The Ending of Arcadia (Many Spoilers)

Love it, love it, love it. I have to say that this play really impressed me and I now count it as one of my favorites. I was on the edge of my seat for the last couple pages of the play, anticipating and knowing, but hoping for a different outcome. I feel that everything Stoppard does throughout the book leads up to the final, mass connections at the end of the play. He sets up everything so beautifully in the beginning and ties it all together at the end in a way that completely astounds the reader.

My favorite scene was the final scene. The two time lines become even more in sync and begin to overlap. Not only does the speech become interlaced, but so do the actual scenes (with the party and the costumes in the present). Connections from earlier in the book also come into play. Such as the audience knowing of how Thomasina died. We read about the candlestick and know (though we hope for the opposite) how she will die. Things happen in the parallel scenes (though not as severe as the implication of Thomasina's death)that make you think that times have not really changed: love and relationships play such a large part in our lives and can affect our destinies.

These connections and the fact that Stoppard stops the play where he did really made me enjoy the play. Stoppard stops (haha) the play right before the big event we know is going to happen, but at the same time, he makes sure that we know what is going to happen and what is going to result (Septimus and the Hermitage) because of it. It ties everything together and brings us back to the beginning when Bernard assumed wrong. There is always more to the story; there is so much more to humans than we ever account for.

The ending for Arcadia was amazing in my opinion because of the fact that everything tied together and at the end every second makes you go like "ohhh" "oh my gosh" and it just shocks you. Because of all the connections being made the ending it is truely spectacular. What I both like and hate about the ending is that it doesn't explain how exactly things happen like Thomasina dying, but at the exact same time we don't need to know the specifics because we already know the general how and why. I was just kind of disappointed that things like that and Septimus becoming crazy wasn't in the script. But because we don't hear whats going on it just makes up stop and think about all the connections and because of that we can realize whats going on. Also with both the scenes happening at the end at the exact same time was very interesting because it seems like people in the past are responding to the people in the future but we know they are not. The way that is put together in the end makes the whole story seem like only one story is going on instead of the two, past and present. The story doesn't end how I expected it to, because of the waltzing and the happier mood. In a way this story has a happy ending by the way it ends but like a couple of hours later we know that everything has a tragic downturn.

That is why I liked the ending of the story. It is because it was very interesting and because it had me feel two opposite emotions.

I loved the ending to this play. It was sad, but the fact that we were still left trying to connect the dots to the information we had previously been given made it worth it. When we were told that Thomasina died in a fire the day before her seventeenth birthday, I was expecting the ending to be sad. The ending was beyond sad. Once I realized that Thomasina could have been saved by Septimus if only he would have visited her that night because the candle would have been turned off, and the house wouldn't have burned down. It made me sad that she died for love, but her death created the story plot for the modern story. At the end, Septimus is known as the hermit of Sidley Park. He felt guilty for having left Thomasina alone and spent the rest of his life trying to prove her theory. The modern story tried to figure out what had actually happened with the hermit of Sidley Park, and it made the story a lot more interesting. I loved the play in general, it was fantastic.

I absolutely loved the ending of Arcadia. I found the way that the very ending left you knowing that it was Thomasina's 17th birthday. As the audience we knew that this was the day that she was going to pass away due to a finding that the future world made earlier in the play.
I found it touching how Thomasina and Septimus fall in love in the end through the waltz. Finally everything made sense because Septimus we learned earlier in the book had become a hermit yet we did not know why but we then realize that Thomasina passed away, his love, leaving him lonely and forcing him to become a hermit.
I found it brilliant how the waltz was the dancing form that Tom Stoppard had the characters do because it relates back to the math of the play mentioned earlier. The waltz is a constant circle, you end where you begin.
Mr. Scotese pointed out that Thomasina had passed away from a fire. Then he made us put 2 and 2 together and I realized that Thomasina had left a candle on in her bedroom because she was waiting for Septimus to come to her room but he said he couldn't. She forgot to blow the candle out creating a fire which must be another reason that Septimus became a hermit because he felt responsible for her death.

The way that the ending was left hanging up to our own assumptions was kind of a little pet peeve of mine. It would have better if there was a written ending that revealed exactly how Thomasina died. It is also amazing how events from the past can still impact us today and the fact that both time periods of the play uses the same props embraces that idea. The setting is the same especially at the ending when the scenes from both the past and present merge together. It’s just like Mr.Scotese said of knowing we are not alone.

The ideas and theories made in the past do influence us. Thomasina’s discovery with the equations is what Valentine himself was recently studying and this shows us that there can actually be theories in the past that people today think was not discovered until recently.

It is also really cool how we hear the theories of Hannah and Bernard before we see the actual events that happened in Sidley Park. It reminds me of a crime scene show where they reveal scenes of the murder after each discovery made by the detectives. But in this case, even if the assumptions made by the researchers are wrong we see the truth behind the event.

I think it is also important to realize that history is not always accurate. There will always be “noise” that disrupts the actual events. There are always misunderstood and unwritten information that can be important pieces to fitting history together. But we can never know the real history unless we live it ourselves but even then we are biased and can alter what future generations look back on.

The end of Arcadia is interesting because of the connections made. For example, the Waltz ends at the step where it began, similar to the mathematical fractal functions that Thomasina studies that go from x to y and back to x. It is also similar to note that the book ends similarly to the way it began. Thomasina and Septimus are together with each-other, with Septimus instructing Thomasina. In the beginning, we can assume that Septimus has taught Thomasina for some time before the story even began. In the end, we know it is the last time Septimus will see Thomasina alive.

It is also interesting to note how the theories of the characters in the more modern age eventually fall apart. Bernard foolishly concluded that Byron killed Chater until the dahlias proved otherwise. Hannah thought that the hermit died in the fire but the audience knows that the hermit was Septimus and in reality, Thomasina dies in the fire.

The most powerful things in the book are the things not shown. The death of Thomasina and the isolation, dedication, and grieving it inspires in Septimus are not shown, but heavily implied. Mrs. Chater never has any monologues or participates in any discussions but her personality can be discovered through other characters' conversations. Lord Byron's prestige and influence can often be felt but he never appears on stage and never speaks to any of the characters on stage.

It was hard for me to picture things happening in both time periods in the same place, but something that helped was if i actually imagined this play as a play, instead of picturing it as a movie, or real life like i usually would. The odd thing is that when i pictured it as a world, it was a completely different looking place than when i pictured it as a play, and i confused myself several times. I had to transfer my characters from their 'worlds' to the stage in my head and back, because for some reason it just didn't seem as real on a stage... it was like i KNEW they were only acting. which is silly, because i was reading the script, which is just that, a script.

I mentioned in the forum for the first act how great Tom Stoppard is at connecting everything together, and the ending of the play just proves it further. I noticed how throughout most of the play there have been all these connections (big and little) to other things both in and out of the context of the story, and we have basically been doing the same things almost all year. And when we got to the actual ending, I almost got a little emotional, considering how much I liked Thomasina and how heart-breaking it was for Septimus, considering he isolated himself for years after her death. I love how it doesn't describe it detail how she died, though, because since we already know what happens to Thomasina that night, it makes it just a little sadder since the last we see of her alive is when she and Septimus seemed so happy together, and we know what's going to happen anyway.

It is weird that the play did not take the tragic ending path, where we see Septimus turn into a hermit and we did not actually see or witness the aftermath of the fire. This was perhaps to make the play end on a high note rather than a low one, because our final lasting image is that of Thomasina and Septimus dancing, not Thomasina burning to death and septimus going insane. This is fitting for Arcadia, the play is lighthearded and doesn't give you all the details, and so logically the playwrights wanted it to end appropriately. The loose ends will probably be appreciated by the audience Arcadia aims for.

     I really enjoyed the entire play because of the little links and connections found throughout.  The reason why I liked these connections is because they are usually supposed to help and answer all questions.  But in this play, most of the connections only rose more and more questions. 

    The end allowed for all the connections to come to a close.  No one would have ever guessed what had really happened unless it be for those objects left for the world to find.  We would have never understood unless we read both time periods.  In the end, it all comes together for us and our questions.

while reading the play, i really loved it. it was thoughtful, interesting, and well written. but well, i HATED the ending. the parts with the times overlapping were ok, but the conclusion was way too vague. it impllies how the candle started the fire, but it never actually showed any of it. we know she dies in a fire, but theres no fire. we know septimus is the hermit, but we dont know exactly WHY. it was really disappointing.

 I thought the ending of this play was.. well, perfect. The ratio of sadness, mystery, and love was perfectly balanced. Not only did the Stoppard NOT leave us sobbing (which i dislike, especially in large groups), he also managed to leave us wondering, a tad bit sad, and still wishing we could waltz in love as well. And even though, the ending seemed more dull than happy, within the sad ending, happiness could be found. The other characters were able to succeed and move on as successful as they would become even though Thomasina had passed. Just such a wonderful combination of emotions it was hard not to respect the ending. 

I really enjoyed this play and surprisingly the ending. While in class, the last day, I loved the play, but hated the ending. I felt like they shouldn't have just left it open like that; it was kind of a "okay...and?" ending for me. Then i kept thinking about it and I realized that leaving the ending this way gave the play more depth. There were still connections to be made and pieces of the puzzle to be put together. The more I thought about it, the more I thought about how bland the play would have been, if it had just ended directly saying that Thomasina had died the same day and that Septimus had never came to her room and upon his finding of her death, he became the hermit. It was better that the author let the readers solve the mystery themselves. I overall enjoyed reading the play. At times, it was getting a little "ify" , but I stuck with it and began to like the weird connections and flashbacks. So, all in all Arcadia was a great play to read.

I didn't really like the ending of Arcadia simply because there wasn't a real ending. You had to piece together what happened in the end from what you read previously. This could lead to confusion had we not had a teacher to help explain the ending to us. I would have preferred for the story to continue and tell us what actually happened in the end instead of leaving us to guess at what was to come.

I really disliked the ending to Arcadi because I felt like the play was good and had a quick ending. The ending should have been longer or better explained because the reader had to imply what happened. Thomasina was my favortie character and to see that she died was sad, but it was shocking that Septimus was the hermit because who knew that he would go insane. I didn't expect a fairytale ending but i did expect  Septimus and Thomasina to get together and experience some carnal embrace.I just feel that the ending was weak.

I really liked this book. It was quite an awesome read. Although I must admit that I found the olden times much more interesting. The storyline of the play really was about the olden people with Septimus and Thomasina. The modern time characters really just served as another way to tell the story of the old people from a different perspective that is.
I really enjoyed how the book ended. It really tied together well. I loved how Thomasina's theory really was so relevant to all the actions of the modern times. Hannah's hermit crazy came from his guilt of letting Thomasina die. The problems that Valentine had all revolve around her equation. It is crazy to think that one small action can have such a large impact more than a hundred years later.

I definitely liked Arcadia. I think the play was very interesting and that it had a lot of cool things going on at the same time. The math and science part about Arcadia was awesome. I definitelky liked how Thomasina was trying to solve the equation of nature or create one. I think the application of physics (Newton) was cool also. The two timelines were confusing at first but it definitely added some spice to the story. I think the two worlds showed us the story at two different times. One long ago and one today. The love triangles ans love affairs also made the play funny and interesting.

The only part about the play I didn't like is that Septimus lighted the candle that would soon kill Thomasina. It was kind of a "heart breaking" ending to the story. But overall I definitely liked the play.

 I was not satisfied with the ending of Arcadia. I simply feel as though it should have gone on longer, or more in-depth. However, I then remember it is a play, not a novel, and think of time constraints. One thing in particular, though, stuck out as unfinished: did Hannah ever prove her picture was Lord Byron? I feel as thought to have found out would have been another good slap in the face to Barney, who I feel will become arrogant again with time. There was also the dance with Gus and Hannah; did that ever amount to anything? I actually feel as though the audience was left with more information than the characters, and I feel as though it would have been good so see them in the play come to a sudden realization of the facts. It would be another way to connect with them.