Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2001. [Vol. 7.] Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 27)

Studies - András Tarnóc: Entropy and Ecstasy: The Dynamics of Human Relationship in Bernard Slade's Same Time Next Year

becomes the same agitated, frustrated person and Doris the identically astonished yet reserved individual as she had been at the beginning of the drama. Thus while George and Doris function in a closed system, they experience a continuous renewal as new information or facts are injected into the story providing additional momentum to the play and to the characters' energy level. The extramarital affair contains entropic elements, including George's guilt, or Doris' rejection of his marriage proposal, but it never reaches the entropy or disintegration stage. In fact it operates as an open system, because communication, metabolism and the exchange of components can be discerned. Contrary to the character's marriage, George and Doris' true identities and hidden personalities are mutually revealed. The characters' personal crises, George's guilt attacks, his impotence, the death of his eldest son, Doris's pregnancy, her personal and psychological awakening provide an endless flow of external stimuli. Furthermore, while George and Doris appear to be the same in their marriages, they are presented as different people in each scene of the affair. Whereas to Helen George comes into view as an insecure, frustrated businessman in search of his true identity, he assumes several selves in the adulterous relationship. He is the guilt-ridden parent, the sexually frustrated individual yearning for romance, the confused father mourning his son, the rebellious artist and the conformist professor. Doris also undergoes personal development from a frustrated housewife to an educated and successful businesswoman. The entropy metaphor's principal function is the expression of a personal crisis. The drama in fact presents two people experiencing personal calamities ranging from sexual, and psychological crises to economic instability. The signs of the crisis include the feeling of entrapment, and the drama indeed offers an escape, but only at the fantasy level. In fact these two people themselves represent closed systems functioning in several closed frameworks. Another issue we have to examine is the reason for the continuation of the affair. While at first one would draw the conclusion, that 67