Tom Stoppard's Arcadia is written as a typically postmodern work. He explores this movement throughout the work with the use of characteristics of postmodernism and with its open ending. Some of the key features used throughout Arcadia that demonstrate the postmodern theme include: overlapping characters at the end, shifts in time from the past to the present, parallel characters during both eras, similar sets of props used during both eras, and textual references . Its open ending and satirical style combine to make it a new and fresh work. The work begins with a brief introduction to the student-tutor relationship between the talented young Thomasina and her brilliant teacher Septimus. Stoppard begins by creating tension with Thomasina's declaration of curiosity: "tell me more about the sexual intercourse." Septimus quickly tries to direct Thomasina's attention elsewhere, towards Fermat's theorem. Opposites such as sexual curiosity and aspiring intellect occur numerously throughout the play as Stoppard also contrasts things such as female intuition with male arrogance, free will and ...