This is a study of what I argue is a neglected side of Aestheticism. A standard definition of Aestheticism is that its practitioners turn away from the general current of modernity to protest its utilitarian and materialistic values, but this generalization ignores the profound influence of contemporary philosophical and scientific thought on such major figures of British Aestheticism as Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde. This study focuses on Aesthetes who are not in flight from modernity. I call their type of Aestheticism "Epicurean Aestheticism" and argue that since this temperament is characterized by a willingness to engage with the flux of modern times it must be distinguished from the more familiar, escapist form of Aestheticism I call "Platonic Aestheticism." I propose that Aestheticism be viewed as a spectrum with Epicurean Aestheticism on one side and the Platonic variety on the other. While Platonic Aesthetes like W. B . Yeats and Stephane Mallarme continue the Romantic project of trying to counter modernity with various idealist and absolutist philosophies, Epicurean Aesthetes adopt materialist and relativistic strategies in their desire to make the most of modern life. I argue that the first unmistakable signs of Epicurean Aestheticism are to be found in Thomas De Quincey, that the sensibility is fully formulated be Pater, continued by Wilde, and finds a current representative in Tom Stoppard. All Aesthetes are dedicated to the pursuit of beauty, but Platonic Aesthetes seek beauty in an eternal and transcendent realm, while Epicurean Aesthetes have given up such absolutist habits of thought. Pater writes: "Modern thought is distinguished from ancient by its cultivation of the "relative" spirit in place of the "absolute." Epicurean Aesthetes want a new aesthetic that will parallel the paradigm shift from absolutism to relativism. While a nostalgic, quasi-religious longing for a purely ideal realm characterizes Platonic Aesthetes, Epicurean Aesthetes accept that the high, idealistic road to eternal beauty is closed. Instead of lamenting this fact, they start looking for beauty among the uncertainties of the phenomenal world: by viewing life as an aesthetic spectacle to be observed and experimented on with playful detachment they become Epicureans of the flux of modernity.

This thesis is in three chapters. Chapter one is about Harold Bloom's theory of the Anxiety of Influence. Bloom's argument is that literary history is shaped by the anxiety of "strong" poets at their belatedness. I show that he depends upon a subjective interpretation of literary production in order to defend a rigidly traditional canon. / Chapter two deals with theories of intertextuality, principally those of Julia Kristeva and Michael Riffaterre. As alternatives to theories of influence, neither proves satisfactory. Both founder on the contradictory goal to explain all literature, at the expense of recognizing literary diversity. / Chapter three concerns literary variations. These are texts which are deliberately premised on pre-existing texts. I focus on three examples from this class of literary texts which is not satisfactorily dealt with by any of the theories I consider. I pursue a less wide-ranging approach in order to unearth important features of literary variations.

This project has created electronic music as a dramatic device for the play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. An accompanying paper has reported how the project was successful in arousing an emotional response from both cast and audience. In addition, the paper discusses methods and considerations in creating an electronic score for theater.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987. / Also available in print.

This is a study of what I argue is a neglected side of Aestheticism. A standard definition of Aestheticism is that its practitioners turn away from the general current of modernity to protest its utilitarian and materialistic values, but this generalization ignores the profound influence of contemporary philosophical and scientific thought on such major figures of British Aestheticism as Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde. This study focuses on Aesthetes who are not in flight from modernity. I call their type of Aestheticism "Epicurean Aestheticism" and argue that since this temperament is characterized by a willingness to engage with the flux of modern times it must be distinguished from the more familiar, escapist form of Aestheticism I call "Platonic Aestheticism." I propose that Aestheticism be viewed as a spectrum with Epicurean Aestheticism on one side and the Platonic variety on the other. While Platonic Aesthetes like W. B . Yeats and Stephane Mallarme continue the Romantic project of trying to counter modernity with various idealist and absolutist philosophies, Epicurean Aesthetes adopt materialist and relativistic strategies in their desire to make the most of modern life. I argue that the first unmistakable signs of Epicurean Aestheticism are to be found in Thomas De Quincey, that the sensibility is fully formulated be Pater, continued by Wilde, and finds a current representative in Tom Stoppard. All Aesthetes are dedicated to the pursuit of beauty, but Platonic Aesthetes seek beauty in an eternal and transcendent realm, while Epicurean Aesthetes have given up such absolutist habits of thought. Pater writes: "Modern thought is distinguished from ancient by its cultivation of the "relative" spirit in place of the "absolute." Epicurean Aesthetes want a new aesthetic that will parallel the paradigm shift from absolutism to relativism. While a nostalgic, quasi-religious longing for a purely ideal realm characterizes Platonic Aesthetes, Epicurean Aesthetes accept that the high, idealistic road to eternal beauty is closed. Instead of lamenting this fact, they start looking for beauty among the uncertainties of the phenomenal world: by viewing life as an aesthetic spectacle to be observed and experimented on with playful detachment they become Epicureans of the flux of modernity. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to critically evaluate Tom Stoppard’s application of chaos theory and quantum science in ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, HAPGOOD and ARCADIA; and determine the extent to which Stoppard argues for the importance of human action and choice. Through critical analysis this study examined how Stoppard applies the quantum aspects of: (1) indeterminacy to human epistemology in ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD; (2) complementarity to human identity in HAPGOOD; and (3) recursive symmetry to human history in ARCADIA. It also examined how Stoppard excavates the complexities of human action, choice and identity through the lens of chaos theory and quantum science. These findings demonstrated that Tom Stoppard is not merely juxtaposing quantum science and human interactions for the sake of drama; rather, by excavating the complexities of human action, choice and identity through the lens of chaos theory and quantum science, Stoppard demonstrates the fundamental connection between individuals and the post-Newtonian universe.

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Depuis vingt ans, le discours des sciences exactes apparaît régulièrement sur la scène britannique : la mécanique quantique, les mathématiques du chaos, la thermodynamique et les sciences naturelles sont aujourd’hui des matériaux dramaturgiques courants. Cette étude définit l’esthétique particulière et le nouveau rapport entre théâtre et savoir produits par ce phénomène, à partir d’un corpus reflétant la diversité de la création contemporaine, des dramaturges Tom Stoppard, Michael Frayn, Timberlake Wertenbaker ou Caryl Churchill aux compagnies de théâtre Complicite et On Theatre. Le discours scientifique joue dans ce théâtre un rôle simultanément épistémologique et poétique, car ses formes y sont détournées et activées dans de nouveaux contextes. Il fournit des métaphores et des structures narratives à des dramaturgies incertaines, caractérisées par une esthétique postmoderne de la vérité multiple et de l’ouverture du sens. Ces transferts discursifs sont ici abordés selon les trois grandes modalités du rapport à la science ainsi construit : l’imitation d’un modèle rationnel, la critique d’un lieu de pouvoir, et l’importation des schèmes poétiques de l’imaginaire scientifique. / Over the past twenty years, the discourse of hard science has appeared increasingly frequently on the British stage: quantum mechanics, chaos mathematics, thermodynamics and the natural sciences have provided dramatic material for contemporary artists. This thesis defines the resulting aesthetic, and the new relationship between theatre and knowledge that can be found in the work of dramatists such as Tom Stoppard, Michael Frayn, Timberlake Wertenbaker or Caryl Churchill, and theatre companies such as Complicite and On Theatre. The function of this scientific discourse is both epistemological and poetic: its forms are activated in new contexts, and bring metaphors and narrative structures to a postmodern drama characterised by uncertainty and multiple truths. These discursive transfers are analysed according to the relationship they create with science, which can involve imitating it as a rational model, criticizing it an instrument of power, or importing the shapes and patterns of scientific imagination.

The study elucidates the relation of Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead to Hamlet on the one hand and to the Theatre of the Absurd on the other. The two plays chosen to represent the Theatre of the Absurd are Samuel Beckett1 s Waiting for Godot and Harold Pinter* s The Caretaker. Since Stoppard is admired as a master craftsman of language, the emphasis is on his use of language. The extent to which the use of the cliché characterizes the three absurd plays is examined. It is found that the language area covered by the term cliche is not clearly defined and that the term is not uniformly applied. The inquiry centres on finding features, such as repetition, music-hall passages and "ready-made" language, that could explain why the dialogue in the three plays might appear cliche-ridden and on comparing the three plays in respect of these features. 　 The study further draws parallels between Stoppard's play and Waiting for Godot in the use of various techniques, such as misunderstandings, anticlimax and afterthought. It is found that there is often a conscious adoption by Stoppard of Beckett's techniques. To clarify the relation of Stoppard's play to Hamlet various aspects of the two plays are studied. These aspects include changes introduced into stereotyped expressions, punning, the use of parody and the handling of two specific motives, madness and death. Parallels are found in spite of the fact that several centuries separate the two plays, not least in respect to style, technique and language. / digitalisering@umu

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