Tom Stoppard's 'If You're Glad I'll be Frank' As an existential play : a Heideggerian approach

Abstract EN

If You 're Glad, I'll be Frank is a short play by Tom Stoppard, originally written for radio, but was staged and was well-received by the British audiences.

The theme of the 'Speaking Clock' initially suggests a temporal theme, and, sure enough, the theme of time looms large in the play.

However, as suggested by Enani's handling of Pinter's Old Times, the temporal theme in inextricably linked up with that of being as conceived by Heidegger.

Approached from this perspective, the play reveals more influences of Heideggerian philosophy than normally expected.

The German philosopher's interest in the why technology has enslaved human societies in the 20th century now appears to be the central theme.

This is wedded to the idea of hyperreality, introduced by the Postmodernists, which means that life is today dominated by images, icons, and symbols, rather than real things.

Hyperreality describes the grey region between the real and the illusory: and this is what we find in the play.

Frank, the bus-driver, tries to recover his wife's humanity, only to discover that her role as a speaking clock dominates her being.

In the fight between man and machine, the latter prevails.

This philosophic perspective tunes the little comedy into a play with a serious 'topic'.