Tom Stoppard The Worlds a Stage Biographical Overview

Tom Stoppard The World’s a Stage

Biographical Overview • Born in 1937 in Czechoslovakia • German invasion prompted move to Singapore • Father killed in Japanese invasion; extended family killed in Holocaust

Biographical Overview • 1942—mother and brother evacuated to India • • Attended an American school • 1946—family settled in England 1945—mother married Major Kenneth Stoppard in the British Army in India

Biographical Overview • Worked as journalist—film and theater critic • 1960—began writing plays, novels, and radio plays • 1967—gained fame with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

Biographical Overview • Writes for film, television, radio, and the stage • Three Tony-Awardwinning plays • 1999—won Oscar for Shakespeare in Love

Postmodern Characteristics • Mixture of high art and popular culture • • • Literary Allusions Historical dislocation/anachronism Humor/Parody/Sense of the Absurd

Postmodern Characteristics • • Use of fantasy • Stage as metaphor for postmodern reality Blurring boundaries between life and art

The Real Inspector Hound • Parodies the traditional mystery and theater criticism • Implies that clear solutions and neatly resolved endings are no longer viable in postmodern reality • • There is no “Real” Inspector Hound! Expresses the tenuous nature of existential reality—we can “script” multiple realities

Shakespeare in Love • Scene 1 • Scene 2

Shakespeare in Love • Scene 3 Paltrow as Thomas Kent playing Romeo And Lady Viola playing Juliet

Shakespeare in Love • Scene 4 • Scene 5 Viola and Shakespeare on stage as Juliet and Romeo