Arcadia Summary
Tom Stoppard

Everything you need to understand or teach Arcadia by Tom Stoppard.

Arcadia Summary & Study Guide
1 Encyclopedia Article
5 Literature Criticism
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30 Arcadia Lessons
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Arcadia Summary

Act I, scene 1

The action begins in April, 1809. The setting is Sidley Park, the Derbyshire, England, estate of the Coverly family. Thirteen-year-old Thomasina Coverly is studying with her tutor, the young Septimus Hodge, in a large room facing a garden. Thomasina is exceptionally intelligent for her age, and her current project is a search for proof of Fermat's last theorem, an algebraic conundrum that has perplexed mathematicians since the seventeenth century. Meanwhile, Septimus is reading "The Couch of Eros," a particularly horrible poem written by one of the manor's current guests, Ezra Chater.

Thomasina has an insatiable curiosity, and her main interest for the day, other than her math lesson, is in a phrase she overheard: "carnal embrace." Septimus comically tries to spare his young pupil the adult explanation and convince her that it simply means "hugging a side of beef," but Thomasina is not fooled. She overheard some of the... View more of the Arcadia Summary

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Encyclopedia Articles (1)

Arcadia

7,239 words, approx. 25 pages

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard, often thought of as the quintessential contemporary English playwright and gentleman, was actually born Tomas Straussler in Zlin, Czechoslovakia, on July 3... Read more

Tom Stoppard Biography (4)

Thomas Stoppard

12,698 words, approx. 43 pages

Biography EssayTom Stoppard, a leading figure of the British theater since the mid 1960s, ranks as a dramatist of brilliant and original comic genius. His first major success established him as a mast... Read more

Thomas Stoppard

1,205 words, approx. 5 pages

One of England's most important playwrights, Tom Stoppard (born 1937) gained a wide international audience. His two great stage successes were Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and The Real Thing,... Read more

Tom Stoppard

9,856 words, approx. 33 pages

Tom Stoppard achieved almost overnight success in 1967 with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which was commissioned for the National Theatre at the Old Vic, following the initial run of a shorte... Read more

Tom Stoppard

19,120 words, approx. 64 pages

[This entry was updated by Anne Wright (University of Sunderland) from her entry in the Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography, volume 8, pp. 366-388.]Tom Stoppard, a leading figure of the B... Read more

Essays & Analysis (5)

Arcadia

974 words, approx. 4 pages

[For many years the chief film critic of The New York Times, Canby is also a novelist, playwright, and theater critic. In the following excerpt, he favorably reviews Arcadia.] There's no doubt ... Read more

Arcadia

784 words, approx. 3 pages

[In the following excerpt, Simon argues that although Arcadia is clever, the play suffers from too much erudition.] "Its ingenuity is stupendous," wrote Harold Hobson in the London Sunda... Read more

Arcadia

2,309 words, approx. 8 pages

[Lahr is an award-winning American critic, nonfiction writer, playwright, novelist, biographer, and editor. In the review below, he discusses the interplay between chaos and order as well as the past ... Read more

Arcadia

1,466 words, approx. 5 pages

[In the review below, Appelo remarks favorably on Arcadia.] In Ulysses, there is an Oxford don who goes around pushing a lawnmower that chuffs "Clevercleverclever." Though he quit school... Read more

Arcadia

4,608 words, approx. 16 pages

[An American-born English educator and critic, Barton has written extensively on English drama. In the review below, she discusses language and theme in Arcadia, particularly the interaction between t... Read more

Arcadia Summary
Tom Stoppard

Arcadia Summary