Arcadia Essay - Thomasina

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Laura Clark 10G

How is Thomasina presented by Stoppard

in “Arcadia”, and what methods and techniques does he use?

In “Arcadia”, Tom Stoppard uses many different techniques and methods to affect our opinion of Thomasina, one of the main characters in the play. Many of these techniques are successful, as by the end of the play the majority of the audience will have formed a strong opinion of Thomasina.

        The opening few lines that she speaks in the play are all questions; immediately this gives a good first impression as the audience can see that Thomasina is not afraid to be inquisitive. She asks, “Septimus, what is carnal embrace?” We can then see that she is not satisfied with the answer she is given, leading her to ask, “Is that all?”  This gives the impression that she is very clever and not afraid to ask questions of her elders. In the first scene, this creates a favourable opinion as the audience can sense that Thomasina will be an interesting character to have in the play. We are also given the slight idea by Stoppard that Thomasina does not ask the questions entirely in innocence, and has perhaps simply asked them to make Septimus nervous. This again makes the audience feel that she is very intelligent. It also creates ambiguity around the character for the audience as they are curious to Thomasina’s true personality.

        The audience is clearly shown Thomasina’s intelligence throughout the play; she constructs her arguments as well (sometimes better) as any adults around her or those that we see in the future.  When asked what she knows of carnal embrace (having brought the subject up to deflect attention from Septimus), she replies:

“Everything, thanks to Septimus. In my opinion, Mr Noakes’s scheme for the garden is perfect. It is a Salvator!”

        This method of deflection of attention onto her by Thomasina is extremely clever, as she senses the trouble Septimus has got himself into and quickly takes control of the situation. By saying more than one point that she can be questioned on, (both “Everything, thanks to Septimus”, and “It is a Salvator!”), she gives Septimus time to think of an explanation. This is because the audience can then see that the adults in the scene are trying to follow Thomasina’s diversion of the conversation. Both Lady Croom and Mr Noakes become confused, highlighting Thomasina’s clear intelligence over them to the audience. Her intelligence and knowledge also makes the audience feel inferior to Thomasina, as there are points in the play when it is hard for us to understand exactly what she means. The audience also warms to Thomasina more because of this, as she has helped Septimus out. Also, as it the line almost lands Septimus in a lot of trouble, the audience begins to wonder about her motives – again, this creates curiosity around the character and we find her more interesting.

        Although for much of the play the audience could feel inferior to Thomasina, there are also times in the play when the audience is made to feel other emotions towards her, which make us feel superior. In the opening scene, Lady Croom asks Thomasina “How old are you this morning?” This line from Lady Croom demonstrates to the audience that she clearly does not spend any time with her daughter, so little that she does not even know her age. She also asks her age again later on in the play. This discovery makes the audience feel sorry for Thomasina, as we are led to believe she has had little affection shown towards her in her life. Members of the audience are most likely to be sympathetic with her as opposed to looking down on her because of it – this is because we begin to understand how she might be feeling.

        When Thomasina and Septimus are talking of Cleopatra, the audience also finds out that Thomasina is very sceptical about love in general. She says:

“It only needs a Roman general to drop anchor outside the window and away goes the Emperor like a christening mug into a pawn shop”. This line appears to be said with a bitter tone of voice. As the line in general is based on the concept of love, this makes the audience feel quite sad, as Thomasina is so young and would perhaps feel that someone as young as she is should not be so bitter. It also gives the impression again that she has not seen a lot of love, both around her and towards her in her life. This would have been common in rich families in the 19th century, with many wealthy mothers having too many social engagements to permanently take care of any children.

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The audience also feels sorry for her when Septimus cons her into translating a very difficult piece of Latin. We see her struggle with the translations, and end up with something that does not flow very well. As this is the first time in the play when we see her intellectually struggling with something, it is one of the first real moments when we do not feel inferior. In this way she becomes more of a natural character to the audience as it is more child-like. However, upon being shown in the play that she has been tricked by Septimus, ...

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