Tom Stoppard by Thomas Whitaker (review)

510 Book Reviews conflict, no drama," stated Shaw. And no playwright of the twentieth century understood or practiced that dictum more effectively. The final chapter repeats some material that Smith has published previously in Shaw and Religion (Shaw: The Annual ofBernard Shaw Studies, Volume One), material that illuminates Smith's thematic survey of Shaw's religious experiences. The account of Shaw's "quarter-century friendship" and frequently polemic correspondence with Dame Laurentia McLachlan, the Benedictine sister who became Abbess of Stanbrook Abbey, reveals a running theological debate of considerable interest. The summary pages of the "Envoy" speculate that Shaw's religion of Creative Evolution and the Life Force will be perpetuated most powerfully through his plays. Shaw himself may be given the last words on this prophecy: "Creative Evolution is already a religion, and is indeed now unmistakably the religion of the twent.ieth century.... but it cannot become a popular religion until it has its legends, its parables, its miracles" (Preface (0 Back to Methuselah). Smith's study is most valuable when it focuses on Shaw's unpublished lecture notes on Darwin and Darwinism in Part I and relates them to the Preface of Back to Methuselah , or when Smith compares Shaw's concept of the Life Force with the evolutionary theories of the Neo-Darwinians and of Teilhard. Perhaps the one reservation I have about the book stems from its biographical emphasis begun in the Prologue with "the Broadbent-Shaw, the Doyle-Shaw, or the Keegan-Shaw." Again and again, Smith commits the fal1acy ofreading the mind and attitudes of Shaw through the speeches and actions of his dramatic characters. In a reference to Heartbreak House, Smith himselfacknowledges this problem: "It is frequently a mistake to try to divine the thoughts of the Playwright through the words of his characters" (p. 77). But such a reservation seems merely a quibble in view of the clear exposition of Shaw's religious development which Smith's book provides. BARBARA B. BROWN, MARSHALL UNIVERSITY THOMAS WHITAKER. Tom Stoppard. New York: Grove Press 1983. pp. 177, illus. $17.50; 9.95 (PB). Thomas Whitaker's new book is a chronological study of Stoppard's major plays through Night and Day. Many shorter pieces are discussed, as are several adaptations, but the volume is devoted pr~marily to probing analyses ofStoppard's prominent works. As such, it proves helpful for several reasons. Whitaker's textual analysis, for example, is detailed and sensitive. In his discussion ofTravesties, he carefully examines the dramatic structure and alerts us to many of the more subtle references from Joyce, Wilde, and others that Stoppard weaves into the text. In commenting on Stoppard's dramatic experiments with language, such as Dogg's Our Pet and Cahoot's Macbeth, Whitaker offers valuable insights into Stoppard's linguistic technique, both unto itself and as part of a dramatic unity. And the discussion of Jumpers brings out much of the significance of the philosophical argument within the play. Book Reviews 511 Whitaker also deserves commendation for hisextensive discussion ofStoppard's only major work of fiction, Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon. This highly abstruse novel is too often neglected, and the study here does much to unravel its intricacies. Whitaker also effectively relates its themes and stylistic innovations to the better-known plays. Most important, Whitaker is a superb reader of drama. He does not make the fundamental error of reading these works as though performance were a secondary consideration; rather, he is especially sympathetic to its demands. His discussion of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. for instance, explores the play-life metaphor not only in terms ofthe characters on stage, but for the observers as well. Throughout his study, in fact, Whitaker notes the accomplishments of various actors in Stoppard's plays, and thus hereaffmns that above all Stoppard is a writer for the theater, not simply for the printed page. In short, the criticism offered in this compact volume is likely to be helpful to scholars, actors, and directors. Whitaker also takes pains to remind us regularly that Stoppard is at heart a comic playwright, that an intellectual joy pervades his work. And the book's bright and lively tone is...