Meaning and Perspective in Tom Stoppard's Three Plays

The aim of this book is to gain insight into the relations of meaning and perspective in Tom Stoppard's plays. To see the connections I propose to examine the plays from the angle of the philosophy of language. Accordingly, the idea of relative meanings in drama can be connected to Ludwig Wittgenstein's ideas on the use of a word. In the course of this book the philosopher's line of thought shall be applied to three plays: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Jumpers and Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth which represent distinct perspectives: the historical, the philosophical, the linguistic and the political. Hence the discussion focuses on the shifts in meanings, on the destabilization of the traditional interpretation of values and notions. I shall investigate what techniques Stoppard uses to present parallel contexts and to introduce new meanings in classical contexts. By juxtaposing the perspectives the playwright questions the established meanings in history, moral philosophy or politics, and presents with alternate and flexible solutions. This deconstruction, multiplication and bending of the familiar throws a cunning light on the plays.