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Modern Irony EssaySince the beginning of clock, man has sampleed to unravel the on the face of it infinite mysteries of bearing. The English triflewright Tom Stoppard has written wanton aways that address the existence of fate (or a predestined outcome for every human being) and controlling ones have got destiny. His plays also deal with the some(prenominal) other uncertainties that arise during a normal persons life such as sex, how we know things, etc. (Tom Stoppard) Stoppards utilization of mockery and gaunt parallels mirror the image of lifes faults and intricacies. His plays serve to show people the humor and irony that life presents.During the time that Stoppard wrote his first play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstein, society was experiencing a social upheaval. The late mid-sixties was a time of experimentation and existentialism. citizenry were asking questions about their very existence in a way never before seen. In this climate, Stoppard motto the opportunity t o begin writing plays that dealt with the issues of the time (Overview of Tom Stoppard). He took a whimsical spin though, on the method in which he delivered it. He embarked on the continuing journey of a great literary tradition, alone diverged from its path by ridiculing it.His desire to write plays was non a spontaneous venture during this era, many people wanted to express their thoughts and feelings, and plays were a common medium. Stoppard observed this and pondered if success and knowledge could be his as well. The general question being asked around this time was Why atomic number 18 we here? Man has always sought an answer to this question, but now much than ever was it expressed in literature and plays. Stoppards cunning shows a propensity for humor, which offers a more light-hearted viewpoint of this previously serious and mundane subject. Stoppard asks the question of not only Why are we here? but also How are we here? as well. He explores the intricacies of life in an assay to derive a meaning. His comical touch alleviates the heavy association of philosophy though. Whether or not his question is answered is secondary to the method in which we view it. In Stoppards eyes, it is more important to live rather than to comprehend why we live. This apostrophize brought fanfare to Stoppard, as society saw his style as fresh and a tangible device to which they could relate. Literary history has had a heavy conflict on Stoppards method and conceptual presentation.He admits to being swooned by such masterpieces as Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufock by T. S. Elliot. The moods that he extracted from these artists and their kit and boodle helped him divulge his aver style to which he could further literature. A parallel may be drawn between Waiting for Godot and Stoppards Rosencrantz and Guildenstein are Dead. Both plant feature two men, and their journey in existentialism. Becketts version has them wai ting for a surreal character (Godot) that, in the end, never appears.The characters are portrayed as confused, and the play takes on an air of severe depression. The play is very much an appeal to the audience, as they too are overcome by this depression. The characters slowly fade away, cold and unexcitable. Stoppards version though has his characters embark on a journey a fruitless journey, but a goal to meet none the less. Beckett disarms his audience, while Stoppard embraces them into his play making the audience feel at home and comfortable. Stoppard diffuses the rather heavy atmosphere belied by Beckett with satire and a whimsical wit.For example, In Rosencrantz and Guildenstein are Dead, Stoppard portrays the idea of death as a game. He does this in an attempt to show the audience that it is not to be feared. He achieves this by his satirical depiction of the native play within Hamlet by Shakespeare. The characters in the play perish, and then the actual characters die in t he exact same manner. The audience go off mention with death, as all humans are concerned with their own demise. They take away though, a much less serious approach in wake it. The other author, Elliot, often depicted his characters as stumbling and indecisive.One of his most famous works, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, deals with a man who is enamored with the variables and uncertainties of approaching a womanhood that he admires. In the poem, Prufrock realizes that only he cares about his decision, and whether he chooses to pursue her or not, will not matter. He sees himself as part of his own sphere in which he is the sole occupant. He, sadly, is only coherent enough in his world though to realize how much he is potentially missing by not being completely immersed in it. He cannot solve this problem though, and continues wandering and pondering till the end of time.Stoppard took away from Elliot a similar side to character development. He portrays his characters as a ware, but not completely in tune with their surroundings. The effect is one of dismay, but comical as well. Stoppards portrayal is more dry in nature, displaying them as bungling and unresponsive. This is exemplified in his play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstein are Dead. His characters attempt to divulge the plan and their purpose as designated by the King (Claudius), but are unable to fully grasp its meaning. These literary greats do not contribute the fabulous humor that Stoppard has developed though.His humorous elements can best be equated to his passionateness for the Theatre of the Absurd. This type of theater came into popularity during the 1950s and 1960s and was applied to plays that portrayed the human situation without purpose and with absurd plot elements. This form was a reemergence of an attempt towards awareness of mans purpose in life the sense of wonder that man has always had concerning how things work and why. In some respect, it was anti-theater, as it went again st the basic premise of weak theater. It was illogical and usually had very little or no plot (Culik).Stoppards fascination with this art form had a profound impact on his own personal style. Sigmund Freud, a proponent of the Absurd, said, In trying to burst the bounds of logic and language, the absurd theater is trying to shatter the enclosing walls of the human soma itself. (Culik) This confirms the spatial concepts that the theater was attempting to portray, and Stoppards comedic element is based upon this illogical and removed nature. The play Rosencrantz and Guildenstein are Dead is a satirical life upon the much more steady play Hamlet.It delves into the lives of two supporting characters named Rosencrantz and Guildenstein. The characters unimportance is exemplified in the play by their lack of understanding and baffling thought patterns. This play shows Stoppards portrayal of artificiality of theater. The performance is not about the actual play, but the context of the play the idea of attending the performance. The characters appeal directly to the audience, or else of becoming immersed in its story and plot. The effect is comical, as the play begins with them merely spinning coins and making bizarre implications towards the audience.Rosencrantz has spun the coin and received heads nearly 85 times. His humorous portrayal of the law of averages is his justification for his luck. This is the plays first look into why things happen. The characters are unable to come to a proper conclusion though and the path that Rosencrantz begins upon (the law of averages) cannot be farther removed from the truth. The play continues with these humorous situations, finally having the pair receive their mission from Claudius the King. The pair ponders why they have received the mission, and why they must complete it. Stoppard constantly asserts that a play is being read. instead of allowing the reader to delve into a story. He makes the reader think of Hamlet, an d its tragic implications and applies a humorous tone to it. In the end of the play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstein are purportedly murdered (the English king is instructed to execute them, but their actual deaths are not witnessed), but instead of a grand exit, they merely fade away. Stoppard shows finished this that the characters had served only a menial and insignificant purpose. The reader is unable to sympathize with the characters demise, as the play is portrayed with a comical tone.This disservice to death with satire is both eye widening and thought provoking. A person is assaulted with the moral implications of death, instead of offering a deaf sympathy to the characters grief. Stoppards ability to allow the playgoers to break what they feel is his greatest achievement in the work not the story itself. Stoppards play Arcadia is another intelligent play that provokes the reader to appraise mans life long debacles. In the play, the characters attempt to grasp the mysteries of sex, and a path towards knowledge that leads to an understanding of the future.The latter is portrayed as an equality developed by Thomasina, in an attempt to control her own destiny. Her professor, Septimus, also contributes to the equation by way of a lesson to his student, Thomasina. He explains to her that the loss of knowledge isnt the end of the world as it is rediscovered eventually in the future. This subject is an explanation of humanitys technological progression and our knowledge. The play attempts to allow the reader to grasp the many unknown or misunderstood concepts in life. Mysteries such as sex can only be acquired through practice and progression of time.Stoppard appeals to the general public that things cannot be instantly understood they must be canvas and experimented with to fully grasp the full meaning. These mysteries will eventually be solved, but it shall take time and patience nothing is instantaneous in life. Stoppards inclusion of Thomasinas equatio n is both humorous and practical in its implication. Thomasinas goal was to create an equation that could more or less tell the future. It is humorous to surmise that a innocent equation can predict the future with numbers. The limitless variables and uncertainties in life will forever impede such an advancement. Stoppard attempts to explain that life itself is intangible it can neither be predicted nor reduced to a simple equation. Stoppards plays contain many useful outlooks on how a person should view their life on earth. People are always concerned with the future and their own death (and when it will occur). Stoppard believes that man shouldnt view life with such a critical eye and instead should accept certain facts to be true. Man is powerless concerning the ability to control life. There are many uncertainties in life that are both humorous and infinitely escapable to the human mind.His plays show inept characters driven into the ground by their consumption of the study of life. Stoppard suggests through his characters comical adventures that life is for living, and the consequence of a life spent longing and pondering equates to a life disenfranchised of pulp and meaning. The meaning which man longs for cannot be quantified it must be experienced to break the wax of significance.Works CitedStoppard, Tom. Arcadia. Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Tom Stoppard. DISCovering Biography. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center. Thomson Gale. 17 January 2005http//galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC