스토파드의 『진짜 사랑』에 나타난 메타연극 미학

Metadrama Aesthetics in Stoppard"s The Real Thing

&nbsp;&nbsp;Tom Stoppard has explored a variety of subjects and a diversity of styles in his major plays, and has included intellectual inquiry, comedy, and human emotions, in his dramatic toolbox. In The Real Thing (1982), Stoppard uses self-reflexive metadrama, as his play-within-a-play triggers the rediscovery of the art of theater, and of the actor, and demonstrates the power of illusion to transform life. The Real Thing introduces us to the life of Henry, a playwright, and several actors, and embeds passages of four different plays: i) House of Cards by Henry himself; ii) John Ford&quot;s &quot;Tis Pity She&quot;s a Whore; iii) Brodie play; and iv) readings from Strindberg&quot;s Miss Julie. These embedded levels are re-presented (each time with a difference) during the play, intermingling and reflecting the themes of love, art, and politics.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Through this repetition and recognition, audience and actor expectations are constantly ambushes, as the "real" turns out to be "unreal", and vice-versa, depending on one&quot;s perspective. By questioning the values attached to family and marriage, and reflecting the problems of an insecure and chaotic society, where all truths are necessarily subjective and relative, Stoppard invites the spectators to reflect on their feelings and ideas, and encourages them to actively participate in making the meaning of the play. The Real Thing successfully describes the dilemmas and contradictions of life. This play demonstrates Stoppard&quot;s use of postmodern aesthetics to describe the contemporary human condition, with its uncertainty, relative truth, and disillusion with social and moral truths.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The combination of wit, comedy, intellectual depth, intriguing ideas, literary allusions, metaphors, and cultural references, all combine to make Stoppard&quot;s dramatic edifices that will surely stand the test of time, due to their painstaking creation, their academic thoroughness, and their exploration of issues at the heart of postmodern society.