A Truth Refuted by Science: The Coast of Utopia, Voyage Act I

Time goes by, but human behavior remains static. Days, weeks, months, and even years are completely irrelevant when determining the unchanging pattern followed by every individual. Even though man possesses a rational mind that leads to the creation of a wide variety of different philosophies one must adhere to, his overall conduct towards life in general is always the same. The first act of “Voyage” in Tom Stoppard’s play The Coast of Utopia takes place in exactly the same setting but is developed throughout an eight-year time period. The author selects excerpts that in some way prove to be relevant to the development of the plot, but fails to mention what happened between these time periods; consequently, it appears as if these had never taken place. Although the fragments narrated take place in different times, the characters conserve the same postures from the end of an interval to the beginning of the next. “Alexander and Liuvov are where they were, her head against his breast, his fingers searching her hair.” (p. 29). The scene that takes place at the end of autumn 1835 concludes with Liuvov resting against her father’s breast, which is exactly the same posture that inaugurates the following episode in the spring of 1836. This defines part of the form the play follows, which in turn modifies the context in order to show that time is irrelevant when talking about human conduct.

Man has been considered a rational being ever since the Greek philosophers began introducing their empirical views on human nature. The rise of modern science in the XVIIth century and the emergence of the scientific view of the world inaugurated a time period known as the Age of Reason. Both René Descartes and Francis Bacon addressed themselves to the problem of knowledge and advocated the use of a more reliable and truthful method to be able to understand the complexity of nature. Systematic reasoning influenced the thinkers of the Enlightenment and those who proceeded afterward. The existence of a unique and established truth derived from rationality was considered to be the only acceptable view of society during these time periods. People’s ideas were limited in order to create a rigid and unbendable mind that would be able to shun the transcendentalist element. Science was replacing what Vissarion Belinsky referred to as art, creating a society that was more intent on imitating than innovating.
“When philosophers start talking like architects, get out while you can, chaos is coming. When they start laying down rules for beauty, blood in the streets is from that moment inevitable. Because the answer is not out there like America waiting for Columbus, the same answer for everybody forever. The universal idea speaks through humanity itself, and differently through each nation in each stage of its history.” (pgs. 44-45).
Belinsky is careful to make a distinction between science, which only possesses one indisputable answer, and art, which comprises millions of valid theories and ideas. The sentence that defines philosophers as architects is a protest against the empirical and rationalist view every individual began to adopt. Literature as a form of art needs to proceed from the author’s inmost thoughts. It cannot be established by rigid parameters, but rather engendered by the senses. Most importantly, it is neither right nor wrong, but simply unique. “Every work of art is the breath of a single eternal idea breathed by God into the inner life of the artist.” (p. 45). Art is composed of a metaphysical element and a person’s beliefs, both of which are untested by man and refutable by science; nevertheless, they compose the multifarious “universal idea.”

Since there are no incorrect ideas, everyone’s perspective about the nature of man is equally valid and acceptable. According to Michael, “The life of the Spirit is the only real life: our material existence stands between us and our transcendence to the Universal Idea where we become one with the Absolute!” (p. 14). This character creates a paradox by saying that the “real life” is the intangible soul, while the physical body is just an illusion. This belief contradicts the one embraced by the philosophers who relied on experimentation as the sole basis of their knowledge. Man’s “material existence,” or dependency on worldly objects, prevents him from reaching a state of complete spirituality. This makes it unable for him to get immersed in the “Universal Idea,” understood as the collection of all truths established throughout the history of mankind. The “Absolute,” or God, is an omnipresent force that can only be felt when someone is able to understand every ideological doctrine. Considering our dependency on material goods, one may imply that it is impossible to achieve a state where man and God unite to form one sole presence. Philosophy and art proceeding from the human mind converge in order to create the Universal Idea, a concept so deep that, paradoxically, will never be fully understood by mankind.