Stoppard: What Passion Weaves by Reason is Undone

Abstract

Stoppard's dramatic works are explored with reference to the vicissitudes of directed fantasy in playwriting. It is assumed that unconscious factors play a significant role in providing the playwright with the raw materials for wit and humor, surrealistic fantasy, and the motivation to examine ethical issues. Specifically, three hypotheses are examined: 1) the use of manic, surrealistic stage devices, wit, comedy and satire is linked, in Stoppard's case, with early parental loss and resulting defenses; 2) obsessive intellectualization in stage dialogue serves as a defense against oedipal hostility and rebelliousness; and 3) fantasies about spies and counterspies provide a vehicle to affirm aspects of the ego-ideal, emphasizing the possibility of human valor in a fictional world portrayed as selfish and corrupt. The ego-ideal also figures in Stoppard's examination of love relationships, a minor motif in Stoppard's cerebral plays. Although no attempt is made to assess Stoppard's contribution as a dramatist, the reader is left to draw his or her own conclusions as to what Stoppard has gained or lost as an artist by his general subordination of emotional factors to intellectual issues in his work.