The Plays of Tom Stoppard

Harvard Extension School

ENGL E-232

Section 1

CRN 26966

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Considered the greatest playwright of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, Tom Stoppard has written an astonishing number of prize-winning stage plays, radio plays, film scripts, and literary adaptations. His themes range from existential crises, state repression, and revolutionary optimism and disappointment to the reverberations of history, the mystery of identity, the pitfalls of passion, and the operation of chance, time, and memory in our lives. Characterized by intellectuality, wit, and word-play, Stoppard's works also engage with science, philosophy, and art, which he sees as helpmates to our navigation of a chaotic world. As David Mason has written, "If there's an overarching political argument to Stoppard's life work, it is in opposition to the world's destroyers, in celebration of the makers, thinkers and lovers with all their flaws." Plays to be considered include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties, The Real Thing, Arcadia, The Invention of Love, The Coast of Utopia, Rock 'n Roll, and Leopoldstadt.

Instructor Info

Sue Weaver Schopf, PhD

Distinguished Service Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University


Meeting Info

W 5:10pm - 7:10pm (1/26 - 5/16)

Participation Option: Online Synchronous

Deadlines

Last day to register: January 22, 2026

Additional Time Commitments

Optional sections Sundays, 6-7 pm.

Notes

This course meets via web conference. Students must attend and participate at the scheduled meeting time. See minimum technology requirements.

All Sections of this Course

CRN Section # Participation Option(s) Instructor Section Status Meets Term Dates
26966 1 Online Synchronous Sue Schopf Open W 5:10pm - 7:10pm
Jan 26 to May 16