Tom Stoppard’s Critique Of Ideologies In Jumpers,Arcadia,and Rock ’N’ Roll

As one of the most important playwrights in the contemporary English theater,Tom Stoppard is internationally recognized for his profound philosophical contemplations and extraordinary mastery of humor.During his fruitful career of more than 40 years,he has attracted thousands of scholars to his masterpieces.This thesis employs the ideas of Lacanian psychoanalysis and (?)i(?)ek’s ideology critiques for a look into Stoppard’s treatment and critique of different ideologies in three of his major works,namely,liberalism in Jumpers(1972),scientism in Arcadia(1993)and totalitarianism in Rock ’n’ Roll(2006).Special attention is paid to Stoppard’s understanding of the dialectical relationship between mutually exclusive elements of ideology,especially how conflicting opponents complement each other and how ideologies contradict their own propositions.In Jumpers,the basic idea of Stoppard is that liberalism does not ensure freedom;its liberating gesture conceals the fact that it circulates around a certain master signifier as any other ideology does.And through the master-signifier,liberalism enslaves people beyond their consciousness.In Arcadia,Stoppard demonstrates how scientism paradoxically hinders the development of science with the help of the Lacanian discourses;he locates in the master’s discourse the most obvious and traditional force against truth,then he points out that the university discourse,in trying to establish systematic knowledge,is actually the accomplice of the master’s discourse,and he only situates in the hysterical discourse the power to break the shackles of scientism.In Rock ’n’ Roll,Stoppard critiques a rather old ideology totalitarianism in a brand-new way.He draws attention to a paradoxical fact that the mutually contradictory elements in totalitarianism is the necessary supplement of each other.And with the Lacanian Jouissance(enjoyment),Stoppard shows how the symbolic Law of totalitarianism enjoys its own split,and how people enjoy totalitarianism when knowing perfectly the evilness of it.These plays warn of the danger of underestimating the complicated situations of ideologies and ask people not to be deceived by the fantasy of post-ideological era.