Shipwreck

The Coast of Utopia #2

by Tom Stoppard

Shipwreck is the second part of The Coast of Utopia , Tom Stoppard's long-awaited and monumental trilogy that explores a group of friends who came of age under the Tsarist autocracy of Nicholas I, and for whom the term intelligentsia was coined. Among them are the anarchist Michael Bakunin, who was to challenge Marx for the soul of the masses; Ivan Turgenev, author of some of the most enduring works in Russian literature; the brilliant, erratic young critic Vissarion Belinsky; and Alexander Herzen, a nobleman's son and the first self-proclaimed socialist in Russia, who becomes the main focus of this drama of politics, love, loss, and betrayal. In The Coast of Utopia , Stoppard presents an inspired examination of the struggle between romantic anarchy, utopian idealism, and practical reformation.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Historical Fiction, Theatre, British Literature

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2011

About the author

Sir Tom Stoppard was a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and political freedom, often delving into the deeper philosophical thematics of society. Stoppard has been a playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation. He was knighted for his contribution to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997.

Born in Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a child refugee, fleeing imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946, having spent the previous three years (1943–1946) in a boarding school in Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayas. After being educated at schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire, Stoppard became a journalist, a drama critic and then, in 1960, a playwright.

Stoppard's most prominent plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1966), Jumpers (1972), Travesties (1974), Night and Day (1978), The Real Thing (1982), Arcadia (1993), The Invention of Love (1997), The Coast of Utopia (2002), Rock 'n' Roll (2006) and Leopoldstadt (2020). He wrote the screenplays for Brazil (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Russia House (1990), Billy Bathgate (1991), Shakespeare in Love (1998), Enigma (2001), and Anna Karenina (2012), as well as the HBO limited series Parade's End (2013). He directed the film Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), an adaptation of his own 1966 play, with Gary Oldman and Tim Roth as the leads.

He has received numerous awards and honours including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and five Tony Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 11 in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". It was announced in June 2019 that Stoppard had written a new play, Leopoldstadt, set in the Jewish community of early 20th-century Vienna. The play premiered in January 2020 at Wyndham's Theatre. The play went on to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and later the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play.

Reviews

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second in his Coast of Utopia trilogy, Shipwreck is a tale of the diaspora with the revolutionary idealist Michael Bakunin paired with the more tempered yet complex advocate of freedom, Alexander Herzen. Swirling around these men are other revolutionaries along with their friends, family, lovers and the complications that go along with such a diverse group.
Stoppard tries to hold the characters together as they move through a maze of vignettes. The play, like the first in the trilogy Voyage, is arranged into scenes that are mostly in chronological order moving from place to place as Herzen and Bakunin move throughout Europe. In doing so characters as diverse as Turgenev, Herwegh, Belinsky, and even Karl Marx appear on the scene. Neither Herzen nor Bakunin can return to Russia and one of the funniest scenes occurs when Herzen is in Nice (November 1851) and the Russian Consul brings him an order from Czar Nicholas I that he must return to Russia. The Consul's discomfort and attempts to persuade Herzen to accede to the Czar's request are progressively more and more ridiculous and hilarious.
But as in Shakespearean tragedies the humor is used for comic relief. Philosophy shares the center stage with family tragedy. In Bakunin's case he is following what he sees as the "new religion" of Hegel and the ideal expressed in the phrase "what is real is rational". Herzen seems to provide moderation while Belinsky tilts in various directions before deciding to oppose the Russian reality. The propinquity of friends and family move them in new and disastrous directions as human nature takes its course.
Unlike the dreamlike quality of Voyage, Shipwreck is about the reality of their lives. Instead of finding the utopia they have been dreaming about, they discover that revolutions come with harsh penalties, and not much changes after all. In essence, this play is also about growing up. The characters began in Voyage as young men and women with hopes for the future. Their struggles were those of passionate youths hoping to make a difference. In Shipwreck, they have grown up and are now fighting to put their hopes into action. They learn the hard way that life does not always turn out the way we wish. They must face harsh realities and even death. There is a somewhat manic, frantic pace to many of the scenes in Shipwreck that underscores the characters' desperation as they yearn for political change while striving to hold onto some semblance of normalcy in their personal lives.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Shipwreck, Part II of Tom Stoppard’s monumental The Coast of Utopia trilogy, Stoppard shifts his focus from the Bakunin estate to the exiled Alexander Herzen and his family. Shipwreck continues to juxtapose family life with issues of political and social reform, but in this part youthful idealism, exalted love, and abstract philosophical debates have matured into political action. Herzen is publishing the books that made him famous; Bakunin is imprisoned in Dresden for “plotting the destruction of the Austrian Empire.”
Russian history and culture is still discussed, although most of these dialogues occur outside Russia. Herzen receives a travel permit, relocates his family to Paris, and witnesses the European Revolution. Bakunin, inspired by the uprising, plans to “put Europe in flames.” He believes this is a necessary first step to begin a Russian Revolution. Shipwreck is interesting because readers see Russia from the point of view of exiled Russians. When the Tsar orders Herzen to return to Russia, Herzen refuses. Throughout the play, Herzen often bemoans Russia as a place with no history, a country civilization bypassed. However, because he issues these comments from Paris or Nice, Russia, as a concept, feels somewhat dreamlike and out of context…similar to remembering an ice storm in the middle of a humid summer.
The middle section of a trilogy is the most difficult part to sustain, and in many ways it is the true test of the work’s overall strength. Indeed, the characters in Shipwreck exist at a crossroads, both personal and political, but Stoppard avoids a lagging narrative by mining deeply into his characters’ interior worlds. Shipwreck feels more personal than Voyage, the play’s first part, and Stoppard provides an intimate portrait of Herzen’s familial life. Of particular interest are Herzen’s tender relationship with Kolya, his deaf son, and the issue of idealized love and how it intersects with marital fidelity.
Shipwreck also chronicles the rise of the intelligentsia, the value of peasants, and the question of happiness. As Herzen states at the play’s conclusion: “If we can’t arrange our own happiness, it’s a conceit beyond vulgarity to arrange the happiness of those who come after us.” Shipwreck is a solid base for The Coast of Utopia.

[Rob Gifford]

I think I would make a good failed revolutionary. It seems to mostly involve reading and getting annoyed at your friends

[Selena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely the most difficult of the three plays to read because the wave of hope and youthful ambition that begins to roll out the action of the first play unravels, leaving our main characters as disillusioned ex-patriots, scattered all over Europe, some in forces exile, some imprisoned, some simple unable to bear the thought of going home to a country they love so passionately and yet can't seem to make right.

The conflicts between varying philosophies have taken their tolls on all the main characters in this play, these philosophers who inspired all their hopeful drive in the first one are now just confusion, with so many interpretations and so many variations, there is simply no way to know who to look to for guidance or inspiration anymore. There is also a huge confusion in the simple ideas of family and love. The shipwreck in this case, could really be seen as the complete mental breakdown cause by the sheer magnitude of all these conflicting ideas and the weight of the responsibility of choosing the "right" one that will move society forward.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good first act cannot make up for the unspeakable nightmare of that second act, as Alexander Herzen moves to the center of play and begins talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and talking and wondering why his wife is cheating on him when he should be grateful that she isn't poisoning him.

Pure theatrical torture, the Tom Stoppard way. Inflict it on your worst enemies.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saw the transcendent serial production of the trilogy during consecutive weeks at Lincoln Center (thx G'ma!), while reading the scripts in between shows. Amazing on every level. Not only vintage Stoppard, but an epic career centerpiece.

[Playwright42 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Natalie is one of the best female characters in contemporary theatre. She's smart, unapologetic, and never hides. She knows exactly who she is, and it shows.

[Michael P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the great plays of our time. Read it in the correct order. It is second in Stoppard's trilogy on Russian intellectuals.

[Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part two of Stoppard's epic trilogy about 19th century Russian philosophy, politics and literature. Rapturously received when it was produced, I don't think it ranks with his best work.

[Anna Kravchuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters, each and every one of them are brought alive beautifully, the whole absurdity and naivete and passion and mess of the situation and minds is demonstrated masterfully, but all the time jumps...I usually like them, but I feel like here instead of helping to shape the picture they just confused and distracted me.

[Richard Seltzer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing.
I loved Rosenkrantz and Guilderstern, also the movie Shakespeare in Love.
And this deals with an interesting set of historical figures -- Herzen, Belinski, Bakunin, etc.
But the characters don't come to life. It's simply boring.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This is still so good. I wish I could better articulate my feelings about it, but for now, I cannot.