P. Delany – författare

Spanning Stoppard's career from "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" (1967) to "Hapgood" (1988), this study shows his development in the author from moral affirmation to moral application, from the assertion of moral principles to the enactment of moral practice. Using Stoppard's words in a number of interviews as a starting point, the author shows how the major plays bear out Stoppard's contention that he "tries to be consistent about morality". The text is accompanied by a bibliography and discography of Stoppard interviews (over 200 including print and broadcast sources).

This volume argues that literary institutions have been saturated with hostility to commerce and the market that goes back to Plato. It traces the division in English culture between the prestige values of the aristocracy and the material values of the commercial class. The book takes a fresh look at both the representation of money in English literature and the economic situation of writers.

That there is development in Stoppard is clear but - as Delaney demonstrates - the development is from moral affirmation to moral application, from the assertion of moral principles to the enactment of moral practice.