Guide Note

The characters in Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia find meaning in their own lives as they try to solve the mystery of what happen in Sidney Park in 1809. The play switches between events that took place between 1809 and 1812 and the modern characters investigating these events in 1989.

Fast Facts

1. Written by Tom Stoppard
2. Set during 1809-1812 and 1989
3. First published in 1993
4. Set in Sidley Park in Derbyshire, England
5. Major theme is intellect versus emotion
6. First preformed at the Royal National Theatre in London
7. First preformed in New York in 1995
8. Has two acts
9. Trevor Nunn directed the opening productions in both London and New York
10. Won the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1995
11. Chaos Theory is a major symbol

In 1809 tutor Septimus Hodge tries to comfort the gifted Thomasina Coverly, that past knowledge which was lost will be rediscovered. Later in 1989 Hannah Jarvis sits in the same room researching the history of the house for a book about the Sidley Hermit. Also present is Bernard Nightingale who is researching his theory that Lord Byron stayed in the house and murdered Ezra Chater.

Bernard responds with an attack on science when Hannah and the others disagree with his argument that Lord Byron did indeed kill Mr. Cater. However, back in 1809 we learn that Mr. Cater died in Martinique after having been bitten by a monkey. In 1989 Hannah finds a letter revealing the truth and destroying Bernard's argument after he writes a bad review of her book. The play ends with couples in both 1809 and 1989 dancing. Their lives are chaotic, but they will enjoy them while they are alive.

1. "If you could stop every atom in its position and direction, and if your mind could comprehend all the actions thus suspended, then if you were really, really good at algebra you could write the formula for all the future; and although nobody can be so cleaver to do it, the formula must exist just as if one could." — Thomasina
2. "When we have found all the meanings and lost all the mysteries, we will be alone, on an empty shore." — Thomasina