parody in the real inspector hound...by nadiah

Parody is a literary tool often used as a witty yet effective method of invoking humor. It refers to the style of intentionally copying a particular subject thus making the qualities of the original more noticeable in a way that is humorous.

The Real Inspector Hound is a parody of the whodunit titled The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. It makes a travesty of the thriller genre itself. The parody utilized by Stoppard in The Real Inspector Hound provides effective humor of a ridiculous, hilarious and obvious kind.

However parody itself cannot stand alone as an effective method to produce the dramatic effects. It is used in conjunction with the stagecraft, furniture, the props, the choice of characters, the kind of language they used and the thriller’s tendency to convey the much-needed information to the audience blatantly. Stoppard also focuses on producing a complex and intricate comic pattern that will allow plentiful opportunities for parody. This parody of the thriller and the dramatic techniques in a typical whodunit is conveyed through the character of Mrs. Drudge. The use of coincidence to such an unbelievable extent as she turns on the radio at just the right moment to catch an important police message:

“ The phone rings. Mrs. Drudge seems to have been waiting for it to do so…”
Her conversation with the caller then provides, with ridiculous, hilarious obviousness, further information:
“I’m sure it’s leading up to something…Lady Muldoon and her house-guests, are here cut off from the world including Magnus, the wheelchair-ridden half-brother of her ladyship husband Lord Albert Muldoon who ten years ago went out for walk on the cliffs and was never seen again- and all alone, for they had no children…”

The abundance of information offered by Mrs Drudge is absolutely unnecessary and irrelevant. The fact that it was given in response to a wrong number intensifies the comic effects. Her alarm “I’m sure it’s leading up to something” helps to move the play in a direction desired by Stoppard in a superficial manner as there is no gradual building up of tension from accumulation of events. Thus this unjustified over-exaggerated coincidence makes a parody of the usage of coincidence often utilized in thrillers to such a ridiculous extent hence producing the desired comic effects.

The most comical is the method of exposition that is accomplished in old nineteenth-century style through a maid and a newcomer with the aid of a twentieth century radio. The usage of the radio represents the first and the most important source of information for the characters despite it seemingly insignificance. The telephone, on the other hand, causes the first breach of reality when Birdboot answers it later on and displaces his role from audience to actor.

Parody is also directed towards the nature of play itself. There are barely any elements recognizable and familiar by which we can identify the play as a theatrical situation. The Real Inspector Hound is a parody of theater as it goes against the conventions of a theater. One of the most important aspect in a play, which is the boundary between the audience and the character, is blurred thus reality and illusion itself is displaced. Thus there are few theatrical conventions by which the play is performed thus making it difficult for people to discern the qualities by which this play can be called a theatrical situation.

Parody is not only directed at the thriller convention but also the language in which the critics approach it. This is evident in the characters of both Moon and Birdboot. With great satirical complexity, Stoppard pokes fun not only at thrillers but at critics themselves. Stoppard makes light of their affected speech and mannerism, their self-centredness and egoistical nature, their petty pride, personal ambitions and unrelenting attempt to find some assemblage of intellectual depth in a seemingly trivial piece. Moon tries hard to portray himself as a serious and knowledgeable critic through his bombastic words which seem pompous and pretentious.

“ There are moments and I would begrudge it this, when the play, if we can call it that, and I think on balance we can, aligns itself uncompromisingly on the side of life. Je suis, it seems to be saying, ergo sum. But is that enough? I think we are entitled to ask. For what fact is this play concerned with? It is my belief that here we are concerned with what I have referred to elsewhere as the nature of identity. I think we are entitled to ask- and here one is irresistibly reminded of Voltaire’s cry ‘Voila!’ - I think we are entitled to ask- ‘ Where is God?’ (p28)”
His affected and egoistical nature is evident in this speech through the wandering syntax, name-dropping and hypocritical tone of his speech. It makes him seem pompous and makes the audience realises that he is trying too hard and going out of context in commenting the play as whatever he says is just to get an upper hand over Birdboot.

In comparison the parody of Birdboot rests on his womanizing role as a star-maker. He does not exercise professionalism and instead exerts his authority for his own personal gratification. With his eye on one of the actresses, he declares:
“All this would be for nothing were it not for a performance which I consider to be one of the summits in the range of contemporary theatre. In what is possibly the finest Cynthia since the war (p.35)
Birdboot: And should she, as a result, care to meet me over a drink, simply by way of er- thanking me…”The elevated tone is still present but the objective here is simply sexual. He is interested in Cynthia and praises her so with the underlying motive to pursue her for his personal affectations. His unjustified anger at Moon’s comments as his infidelity and superficial devotion to his wife shows him to be a hypocritical character. Through the portrayal of these two critics, Stoppard even contrives a sideswipe at the critics who have tried to analyse the influences on his work.

Thus parody is very much evident in the real Inspector Hound and through its usage Stoppard has succeeded in producing a play that is witty and thought-provoking yet entertaining and humorous as well.


Biblography

Gabbard, Lucina Paquet ,The Stoppard Plays, The Whitson Publishing Company Troy, New York, 1982

Brassel, Tim, Tom Stoppard An Assessment, The Maximilian Press Ltd, 1985

Hu Stephen, Tom Stoppard’s Stagecraft, Peter Lang publishing Inc, New York, 1989

Hayman, Ronald, Tom Stoppard, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, 1982



Done by Nadiah Bte Mohammed Rosley