Temple Theaters Presents
ARCADIA
By Tom Stoppard
February 11-21, 2015
What is Arcadia?
WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!
"It is nature as God intended, and I can say with the painter, 'Et in Arcadia ego!' 'Here I am in Arcadia,' Thomasina.
Early in the play, Lady Croom mistranslates the Latin title of the above painting by Nicolas Poussin. As we learn soon after from Septimus, the correct translation is "Even in Arcadia, there I am" - the "I" being Death.
But what exactly is Arcadia, and why is it not only referenced, but the title of the play?
Arcadia exists as both a physical place, and a state of mind. The real place,
as seen on this map in red, is located in Greece, in the eastern-central part
of the Peloponnes peninsula. A mountainous region, in ancient times Arcadia
was largely cut off from the rest of Greece. This isolation, coupled with the
region's pastoral beauty and sparse population of shepherds gave rise to
the image of Arcadia as a sort of unblemished, idyllic wilderness, where
man and nature co-existed in perfect harmony.
In Greek mythology, Arcadia is the home of Pan, the god of shepherds and
flocks, mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music. The ancient Roman poet Virgil
celebrated the beauty of Arcadia in his Eclogues, written between 44 and 38 BC.
The images of Arcadia created by Virgil captured the imaginations of other
writers and artists, whose works would propel the notion of Arcadia as a
sort of paradise, untouched and unspoiled by civilization.
This idea of Arcadia as a utopia inspired the classical French Baroque painter Nicolas Poussin, who actually created two different works on the subject - the one at the top of the page, which was painted in the late 1630s and is now housed in the Louvre, and the one below, an earlier version painted in 1627 which is in Chatsworth House, the country seat of the Duke of Devonshire.
Both paintings depict Arcadian shepherds reading an inscription on a tomb: "Et in Arcadia ego." Translated as "Even in Arcadia, there am I," with "I" meaning Death and Arcadia meaning an idyllic paradise, the phrase is considered a memento mori - a reminder of mortality. By this
interpretation, the phrase and painting indicate that even in a perfect world, death exists - it
is an inescapable fact of life.
However, another interpretation exists, supported by Poussin's biographer Andre Felibien,
who interpreted the phrase as "The person buried in this tomb lived in Arcadia." Basically,
Felibien's interpretation meant that the person buried in the tomb once lived and enjoyed
earthly pleasures in Arcadia just like the shepherds who are currently examining his/her tomb.
The phrase still acts as a reminder that death is an inevitability; the person in the tomb was
once alive, just as one day, the shepherds will be deceased.
So, what does all of this have to with the Coverlys, math and poetry? Like the phrase itself, that
is open to interpretation. As it does in the paintings, the specter of death hovers over the
characters in Arcadia - by the end of the play we know we are witnessing Thomasina's final
moments of life, as she finally experiences the joys (some might say paradise) of first love as
she dances with Septimus and he kisses her. Furthermore, the parallel discussions about heat
exchange and loss between Septimus and Thomasina, and Hannah and Valentine, speak to the
larger implication that someday the whole universe will collapse in on itself, and all life will
cease to be.
This does not, however, stop the characters from their pursuit of knowledge, of understanding, of emotion, of joy. Though their means differ, the characters in Arcadia are all searching for their key to happiness - whether its through poetry, mathematics, science or sex. They may not achieve a perfect utopia, but perhaps for them, the real joy is in the pursuit.
