Plato's 'Love' in Stoppard's

The Symposium, by Plato and Arcadia by Tom Stoppard are two novels that deal with the meaning of the word love and the expressions and actions that are brought on as results of it. Plato delivers a number of perspectives on love in his novel. Different characters at a dinner party give their perspectives about the definition of love. The definition seems to become closer to the truth as more characters take their turn to …

…s Symposium, allows the reader to understand the many definitions of love. In his play, Stoppard uses these themes, and definitions, to create relationships between different characters. All of the relationships are different, in the same way that each guest at the dinner party has a different definition of the word Love. Some of these relationships are for solely sex and gratification, while others show an attempt to become virtuous by learning from a lover.