There was once a
theatre maker friend of mine who when I suggested that Tom Stoppard was a
gifted writer he instantly dismissed him as ‘being Right-Wing’. I found this opinion, for such a knowledgably
director, to be questionable. I
asked him for examples but he couldn’t provide then and there. Tom Stoppard is on record to be
‘comfortably conservative’ but I tried to argue that his politics were
different from his drama and one should not dismiss any writer on face value of
their political beliefs. In plays
such as Rosencrantz and Guilderstern Are Dead I
failed to pick up any political debate or message, maybe this is my failure as
an audience member, but really a play like that goes beyond politics, doesn’t
it?
When Stoppard becomes more intriguing
is when he writes plays like Rock ‘n’ Roll where
he depicts Left-Wing characters in a sympathetic light. This is what I would like to focus on
and try to see if his politics greatly affects his work.
Firstly I should admit a prejudice for
his work. He has all the things I
love about writing: working brains, sharp wit and philosophical ideas that he
juggles with craftsmanship. He is
both an entertaining and a thoughtful playwright. So, I like his work.
Secondarily it might be useful to keep
a definition of the political idea of ‘conservatism’, which is different to
what it once was. Today’s conservative
is a neo-liberal and goes about business with a different attitude. He reminds me of old-fashioned
conservatives such as Roger Scruton whom I also find interesting. I’m not so well versed in the nuances
of the conservative party so I am unable at this time to give a succinct definition,
but what I want to concentrate on is his portrayal of Max, the communist
philosopher in Rock ‘n’ Roll.
There is a running joke that whenever
Max, who is as old as the October Revolution, says to somebody that he is a
communist they will say to him “aren’t you missing something?” because it is
clear to them that to believe in communism after the tragedy of early modern
Russia you would have to have a lapse in reasoning. Max says to his student, Jan that maybe communism didn’t
work at that particular time but there is no reason why it couldn’t work in the
present. Jan goes to work in the Czechoslovakia
at the time of state censorship and the Velvet Revolution falling away from
Marxist belief.
Max is frustrated at the state of things and though he is a
deep thinker he cannot convince his students that he is right about the world
or the human mind. When Margaret
Thatcher comes to power he complains that ‘the working-class vote could make
this a socialist country permanently, and they
voted in millions for the most reactionary Tory government of modern
times. We give them crap. They eat crap, they read crap, they
watch crap, they have two weeks in the sun, and they’re content. Why aren’t they angry?’
There is pathos in his certain belief
that communism would make society a better place while all the while he watches
the world make all the wrong decisions.
Despite being a philosopher he can’t explain the behaviour of the wider
world. Is Stoppard portraying
someone who is misguided and deluded or is he portraying him as a noble
character that only wants to do better in a world of mediocrity?
It’s not clear-cut as though no-body
else really believes in what Max has to say we don’t necessarily believe that
he is entirely wrong. He is an
enduring character because of his political commitment even if he is pushing against
the tide. I don’t get the sense
that Stoppard is pushing a political agenda in this play. He doesn’t, because he is a conservative,
want to dismantle Max’s belief but only to understand it. It is an exercise in empathy and
because of that I find it hard to dismiss his plays merely because he is
‘Right-Wing’. He knows where his affiliations
lie but that doesn’t stop him from sympathising with those he doesn’t agree
with. Tom Stoppard is, as well as
being brainy, witty and philosophical, a robustly humane writer.
No comments:
Post a Comment