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Sir Tom Stoppard, the Early Plays - Travesties

Sir Tom Stoppard, the early plays.9.of Being Earnest. Thus the events of
TravestiesSir Tom Stoppard's play TravestiesTravesties are structured around the plot of
(1974) might be seen as a return to theThe Importance of Being Earnest.The play
problems he dealt with right at the beginningtakes its title from the fact that Carr's
of his career in A Separate Peace (1960) andmemory tends to oversimplify the characters
Enter a Free Man (1963). In these plays thehe met, and hence they are often seen as
'heroes' lived in a world of their own sotravesties of themselves. For example in one
separate from the real world that they werescene the dialogue falls into the form of
unable to function in society. Inlimericks, and in another into the form of
Travesties, with Dogg's Our Pet (1971) as aquestion and answer, travestying Joyce's
stepping stone, this simple oppositiontechniques in Ulysses. The point of this is
between the individual and the rest of thethat while Joyce, Tzara and Lenin are each
world is scrapped in favour of a'living in their own world', asserting that
philosophical standpoint which asserts that,their view of reality is more valid than the
to an extent, every individual lives in aothers, the whole picture presented to the
world of his own.A 'real world', separateaudience is itself only Carr's view of
from our perception and interpretation of itreality.For the first few minutes of the play
may or may not exist. But the term appliesnot a single sentence of comprehensible
to what seem to be areas of commonEnglish is spoken. Tzara is picking words
experience, about which we seem to be able tofrom a hat, Lenin is speaking Russian, and
communicate in a more or less commonJoyce is speaking the language of Ulysses. To
language.Travesties is ostensibly concernedthe audience it is incomprehensible nonsense,
with artists, and their relationship with theuntil Henry Carr arrives on stage to begin
world they live in. As we saw in A Separatehis narrative. The implication suggested by
Peace, and Enter a Free Man (in which beingthis dramatic structure is that 'objective
an inventor can be equated with being anreality' is incomprehensible without somebody
artist), it is one of Stoppard's basicthere to comprehend it; and the person
assumptions that the artist creates a worldcomprehending reality will distort it
of his own, and, to an extent, lives in it asaccording to the limitations on his ability
an alternative to the real world. Into perceive, and the personal interpretation
Travesties we have two artists, Tristan Tzarahe puts upon what he perceives. The logical
and James Joyce, with very differentimplication of this is that we all live in
approaches to their lives and their art. Forour own private reality. We are our own
Tzara, the Dadaist, art is a revolutionarynarrators, and we distort reality just as
act in itself, breaking down our usualHenry Carr does. And our attempts to
assumptions about the world, andre-create or assert our view of reality will
Art.'Tzara (To Joyce): You've turnedbe more or less a travesty of objective
literature into a religion and it's as deadreality.It is interesting that his final
as all the rest. It's an overripe corpse andstatement on this theme rests on a concept of
you're cutting fancy figures at the wake.'relativity'; that 'reality' is relative,
It's too late for geniuses: Now we needdepending on the observer, in the same way
vandals and desecrators, simple mindedthat the fate versus free will, and order
demolition men to smash centuries of baroqueversus chaos themes ended with the concept of
subtlety, to bring down the temple, and thus'perspective'. They are, fundamentally, the
finally, to reconcile the shame and thesame concept, relativity being a more
necessity of being an artist!' (p.62.)Forsophisticated development of 'perspective'.
James Joyce art is justifiable for its ownIt is also interesting to note the similarity
sake, operating on a level above political orbetween these conclusions and the prevailing
social revolution.'As an artist, naturally Iscientific doctrine of the day: Einstein's
attach no importance to the swings andtheory of Relativity.Travesties is a play
roundabouts of political history.'about the inescapable subjectivity of all
(p.50)Lenin is a third point in the argument,Human experience, and hence of any human
asserting that art is only valid as an aid toconcept of 'reality'. For Stoppard it seems
political  revolution.to mark the end of a line of enquiry which
began in 1960 with A Separate Peace.In this
'Lenin: Today, literature must become partycycle of works Stoppard is reflecting the
literature. Down with non-partisanclimate of uncertainty which affects us all
literature: Down with literary supermen.in this age of relativity.'Dotty: You're
Literature must become part of the commonprobably still shaking from the
cause of the proletariat, a cog in the Socialfour-hundred-year-old news that the sun
Democratic mechanism.' (p.85)One could pursuedoesn't go round youGeorge: We are all still
the arguments about the relationship betweenshaking. Copernicus cracked our confidence,
art and society through the play; this is oneand Einstein smashed it for if one can no
level on which the play functions. But morelonger believe that a twelve-inch ruler is
importantly we are given an overview of thealways a foot long, how can one be sure of
whole problem, and here Stoppard uses therelatively less certain propositions, such as
stage to dramatise a concept, by the factthat God made the Heaven and the Earth.'
that we are seeing the events of the play(Jumpers)Read the full version of this essay
through the distorting medium of Henry Carr'sat:
memory.We are introduced to this dimension of
the play by having Carr as narrator, andMackean runs the site which features a
reminded of it by the repeated 'time slips',substantial collection of English Literature
in which a scene is played two or threeResources and Essays, and where his sites on
times, slightly differently each time asBooks Made Into Movies, and Short Story
Carr's memory plays tricks on him. TheWriting can also be found. He is the editor
egocentric Carr's best memory of the warof The Essentials of Literature in English
years in Zurich is that he played a leadingpost-1914, published by Hodder Arnold.
role in Joyce's production of The Importance



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