TY  - JOUR
T1  - TOM STOPPARD’S ARCADIA AND THE QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE
AU  - Souissi, Mariem
PY  - 2018
DA  - December
JF  - International Journal of Social And Humanities Sciences
JO  - IJSHS
PB  - Tuncay AYDEMİR
WT  - DergiPark
SN  - 2602-3288
SP  - 192
EP  - 200
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
LA  - en
AB  - The presentpaper brings attention to the importance of humanities in shaping a betterworld. Human sciences are a reliable means of order without which the humanthinking might be even more disorderly than it is. The problem is to keep it inmotion, to prevent the dominant realms of scientific thought of damaging theemotional attributes of human lives. Another problem is to make it yield to thecritical crises of the modern austere world. Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia reveals that it is only in theequation of love, that order can be found. The line between emotion and reasonhas been mirrored in the relationship between Thomasina and Septimus and arisesout of the human emotions between the other characters especially Hannah andBernard. The waltz scene engages the reader in an implicit dialogue betweenscience and humanities. It comes to symbolize the healing effect of arts. Justright before her tragic death Thomasina dances with Septimus in a dance whichproves that science and mathematics without love and humanities may lead to thetragic ending of the universe. And, as theplay shows it, the final scene of waltz intertwines the past and the present.It alternates between the pastoral past of romanticism and emotions and thepresent of technological progress to show us that knowledge is only completewhen emotions and reason are matched. Accordingly, the future of chaoticbehaviour in this ambiguous world, is not a random reality, it results fromthat conflict between reason and emotion. The victory of emotion at the end ofthe play (the final dance between characters ) proves that human sciences,ranging from music, poetry, drama, paintings etc, have been always in motionand thanks to them one’s humanity is fulfilled . Arts and emotions illuminateand heal the suffocating patterns underlying the chaotic human life. As a“science play” entwined with a unique love story, Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia intends to highlight the factthat the peculiar nature of the human self can be only mirrored in the realm ofthe artistic thought. Needless to say, that even the power of scientificthinking can be truly achieved through active human sciences. In this respect,this paper will examine and highlight the duality of reason and emotions in TomStoppard’s Arcadia. It will shedlights on their ultimate relation to the mobility of humanities reflected inthe themes and language of the play. To deal with these ideas in a thoroughway, I will analyze the play in the light of a thematic study.
KW  - Humanities
KW  - motion
KW  - science
KW  - emotions
KW  - art
KW  - ambiguity
CR  - Stoppard, Tom. Arcadia. London: Faber and Faber, 2008.
CR  - Baker, William. The Real Thing: Essays on Tom Stoppard in Celebra-tion of this 75th Birthday. London: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013.
CR  - Fleming, John. Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. London: Continuum Interna-tional Publishing Group, 2008.
CR  - Gale. A Study Guide for Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. London: Drama for Studies, 2008.
CR  - H, Kellert. Borrowed Knowledge: Chaos Theory and the Challenge of Learning Across Disciplines. Chicago and London: The University of Chica-go Press, 2008.
CR  - Purse, Niguel. Tom Stoppard’s Plays: Patterns of Plenitude and Parsi-mony. London: Chester Academic Press, 2009.
CR  - Niederhoff, Burckhardt. “Fortuitous Wit: Dialogue and Epistemology in Tom Stoppard’s
CR  - Arcadia”. London: Connotations: A Journal for Critical Debate. Vol1, 2011.
UR  - https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/ijshs/issue//494315
L1  - https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/591989
ER  -