Jerixodia
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PM me or reply to this thread if you would like my notes on The Real Inspector Hound.
Heres my Draft essay thats due next Friday.
Merry Christmas!
“What do you believe to be the contribution of Tom Stoppards play The Real Inspector Hound, to the Genre of Crime and Detective Fiction?
The Real Inspector Hound, written by Tom Stoppard, despite satirizing the crime/detective fiction genre still contributes a lot to it. It has everything classic crime/detective fiction needs, and also draws ideas from Absurd Theatre, where the play draws most of its satire. Using other crime/detective fiction texts as a parody, including “The Mouse Trap” by the queen of fictional crime Agatha Christie, Tom Stoppard has broken down the genre of Crime/Fiction into its elements of story, characters and themes, and has contributed a brilliant template of aspects of the Crime Fiction Genre.
The first element of any Genre is its story. The Real Inspector Hound though, has none, as draws many of its creative roots from is the Theatrical Technique Absurd Theatre, or Theatre of the Absurd. Stoppard has had much previous experience with writing Absurd Theatrical pieces before he wrote The Real Inspector Hound, so while this was one of his first Crime/Detective stage plays , it wasn’t still completely out of his element of writing.
“Absurdist Theatre falls within the symbolisation and tradition of its own genre, while also having no logical plot. The obscurity of the plot reinforces the monotone of repetitiveness of time in human affairs. The dialogue is commonly no more then a series of inconsequential clichés which the characters that speak them” – Theatrical Techniques for Directors written by Genevieve Rohr.
So when it comes to story, The Real Inspector Hound does not contribute that much to the crime/detective genre besides its twist at the end, which really doesn’t match anything that separates the crime/detective fiction genre from the rest. Basically the story of The Real Inspector Hound is more complicated then anything of the crime/detective genre including the movie “The Big Sleep.” Usually crime/detective stories have to be simple so that the audience can solve the mystery themselves. The story of the play does fall more into Absurd Theatre as its confusing and obscure plot bamboozles its audience, especially with the second half of the play. Further examples include the “mono tone of repetitiveness” as almost half the dialogue is repeated, and it is all really a bunch of “inconsequential clichés”.
“A stock character is a one that relies heavily on cultural types or stereotypes for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. Stock characters are a key component of genre fiction, providing relationships and interactions that people familiar with the genre will recognize immediately. Stock characters make easy targets for parody, which will likely exaggerate any stereotypes associated with these characters” – Wikipedia.
The second element of a Genre is its stock characters. Stoppard’s characters in “The Real Inspector Hound” present nothing original to the Crime/Detective Genre. Although it showcases many of the classic stereotypical Crime/Detective characters, the play has no real set Protagonist and Antagonist, which is most unusual for this genre.
Mrs Drudge, the eyes on the wall stereotype maid, is one of Stoppards stock characters. The character of The Maid/Butler is common in the Crime/Detective Genre and is usually in league with or against their employers, though it is unsure of where Mrs Drudge’s loyalties lie as she is only background in the play. The maid character may not own the rich fancy mansion most crime/detective stories take place in, but she sure knows her way around it, and not much happens without the maid or butlers knowledge. Mrs Drudge is an example of the Maid/Butler as her character in the play goes unnoticed, and she always does as she’s told. The requirement usually for a Maid/Butler in Crime/Detective Genre is just mainly presence. Even the name Drudge is a reference to Housemaid, as the name is an old fashion English term for peasant or house worker and this further emphasises the cliché.
Simon Gascoyne is the redfish of Stoppards story, as everyone in the play hates him, and views him as an enemy. Being an enemy to everyone in Crime/Fiction is a double bladed sword. These type of characters are either the killers or are quickly killed. Simon is the redfish character, because at first he presents himself as a very suspicious character, something that would give the audience reason to believe he is the culprit and he also has clear motivation that everyone has something against him. The redfish characters though don’t usually last long, and are usually quickly killed off so to give the audience some action, and then to give the audience something to ponder as to whom the real culprit is. Examples of Simon being the redfish include everyone in the mansion taking an instant distrust in him and acting highly suspiciously as to draw out the audience’s attention.
Next is the femme fatale in the form of Felicity Cunningham, a young seductress with her own set of motives. Stoppard traditionally portrays the femme fatale as young, cunning and sexy. Further characteristics of the femme fatale include her being a love interest for the protagonist or a suspect of the crime. During the early days of Crime/Fiction she started off as the eye candy but writers decide to write more into the femme fatale character and expanded upon her stock character until today’s current version. Examples of Felicity Cunningham been the femme fatale include her seducing Simon and Birdboot in the play and slight hints as a different motives she has.
Cynthia Muldoon is an example of the Grande Dame character within the Crime/Fiction Genre. Usually good friends with everyone of the other characters, and usually very close with the femme fatale, the stock character of Grande Dame, an old woman, who maintains her money, her men, and her dignity with an iron fist. The Grand Dame stereotypically also “keeps her friends close and her enemies closer”. Examples of the Grande Dame in Cynthia, is that she’s rich, old, mature, experienced and does seem to keep a lot of people she doesn’t like over at her house and Cynthia been good friends with Felicity.
The crippled, Major Magnus Muldoon is a classic example of the mysterious character and the Old War Dog stereotype. The mysterious characters traditionally have a plain and simple agenda, though it’s later into the play that their motivations begin to unravel, while the Old War Dog stereotype usually is old, more intelligent and experienced whilst being at odds with the younger generation. Examples of this in Majors character include him being crippled, and just arriving from overseas, so there are a lot of questions about his character’s history. Old War Dog wise, Major is instantly at odds with the younger Simon, showing a clear difference in the generations.
In fact all of Stoppards characters (besides the two critics) are so recycled they can be compared to any other literature in the Crime/Detective Genre. For a broader example would be the “whodunit” board game Cluedo. Major Magnus as opposed to Colonel Mustard (both generations driven apart war dogs), Felicity Cunningham as opposed to Miss Scarlet (both femme fatale), Simon Gascoyne as opposed to Professor Plum (both redfishes) , Cynthia Muldoon as opposed to Mrs Peacock (both the Grande Dame) Mrs Drudge as opposed to Mrs White (both maids), and even the random body that’s just there to start some plot in The Real Inspector Hound and the random body that’s just there to start the game in Cluedo.
The board game Cludeo has been around since 1948 and perhaps Stoppard conceived the ideas behind The Real Inspector Hound one late night while playing the classic board game. All he really did was turn the idea of a board game been played people, into a theatrical play within a theatrical play.
‘Theme: a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; "it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme"- Google Definitions.
The Third Element of a Genre is its Theme. While Theatre of the Absurd does not support much story, it does support Themes, and there are a few evident in The Real Inspector Hound, such as no audience interaction, and common motivations for the plays other unsavoury characters.
During the first half of the play, the audience is met with the two critics Moon a greedy backstabber who is slowly climbing the hierarchy of critics, and Birdboot who is letting actresses climb on him to climb the hierarchy of theatre acting by abusing his powers as a famous critic and giving good reviews in return for other favours.
The duo of critics sit in the first row of the audience, and watch the play with them for the first half, though don’t break the fourth wall of a theatre (they don’t address the audience) despite Stoppard toying with the idea by Felicity’s character commenting “Does it make sense?” half way through the play.
In Crime/Fiction it is critical that the fourth wall is never broken as this usually makes things too complicated for the audience to follow. This also breaks the idea of the audience being a “fly on the wall” to a mystery in Crime/Detective fiction. This theme of audience interaction also links in with “Theatre of the Absurd” and people are left to wonder if the actors portraying Birdboot, and Moon are part of the show or are really arrogant audience members.
Birdboot and Moon represent the two most common criminal motivations which are sexual lust and lust for more power. It is this that makes these characters so important. While the other five deadly sins being Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. It’s always Lust and Greed that seem to be within the genre and are both relatable to the audience.
In conclusion there are three major elements in every Genre, Story, Characters and Theme. Stoppard has given us nothing in a real Crime/Detective Story, basics in a Crime/Detective Theme, though it’s his classic characters, and a clear definition of their roles that has been Stoppard’s contribution to the Crime/Fiction Genre along with a clever, interesting “whodunit” story, with a much unexpected twist.
Bibliography:
Heres my Draft essay thats due next Friday.
Merry Christmas!
“What do you believe to be the contribution of Tom Stoppards play The Real Inspector Hound, to the Genre of Crime and Detective Fiction?
The Real Inspector Hound, written by Tom Stoppard, despite satirizing the crime/detective fiction genre still contributes a lot to it. It has everything classic crime/detective fiction needs, and also draws ideas from Absurd Theatre, where the play draws most of its satire. Using other crime/detective fiction texts as a parody, including “The Mouse Trap” by the queen of fictional crime Agatha Christie, Tom Stoppard has broken down the genre of Crime/Fiction into its elements of story, characters and themes, and has contributed a brilliant template of aspects of the Crime Fiction Genre.
The first element of any Genre is its story. The Real Inspector Hound though, has none, as draws many of its creative roots from is the Theatrical Technique Absurd Theatre, or Theatre of the Absurd. Stoppard has had much previous experience with writing Absurd Theatrical pieces before he wrote The Real Inspector Hound, so while this was one of his first Crime/Detective stage plays , it wasn’t still completely out of his element of writing.
“Absurdist Theatre falls within the symbolisation and tradition of its own genre, while also having no logical plot. The obscurity of the plot reinforces the monotone of repetitiveness of time in human affairs. The dialogue is commonly no more then a series of inconsequential clichés which the characters that speak them” – Theatrical Techniques for Directors written by Genevieve Rohr.
So when it comes to story, The Real Inspector Hound does not contribute that much to the crime/detective genre besides its twist at the end, which really doesn’t match anything that separates the crime/detective fiction genre from the rest. Basically the story of The Real Inspector Hound is more complicated then anything of the crime/detective genre including the movie “The Big Sleep.” Usually crime/detective stories have to be simple so that the audience can solve the mystery themselves. The story of the play does fall more into Absurd Theatre as its confusing and obscure plot bamboozles its audience, especially with the second half of the play. Further examples include the “mono tone of repetitiveness” as almost half the dialogue is repeated, and it is all really a bunch of “inconsequential clichés”.
“A stock character is a one that relies heavily on cultural types or stereotypes for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. Stock characters are a key component of genre fiction, providing relationships and interactions that people familiar with the genre will recognize immediately. Stock characters make easy targets for parody, which will likely exaggerate any stereotypes associated with these characters” – Wikipedia.
The second element of a Genre is its stock characters. Stoppard’s characters in “The Real Inspector Hound” present nothing original to the Crime/Detective Genre. Although it showcases many of the classic stereotypical Crime/Detective characters, the play has no real set Protagonist and Antagonist, which is most unusual for this genre.
Mrs Drudge, the eyes on the wall stereotype maid, is one of Stoppards stock characters. The character of The Maid/Butler is common in the Crime/Detective Genre and is usually in league with or against their employers, though it is unsure of where Mrs Drudge’s loyalties lie as she is only background in the play. The maid character may not own the rich fancy mansion most crime/detective stories take place in, but she sure knows her way around it, and not much happens without the maid or butlers knowledge. Mrs Drudge is an example of the Maid/Butler as her character in the play goes unnoticed, and she always does as she’s told. The requirement usually for a Maid/Butler in Crime/Detective Genre is just mainly presence. Even the name Drudge is a reference to Housemaid, as the name is an old fashion English term for peasant or house worker and this further emphasises the cliché.
Simon Gascoyne is the redfish of Stoppards story, as everyone in the play hates him, and views him as an enemy. Being an enemy to everyone in Crime/Fiction is a double bladed sword. These type of characters are either the killers or are quickly killed. Simon is the redfish character, because at first he presents himself as a very suspicious character, something that would give the audience reason to believe he is the culprit and he also has clear motivation that everyone has something against him. The redfish characters though don’t usually last long, and are usually quickly killed off so to give the audience some action, and then to give the audience something to ponder as to whom the real culprit is. Examples of Simon being the redfish include everyone in the mansion taking an instant distrust in him and acting highly suspiciously as to draw out the audience’s attention.
Next is the femme fatale in the form of Felicity Cunningham, a young seductress with her own set of motives. Stoppard traditionally portrays the femme fatale as young, cunning and sexy. Further characteristics of the femme fatale include her being a love interest for the protagonist or a suspect of the crime. During the early days of Crime/Fiction she started off as the eye candy but writers decide to write more into the femme fatale character and expanded upon her stock character until today’s current version. Examples of Felicity Cunningham been the femme fatale include her seducing Simon and Birdboot in the play and slight hints as a different motives she has.
Cynthia Muldoon is an example of the Grande Dame character within the Crime/Fiction Genre. Usually good friends with everyone of the other characters, and usually very close with the femme fatale, the stock character of Grande Dame, an old woman, who maintains her money, her men, and her dignity with an iron fist. The Grand Dame stereotypically also “keeps her friends close and her enemies closer”. Examples of the Grande Dame in Cynthia, is that she’s rich, old, mature, experienced and does seem to keep a lot of people she doesn’t like over at her house and Cynthia been good friends with Felicity.
The crippled, Major Magnus Muldoon is a classic example of the mysterious character and the Old War Dog stereotype. The mysterious characters traditionally have a plain and simple agenda, though it’s later into the play that their motivations begin to unravel, while the Old War Dog stereotype usually is old, more intelligent and experienced whilst being at odds with the younger generation. Examples of this in Majors character include him being crippled, and just arriving from overseas, so there are a lot of questions about his character’s history. Old War Dog wise, Major is instantly at odds with the younger Simon, showing a clear difference in the generations.
In fact all of Stoppards characters (besides the two critics) are so recycled they can be compared to any other literature in the Crime/Detective Genre. For a broader example would be the “whodunit” board game Cluedo. Major Magnus as opposed to Colonel Mustard (both generations driven apart war dogs), Felicity Cunningham as opposed to Miss Scarlet (both femme fatale), Simon Gascoyne as opposed to Professor Plum (both redfishes) , Cynthia Muldoon as opposed to Mrs Peacock (both the Grande Dame) Mrs Drudge as opposed to Mrs White (both maids), and even the random body that’s just there to start some plot in The Real Inspector Hound and the random body that’s just there to start the game in Cluedo.
The board game Cludeo has been around since 1948 and perhaps Stoppard conceived the ideas behind The Real Inspector Hound one late night while playing the classic board game. All he really did was turn the idea of a board game been played people, into a theatrical play within a theatrical play.
‘Theme: a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; "it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme"- Google Definitions.
The Third Element of a Genre is its Theme. While Theatre of the Absurd does not support much story, it does support Themes, and there are a few evident in The Real Inspector Hound, such as no audience interaction, and common motivations for the plays other unsavoury characters.
During the first half of the play, the audience is met with the two critics Moon a greedy backstabber who is slowly climbing the hierarchy of critics, and Birdboot who is letting actresses climb on him to climb the hierarchy of theatre acting by abusing his powers as a famous critic and giving good reviews in return for other favours.
The duo of critics sit in the first row of the audience, and watch the play with them for the first half, though don’t break the fourth wall of a theatre (they don’t address the audience) despite Stoppard toying with the idea by Felicity’s character commenting “Does it make sense?” half way through the play.
In Crime/Fiction it is critical that the fourth wall is never broken as this usually makes things too complicated for the audience to follow. This also breaks the idea of the audience being a “fly on the wall” to a mystery in Crime/Detective fiction. This theme of audience interaction also links in with “Theatre of the Absurd” and people are left to wonder if the actors portraying Birdboot, and Moon are part of the show or are really arrogant audience members.
Birdboot and Moon represent the two most common criminal motivations which are sexual lust and lust for more power. It is this that makes these characters so important. While the other five deadly sins being Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. It’s always Lust and Greed that seem to be within the genre and are both relatable to the audience.
In conclusion there are three major elements in every Genre, Story, Characters and Theme. Stoppard has given us nothing in a real Crime/Detective Story, basics in a Crime/Detective Theme, though it’s his classic characters, and a clear definition of their roles that has been Stoppard’s contribution to the Crime/Fiction Genre along with a clever, interesting “whodunit” story, with a much unexpected twist.
Bibliography:
- Wikipedia
- Bored of Studies
- Cluedo
- Google Definitions
- Theatrical Techniques for Directors written by Genevieve Rohr