In Search Of Reality--A Study Of Tom Stoppard's Major Plays

As one of the most important playwrights in contemporary English theatre, Tom Stoppard is widely recognized for his unique comic style and profound philosophical speculations. His consistent metaphysical concerns have earned him a reputation comparable to the metaphysical poet John Donne. The present thesis focuses on the philosophic themes in his three major plays: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), Jumpers (1972) and Travesties (1974). Such themes as free will vs. determinism, the nature of reality, the problem of knowledge, and sense perception will be closely examined. These plays together accentuate a worldview in which life contains a high degree of relativity but in which there is also some sort of absolute truth or metaphysical essence, which is beyond our ability to comprehend fully, but which makes life worth living.