A Common Theme In Hardy’s “Arcadia” And Stoppard’s “Poems 1912-1913’

Hardy’s and Stoppard’s “Arcadia,” both of which are set in the same landscape, share a similar theme. The landscape and place are used in both works to explore larger themes. Arcadia relies on landscape to show some of the ideas and arguments that run throughout the work, such as the chaos theory, the classicism-romanticism debate, and our relationship with time. Hardy’s Poems (1912-1913) uses landscape to connect the past with the present and show Hardy’s feelings regarding his wife Emma Lavinia Guifford’s death on November 27th 1912. Both works use landscape to address these issues. However, there are differences in how they do so.

Hardy’s 1912-1913 poetry makes use of landscape to help him understand his wife’s death. Hardy first met Emma Lavinia Guifford while repairing St Juliot’s church in North Cornwall. Hardy started to regret his estrangement from Emma Lavinia Guifford after they married. Stoppard makes use of the Arcadia landscape to discuss the topics of Romanticism or Classicism. He also explains the arguments behind it. Stoppard illustrates the contrast of Lady Croom’s dream garden with Noakes. Lady Croom describes it as “a beautiful picture”. The slopes, she says, are gentle and green. The trees are grouped in a way that is complementary and shows them off to their best advantage. Lady Croom describes the order and tastefulness of her garden. This is a classicist or “Age of Enlightenment”, a belief in rationality, logic and the ability to solve problems.

Noakes’s garden, by contrast, is a “mound of ruins and towering crags where there never was a house”. Noakes’ idealized landscape represents the Romantic Movement. It was an emotional and artistic movement. Lady Croom’s structured garden is ironic because nature is chaotic. Noakes claims that the romantic aesthetic is in response to nature’s chaotic ways. Hardy also describes chaos in nature; Hardy’s “Beeny Cliff”, Hardy calls it a “wild strange western shore”. In “Beeny Cliff”, Hardy uses the “ay” repeated sound to describe the sound and sound of the ocean and seagulls. In Arcadia Noakes’ garden, while more chaotic and as it should, is not completely natural. This is because Noakes is still creating chaos. Stoppard might be arguing we are a race that will always strive for order. Nature and chaos cannot exist. Stoppard also displays a disdain towards Romanticism.

If you believe in nature, numbers are written down. She suggests that using an algebraic equation, she could draw the shape of a apple leaf. The next dot would appear anywhere. Slowly, however, you will begin to notice the shape. It could be a way to show Stoppard’s wider concern, which was that logic and the arts must work together if we are to understand our world.

The death of a character is also a concern for both Hardy & Stoppard when using place and landscape. When Lady Croom speaks about Sidley Park and says “Et Arcadia, ego!” Here I’m in Arcadia. Lady Croom’s translation of “Et Arcadia ego” is slightly incorrect. Typically, it is translated as “And i am in Arcadia”, “I’m even in Arcadia”. The words were used on a painting by Guercino. The painting was entitled “Et In Arcadia Ego” and showed a skull that had a hole on the left side. This piece of literature implies, as do many others, that Death is even present in Arcadia. Arcadia in Greece is often referred to as paradise.

This theme runs throughout the whole play. Death happens to everyone regardless of what they do, or who their are. Valentine said that everyone eventually cools down (dies); “heat becomes cold”. It’s one-way traffic. Stoppard uses landscape to emphasize the presence of the death. We cannot see the garden, but it’s always there in the play. Hardy uses place and landscape in a similar way. The settings are not changed despite huge time gaps between views.