What conflicts and tensions arise in Act 1 of 'Arcadia'?

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What conflicts and tensions arise in Act 1 of Arcadia?

        One of the driving  forces behind Arcadia is the contrasts, conflicts and tension. While there are many pairs of opposing characters, there are less obvious clashes; conflicts of schools of thought and mindsets.

In Arcadia there are two types of knowledge: love and academia, which are in constant conflict throughout the text. It is only the proposition of marriage, the intellectual justification for sex, which allows a resolution between the two forces. The theme of love vs. intellect is touched upon in the first pages of the play. Thomasina interrupts her lesson with Septimus by asking what carnal knowledge is. Sexual knowledge always acts in conflict with intellectual knowledge, and here it gets in the way of the lesson. Thomasina also remarks on the conflict between emotion and intellect in relation to Cleopatra. Her question is prompted by Septimus himself who was found having sex with Mrs. Chater in the gazebo the day before. Thomasina describes Cleopatra as making ‘noodles of our sex’ because she was weakened by love and laments the loss of knowledge in the great library of Alexandria as a result of her sexual desire. Thomasina heralds Queen Elizabeth who would not have been tempted by love to give away land or power. Hannah is, like Thomasina's Queen Elizabeth, unswayed by romantic passions. She believes, as does Thomasina, that romantic inclinations would destroy or distract her from her work. Hannah refuses warmth or emotion: she refuses a kiss, denies Bernard's propositions, laughs at Valentine's proposal, and brushes off Gus's flirtation.

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Arcadia reveals the implicit conflict between reason and emotion. Stoppard creates characters as test models of each quality. For instance, Hannah is the champion of reason, and Mrs. Chater is the champion of emotion. Mrs. Chater, however, does not help the play find resolution, as she never enters the stage. It is rather the struggle and journey of Septimus and Hannah that brings the play to its final conclusion and victory of emotion.

Another example of tension in Arcadia is the dichotomy of Classicism versus Romanticism. It is exemplified by the argument between Lady Croom and Mr Noakes over the ...

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