Crime Fiction - Role of Birdboot and Moon (1 Viewer)

[SuperCoolLoz]

Id love some help with the roles of Birdboot and Moon in the Real Inspector Hound. Understanding their superficial role is easy but how do you use these characters to support an argument on conventions and crime fiction?

 

[alika]

moon and birdboot

Moon and birdboot were origionally just people in the auidence but stoppard found that by making them into critics it "gave him something to play with". They are a means of demonstrating the distinctive and almost ludicrous nature of critics at the time. One of the reason that he wrote RIH was he was astonished at the long running stage adoption of the mousetrap and the fact that the british critics included still valued it so highly when there were other pressing matters in society. The language in particular is used as a tool, moon and birdboot for long periods of time misunderstand each other. Stoppard stated that "i use dialogue in my plays as i find it the most effective way in which to contridct myself". Moon and birdboot constantly display this.
Moon:"uneasy lies the head which wears the crown"
Birdboot:"breakfast served in one's room no questions asked.
Moon: "Does puckeridge dream of me?"
Birdboot: (pause) "hello - whats happened"
Moon: "What? oh yes - what do you make of it, so far?" (pg 31)

The critics language is often layered with double meaning and jargon and will cross-communicate for exteneded periods of time without realising it. These rambeings are perhaps an attempt to satarise the precicious language of theatre critics, but it also relates to the absurdist theatre form.

The other thing about them is that stoppard uses them to look at the notion of disguise within crime-fiction.

yeah thats all i can think of at the moment.
good luck with it all

 

[steffo]

Id love some help with the roles of Birdboot and Moon in the Real Inspector Hound. Understanding their superficial role is easy but how do you use these characters to support an argument on conventions and crime fiction?

Stoppard was trying to take the piss out of the role of critics in the time of writing. he didn't really respect their role and position in the theatre- obviously because he was a playwright.

he uses the role of the critic, while making a statement about humanity's irresistable urge to role-play to virtually send himself up:
MOON: ...wihin the austere framework of what is seen to be on one level a country-house weekend...the author has given us-yes i will go so far-he has given us the human condition.

he's also commenting on the rivalry of critics- nonse to Stoppard as a playwright ofcourse, but fascinating to see done in his absurdist style. Birdboot's repulsive infatuation with the actresses also adresses Stoppard's view on theatre crititcs.

they actualise the dangers of wish-fulfilment in the text i think. they enter the tempting stage area, only to become twisted in the bizarre plot and ending up dead.

Thomas Whitaker said something about their roles too:
"Moon and Birdboot try to attain some "presence" or "identity" by means of sheer role-playing. But such attempts, eveident in their reviewer's jargon as their narcissistic daydreams of professional or erotic success, must draw them irresistibly on to a final "absence" or death."

bit of a wank. but HEY its extension 1 english! what else are we here to learn!!