Arcadia Discussion: Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2

HONORS PS1500 - Physics in the Plays of Tom Stoppard

Arcadia, Act 1, Scenes 1 and 2 — Questions for Discussion

Summary
Identify the familial relationship between Thomasina, Lord and Lady Croom, Captain Brice, and Augustus. How old is Thomasina in the first scene?
What does the first scene tell us about the personalities of Thomasina, Septimus, and Chater?
Identify three of Thomasina's mathematical or scientific interests.
At the bottom of p 9, Lady Croom enters exclaiming "Oh, no! Not the gazebo!" What is she referring to, and what do Septimus and Chater take to be the subject of her remark?
What is Noakes doing to the gardens of the house?
Look up the phrase "Et in Arcadia Ego" on the web. On the bottom of p. 13, what is Thomasina reacting to when she exclaims, "Oh, phooey to Death!"?
What does Thomasina draw at the end of Act 1, Scene 1?
Describe the personalities of Hannah and Bernard. Why does Bernard conceal his last name from Hannah?
What does Bernard believe happened in 1809 at Sidley Park? Describe his evidence concerning Byron and Chater. How trustworthy is his evidence?
What is Hannah studying at Sidley Park? Describe her evidence concerning the hermit. How trustworthy is her evidence?
Discuss Hannah's critique of the Romantic "decline from thinking to feeling" that followed the Age of Enlightenment (or Age of Reason). What is her landscaping analogy for this decline?
Bernard nearly had a car accident upon arriving at Sidley Park. What was the trench (the "ha-ha") he nearly drove into?

Acting Assignments for Arcadia

1. Act 1, pp. 6 - 8 (Two parts: Septimus and Chater)

Starts with Septimus: Now, sir, what is this business than cannot wait?

Ends with Chater: Yes, by God, she is a wife to me, sir!

2. Act 1, pp. 11 - 14 (Six parts: Lady Croom, Noakes, Brice, Thomasina, Septimus, and Chater)

Starts with Lady Croom: Your drawing is a very wonderful transformation.

Ends with Septimus: How picturesque.

3. Act 2, pp. 27 - 28 (Two parts: Hannah and Bernard)

Starts with Hannah: The point is, the Crooms, of course, had the hermit under their noses for twenty years ...

Ends with Hannah: Made a bonfire.

Last modified: Saturday, March 17, 2007 03:55 PM