Seminar: Shaw, Stoppard and the Play of Ideas

In the 1890s Bernard Shaw introduced into British drama the play of ideas—a play which takes as its theme a social or philosophical problem—and combined it with the traditions of farce and high comedy to create a highly idiosyncratic kind of drama. For the pasts three decades Tom Stoppard has continued that tradition of wit and intellectual comedy. This seminar will study closely how these two playwrights have given vital form to the play of ideas in a dozen of their major plays. 3 hrs. lect.