Equus is as complex as the human mind. Exploring psychological questions such as what does it mean to be normal‚ and should individuality be sacrificed for the sake of normality? Whilst propelling a mystery‚ crime story‚ and a psychological thriller‚ Peter Shaffer’s Equus examines the minds of a young stable boy who has blinded several horses and the aging psychiatrist asked to "cure" him. But would a "cure" really normalize the teenager? A seventeen year old boy‚ Alan is brought to a psychiatric
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Psychology Mini Paper #3 Nov. 19th‚ 2013 Dr. Kenneth Anich The movie Equus by Peter Shaffer is psychological thriller‚ in which Freudian psychology is vividly portrayed; Self-Defense Mechanisms‚ interpretations of dreams‚ the pleasure principle‚ and death drive (Thanatos). The main character‚ 17-year-old Alan Strang‚ is sent to psychiatrist Martin Dysart‚ after he gouges out the eyes of 6 horses. Throughout the movie‚ Dysart struggles with the possibility of curing Alan‚ stripping him of the zeal
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In Equus‚ Shaffer uses Dysart’s monologue to explore whether it is better to rehabilitate or incarcerate children whom commit crimes‚ while in Border Crossing‚ Barker uses dialogue. Shaffer uses Dysart’s opening monologue to show that while rehabilitation seems more effective than incarceration‚ it can leave people with no worship or imagination. Dysart states that ‘[he’s] officiating at some... ritual sacrifice… the sacrifice is a herd of children‚’ indicating that Dysart knows that although he
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Compare and contrast the ways in which ‘The Crucible’ and Equus’ follow when religious faith turns into religious mania. How far does the two text attempt to present a more positive attitude to a life lived in faith? The plays ‘Equus’ and ‘The Crucible’ both explore the positive aspects of religion and its damaging qualities. The critic Mitchel Hay suggests that ‘The parental‚ adolescent and professional conflicts exhibited by Peter Shaffer’s Equus need not be disruptive. They can be fed into a crucible
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Equus Peter Shaffer Online Information For the online version of BookRags’ Equus Premium Study Guide‚ including complete copyright information‚ please visit: http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-equus/ Copyright Information ©2000-2007 BookRags‚ Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The following sections of this BookRags Premium Study Guide is offprint from Gale’s For Students Series: Presenting Analysis‚ Context‚ and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction‚ Author Biography‚ Plot Summary‚ Characters
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way of praying becomes a fear of a horse spirit named Equus. He ends up with blinding six horses in the stable because of the fact that they have watched him with a girl. Rosefeldt states that Equus is "...inspired by a real-life event of which the author had very little details. Someone told Shaffer about a boy who blinded horses" (Rosefeldt 89). Equus‚ the horse gradually becomes a source of freedom and worship for Alan. As he worships Equus passionately‚ Alan goes away from being ’normal. ’
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Peter Shaffer’s Equus is neither great theatre nor bad psychology‚ but it has elements of both. It is an exhilarating play: a remarkable blend of delayed exposition and theatrical effect‚ of melodrama and circus‚ which has inspired huge ticket sales and adoring critical reviews. And it is that increasingly rare serious drama which capitalizes on lurid events while maintaining a devotion to ‘‘ideas.’’ Yet‚ in spite of its wide popular acclaim‚ Equus is difficult to sort out even when all the clues
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Equus by Peter Shaffer 1973 Royal National Theatre Is Passion a Worthwhile Price to Pay? With its minimalistic set design‚ small cast‚ and a stage with nearly no lighting‚ Peter Shaffer’s play Equus relies heavily on a masterfully written script to spread its message with the audience. The play is “neither great theatre nor bad psychology‚ but it has elements of both” (Witham). With the assistance of the character Martin Dysart‚ a child psychologist‚ the play analyzes the parental‚ religious
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Equus Dysart Analysis In his telling of a dream he had‚ Dysart describes an unusual ritual in which he is responsible for killing young boys and girls and removing their organs so that his assistant priests can analyze them. With amazing surgical skill‚ Dysart manages to cut up child after child‚ feeling sicker with each one. However‚ he tries not to make his nausea flagrant to the other priests‚ for he fears that he will be next to be sacrificed if he is exposed. While trying to maintain a professional
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Equus is a play in which present and past collide and intertwine in spectacular and thematically significant ways. Psychoanalysis (a process of evaluating mental health that was developed by Sigmund Freud) drives the plot forward‚ as the psychiatrist Martin Dysart succeeds in drawing out of Alan Strang a series of repressed memories. His intention is to achieve abreaction‚ which is the discharge of the emotional energy attached to a repressed idea. Theatrically‚ the past events in the plot of Equus are
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