respective styles. The second chapter from the aspect of the choice of materials tries to expose the deep cultural and historic significance in his plays. The special style of the construction of the plot developed in the process of inheriting and overturning the tradition will be explained in the third chapter. The forth chapter is the research based on the contents. In the last chapter the research will be on the analysis of the spiritual explorations, including the philosophical thinking of the serious questions in Stoppard's plays.