Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of English
and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Veronika Stošková

When a Moment of Love Becomes a Crime

of Passion: Equus
A Play by Peter Shaffer
Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A.

2013
 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

……………………………………………..

Author’s signature
 Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my supervisor prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A.

for her kind and helpful guidance. I would also like to thank my partner for his support and patience.
 Table of Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………. 5

2. Theatrical Production of Equus………………………………………….. 7

3. Plot Summary……………………………………………………………...12

4. Cultural and Social Background………………………………………….. 15

4.1. Portrayal of British Society in Equus…………………………….. 20

5. Origins and Meanings of Equus………………………………………….. 25

6. Themes in Equus………………………………………………………….. 27

6.1. Symbol of Worship……………………………………………….. 27

6.2. Religious and Ritualistic Imagery………………………………....29

6.3. Imagery of Ancient Greece……………………………….............. 33

6.4. Normalcy vs. Madness……………………………………………. 37

7. Conclusion………………………………………………………………....39

Works Cited………………………………………………………………. 41

English Abstract…………………………………………………............... 44

Czech Abstract……………………………………………………………. 45
 1. Introduction

Equus is a dramatic work written by English playwright Peter Shaffer in 1973.

Its publication definitely brought an innovative spirit to the contemporary theatre. In

fact, in all its aspects the play may be considered completely against the mainstream in a

sense – Shaffer is not afraid to deal with taboo topics and openly criticize the

provincialism of British society of 1970s. The publication of the play completely

"subverted contemporary notions" (Shapiro) of worship, religion and normalcy, which,

probably as Shaffer wished, forces people to think about it.

The disturbing spirit of the story of Equus aroused in me an extreme curiosity

that led me to read with attention every sentence and word of this particular dramatic

text. The message Shaffer left on every single page of the book inspired me to write this

thesis. The aim is to provide an overall analysis of all the aspects making the story of

Equus so interesting and reveal why the play was so subversive for 1970s British

society.

Each chapter of the thesis will focus on a different topic. The following chapter,

"Theatre Production of Equus", provides the principle motive that led the author to write

the story and introduces the visual aspect of the play, showing its stage and performance

innovation.

Shaffer´s play largely devotes itself to the situation in then contemporary British

society that had to face an abrupt transition from rooted Victorian traditions to the

modern age. The chapter called "Cultural and Social Background" exactly deals with

the issue of the process of transition that started especially in the 1960s. Apart from

general information, it also provides an introduction for the following subchapter

dealing with the portrayal of British society according to Shaffer´s Equus.

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 The sequence of subchapters of the "Main Themes in Equus" in detail analyzes

the motives mentioned in the first paragraph – worship, religion, normalcy and,

additionally, the Ancient mythology that plays an important role in the play. The

purpose of this analysis is not to show how these motives are generally percieved by

society, but on the contrary to show the negative and more extreme side of their own.

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 2. Theatrical Production of Equus

A bare setting and only a few actors remaining on the stage during the whole

performance (Barnes 26). Despite such economy, an enthralling masterpiece is hidden

behind the theatre curtain. A documentation of a crime, a journey into the mind, a

detective story (Barnes 26), thriller or a psychodrama – these all are attributes of a

particular dramatic work. Its title is as simple as the stage – Equus, in Latin meaning a

horse. However, the horse in fact has a very important role in the play – it represents an

object of worship for an adolescent hippophile boy Alan Strang, who is treated by a

child psychiatrist Martin Dysart. In the preface, called "A Note on the Play", Shaffer

comments on how exactly the story of the play came about (Shaffer 11):

One weekend over two years ago, I was driving with a friend through bleak

countryside. We passed a stable. Suddenly, he was reminded by it of an alarming

crime which he had heard about recently at a dinner party in London. He knew

only one horrible detail, and his complete mention of it could barely have lasted

a minute - but it was enough to arouse in me an intense fascination (Shaffer 11).

That alarming crime Shaffer wrote about had been committed several years

before by a "highly disturbed young man" (Shaffer 11) who had blinded several horses

with a metal spike. As the motive of such a dreadful event lacked any coherent

explanation (Shaffer 11), people could not help talking about it and asking why the boy

did it. The public attention the unknown motive attracted inspired Shaffer to find a

comprehensible interpretation. But he never received confirmed details of that story, it

means, he did not know the name of that young man, place of the accident nor time, so

all other incidents and persons are only his own imagination (Shaffer 11). To keep the

story as realistic as possible, despite the real affair mentioned above, he collaborated

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with a child psychiatrist (Shaffer 11) while writing the play but he did not mention his

name in the book.

In the same year of publishing, on July 26, Equus was first presented by the

National Theatre at the Old Vic Theatre in London. Shaffer was well aware of what

pushes people to buy the published text of a new play (Shaffer 9). They simply want to

recall the particular feeling they experienced in the theatre. That catharsis, as the feeling

is generally called, is not composed merely of the dialogues, but the gestures and visual

action (Shaffer 9). Exactly the ability to animate the play with deeply expressive visual

details (Shaffer 9) was the domain of John Dexter. He had already successfuly directed

Shaffer´s previous plays The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Black Comedy (Shaffer 10),

therefore their next cooperation on Equus was more than sure.

Shaffer himself really admired his creative capacities and innovative theatrical

stylisations (Shaffer 9) making the story more compelling, which definitely helped the

play to be received with a great applause, both by the audience and the critics. In a

visual sense, representing an important part of Equus, Dexter was a master of gestures

and economy (Shaffer 9), which was often characterized by simple properties, such as a

plain plank, or effective alternation of clear light and dark (Shaffer 9). The stage

according to Shaffer is described as "a square of wood set on a circle of wood" (Shaffer

13), where the square is designed to resemble a boxing ring (Shaffer 13) creating thus

illusion as if the audience watched "the fight". But it is not the only metaphor – the

description of the stage evokes the idiom "of forcing a square peg to fit into a round

hole" ("Equus by Peter Shaffer: The Difference between Pagan and Christian

Sacrifice?"). In order to place the peg into the round hole, it is necessary to change its

shape and remove a significant part of it. Such process suggests a metaphor of Dysart

shaping and thus removing an important part of Alan´s personality to fit the rules of the

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society ("Equus by Peter Shaffer: The Difference between Pagan and Christian

Sacrifice?").

Aesthetically, Dexter was influenced mainly by the so called Noh Drama, a

traditional Japanese theatrical form, and by a non-Aristotelian drama originally created

by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht (Shaffer 9). Generally, Noh drama is based

especially on men actors wearing special masks to play both male and female roles.

With one particular mask it is possible to express a variety of emotions depending on

the angle in which the actor turns it towards the audience ("Noh Theatre"). In Equus, the

idea of using masks is slightly upgraded – actors wear them to perform horses. Shaffer

had a clear view of how these masks of horsedom should look like - he described them

as special constructions made of silver wires and leather (Shaffer 17). Besides, he

elaborated quite detailed rules for actors how to act in playing these horses in order to

give the whole performance a more realistic expression:

The actors should never croach on all fours, or even bend forward. They must

always stand up upright, as if the body of the horse extended invisibly behind

them. Animal effect must be created entirely mimetically, through the use of

legs, knees, neck, face, and the turn of the head which can move the mask above

it through all the gestures of equine wariness and pride. Great care must also be

taken that the masks are put on before the audience with very precise timing –

the actors watching each other, so that the masking has an exact and ceremonial

effect (Shaffer 17).

As for the non-aristotelian drama, or epic drama as it is often called, its title

suggests some clash with classical dramatic structure proposed by Aristotle in his

Poetics ("Theory of Tragedy"). According to Aristotle, the dramatic work, no matter if

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it is tragedy or comedy, should follow three unities – the unity of time, place and action.

In fact, Equus breaks all of them. The play contains numerous flashbacks providing a

glimpse into the past and the plot does not follow only one particular character. It is

more focused on every individual character rather than a single hero. The story is

therefore a net of several plots shading into each other.

For its success in Britain, the profound story of Equus soon started to excite the

theatres abroad. A year after the first performance in London, in 1974, the play had its

American premiere on famous Broadway, at the Plymouth Theatre (Gans). And

Shaffer´s success even continued. In 1975 Equus won the prestigious Tony Award for

the best play (Gans) and two years later it was brought to the screen by the director

Sidney Lumet (Ebert).

Out of the original cast from the London premiere, the most outstanding actor

was Peter Firth with his perfectly natural performormance of Alan Strang (Shaffer 19).

According to Shaffer, he left the audience "sighing with admiration" (Shaffer 10). His

performance was so convincing that he, as the only original actor, was offered to play

the role of Alan again on Broadway, where famous Anthony Hopkins became his actor

colleague. His performance of the psychiatrist Martin Dysart was probably the

"stepping stone" for his future series of film roles in the thrilogy about the psychiatrist

Hannibal Lecter.

After the premiere, the "wave" of theatre reviews, both positive and negative,

came to newspapers. The New York Times for instance wrote about Equus as a new

popular success (Barnes) and of course about unforgettable Peter Firth as a newly

emerged star with the makings of a great actor (Barnes). Firth indeed seemed to be born

for the role of Alan – in 1977 he even starred in the film version of Equus. On the

contrary, some of the reviewers saw Equus as too disturbing and repugnant (Meyer 23).

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For instance, T. E. Kalem accused Shaffer of blinding the audience to "his exaltation of

deranged violence as religious passion" (Meyer 23).

However, the present day revivals of Shaffer´s Equus are associated especially

with the performance of Daniel Radcliff as Alan Strang (Billington). The representative

of the role of the psychiatrist Martin Dysart, Richard Griffiths, unfortunately died this

year. Both actors were known especially from the series of films about the wizard Harry

Potter.

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 3. Plot Summary

Equus is an open-ended play consisting of two acts and thirty-five scenes in

total. Each act represents two different poles – the first act describes the establishment

of the passion while the second shows its destruction. The time of the play is present,

however, it includes also flashbacks and backward actions showing what happened in

the past.

The story is constructed around Alan Strang´s treatment in Rokeby Psychiatric

Hospital in Southern England. Alan is a 17-year-old boy from an English middle-class

family in which, especially for his mother Dora Strang, religion plays a very important

role. Dora educates her son to piety by reading him the Bible and Christ´s genealogy

every night, which is the most frequent object of struggle with her atheist husband

Frank. Dora´s religious teaching makes Alan so much obsessed by religion that he

himself bought and then hung a picture of Jesus Christ on the wall at his bed, showing

the Lord on his way to Calvary loaded down with chains (Shaffer 51).

As a child, Alan saw and then rode the first horse in his life on the beach. After

such an immense experience, he started to be completely fascinated by these animals.

His mother read him stories about horses and together they watched Western films

"without his father´s knowledge" (Shaffer 37) because he strictly rejected the existence

of television. Moreover, it was his mother who told him about the word "Equus"

(Shaffer 37).

In adolescence, the mother´s words become confusing for Alan, especially the

words saying that the "rider and a horse was one body" (Equus 36) and he replaces the

picture of Jesus with a picture of a horse with penetrating eyes staring straight at him.

From then, Alan starts to be extremely fascinated by the portrait, which even leads to an

ecstatic worship, later being the only thing dictating his life. But his obsession even

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seems to go to extremes, when he interchanges Jesus with a spirit called Equus as his

God, which detachs him completely from normal life.

To be more close to his beloved horses, he starts to work in local stables as a

stable boy calling it "the temple" (Journey). His obsession then develops into a

ritualistic worship. In the night, he comes to the stables. Naked, he rides a particular

horse called Nugget. Before, he puts on his "sandals of majesty" (Shaffer 79) and gives

him a brindle calling it a "chinkle-chankle" (Shaffer 79). After the ride, he touches the

horse all over his body (Shaffer 81) and with the words "take my sins, eat them for my

sake" (Shaffer 82), he feeds him a sugar cube calling the act Equus´ Last supper

(Burke).

After inexplicably stabbing out eyes of six horses with a hoof pike, he is sent to

a psychiatric hospital to be treated by the child psychiatrist with a great reputation,

Martin Dysart, who then tries to clarify his cruel, seemingly motiveless behaviour. He

finds out that what Alan has done is more interesting rather than bad, and becomes

gradually deeply interested in his case. Soon after series of exacting psychoanalytical

treatments and several interviews with Alan´s parents, especially with his mother, he

realizes what the source of his mental disorder is. The diagnosis is simple - Equus

embodies Alan´s sexual frustration. His perception of sexuality and religion is twisted

because of his mother´s strict religious rules. In fact, Equus is his spiritual pleasure.

According to his mother, the bodily pleasure, meaning sex, is a dirty act. After having a

sexual intercourse with Jill, a girl from the stable, he cannot stand the horses watching

him because their eyes are his God´s eyes – Equus is in all horses. and their rattling of

bridles reminds him of Jesus Christ in chains from the picture he had on the wall.

However, Alan is probably not the only protagonist of the story. Along with the

development of his treatment, the psychiatrist´s Martin Dysart´s own life is revealed. He

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is a complete contrast of Alan´s personality – he is passionless and too mundane

(Joyner). The parallelism between them will be discussed in more detail later.

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 4. Cultural and Social Background

To a large extent, Shaffer´s play was based on a real social background of the

1970s Britain. This chapter will focus on a general survey of social and cultural

situation in Britain of the 1960s and the 1970s to provide a base for the following

chapter.

The period when Equus was published was characterized by undergoing several

innovative changes that originally started especially in the 1960s. These changes were

closely associated with the growing force of technology that started at the end of 18th

century (Marwick 110). In the 1960s, the most important technological progress seemed

to be almost completed, which then enabled the shaping of a modern society. Since

then, the new technologies were radically influencing and dictating every aspect of

social life (Marwick 110). For instance, the development of detergents significantly

helped to improve the level of hygiene in general, and also new methods of preserving

food by freezing and drying, instead of traditional canning, appeared.

Innovations immediately affected also the industrial sphere of the country. A lot

of companies and factories went through important re-developments and new were

established. The electrical industry produced more efficient electric appliances of all

kinds (Marwick 111), and also the chemicals industry started to produce new plastics,

especially laminate and laminated surfaces (Marwick 111). However, the most

significant was the gradual replacement of heavy industry with modern technological

industry (Marwick 112). For British economy, suffering from a recurrent crisis

(Marwick 110), these innovations were definitely more than beneficial. The demand of

the newly established factories for workers brought new working opportunities. But not

only for men - a high proportion of women, greater than at any time since the war, went

out to work (Marwick 112) and thus showed their personal and financial independence

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on their husbands, which was one of the first signs of emancipation. Moreover,

especially in the 1960s new feminist movements longing for women´s liberation and

equality between men and women were formed. Later on in the 1970s, Germaine

Greer´s The Female Eunuch became some kind of a manifesto strongly influencing the

contemporary feminist movement in Britain (Marwick 150). Nevertheless, not all

women seemed to be satisfied with the new social model. For instance, regarding the

role of women in contemporary British society, Margaret Drabble in the 1960s declared:

"I´d rather be at the end of a dying tradition, which I admire, than at the beginning of a

tradition which I deplore" (Marwick 137).

While prices of some sorts of goods, especially products of new technologies

were steadilly falling, the average weekly earnings were increasing (Marwick 114).

Compared to the 1950s, when the average weekly wage of a man over 21 was 8,30

pounds, in the 1960s the figure almost doubled. And by the end of the 1960s, it was

about 88 per cent more, and the average salary of a middle-class employee was even

about 127 per cent higher. Along with earnings, the prestige of work itself grew up -

people realized that it is in fact the most important thing filling the time between birth

and death (Marwick 115). Work was not only a financial source to support the family,

now it was the activity establishing personal identity and pride (Marwick 115). People

aspired to higher positions, which for instance enabled the promotion from the working-

class to the middle-class.

The increase of average earnings definitely helped to improve all aspects of

living standards, especially of the working-class. More people could afford to buy a car,

which was then also profitable for the car industries. The expansion in car ownership

had already started in the 1950s, but in the following decade it rapidly accelerated

(Marwick 118). Subsequently, it helped to develop the infrastructure of the country.

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 As a result of growing competition, the necessity to build up the demand for the

new technologies and new sorts of goods (Marwick 111) created a new phenomenon of

a modern age. For newly established companies, the best way to reach success was

through advertisements in the media, especially television. Between 1960s and 1970s

the popularity of television was rapidly increasing. Compared to the situation in the

1950s when owning a television set was a rarity, in the beginning of the 1970s about 91

per cent of families in Britain already had one (Marwick 117).

On the contrary, some of the modern developments brought even many negative

effects – the new production techniques, which originally should have helped to bring

down the prices of goods, in fact created an embryo for the future massive consumer

society (Marwick 110). The small traditional shops were "swallowed" by cheaper chains

of self-service stores – supermarkets (Marwick 114). And also the landscape, both rural

and urban, went through several noticeable changes (Marwick 110) which could be

called an "enviromental vandalism" (Marwick 118). Moreover, job vacancies in newly

established factories attracted a huge proportion of immigrants from poor

Commonwealth countries, especially from India or Pakistan (Marwick 163). Almost a

third of them were concentrated in London and later also in Bradford (Marwick 163).

The problem was in potential overcrowding of the immigrants from different countries

that would lead to race riots or racial frictions (Marwick 163). In 1958 the problem

became reality – in Notting Hill in West London, a violent riot between West Indians

and local whites broke out (Marwick 163). On the other hand, the immigrants

represented a valuable contribution to the British economy (Marwick 164) – they were

willing to accept low-paid jobs (Marwick 164).

The arrival of the modern age soon started to be reflected also on the social

scale. In the 1950s, a group of authors calling themselves "the angry young men" started

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to publish books showing their dissaffection with traditional British society, especially

the stereotypical labelling of lower classes. The authors were, in most cases, from the

lower-class background, and so were the protagonists of their books as well. The most

outstanding of the leading figures of the stream was definitely John Osborne, whose

play Look Back in Anger from 1956 became some kind of a manifesto of the stream.

The following decade, in the 1960s, the situation slightly changed and the borders

between classes seemed to be gradually disappearing (Marwick 154). And of course

these stereotypical perceptions of the working-class, such as a typical dialect, as well

(Marwick 124).

All of the changes mentioned were gradually moving the British society far from

the traditional Victorian model. One of the first series of decline of Victorian era was

the increase of drug consumption in the 1960s, especially of the amphetamines and

newly invented LSD (Marwick 142). Also the availability and use of marijuana

increased, and soon it became the most widespread drug amongst the youth. Probably, it

was because of the influence of the hippie drug culture of the US that spread almost all

over the world. On the contrary in the 1950s, all drug users were registered and even

could receive the particular drug on the National Health Service (Marwick 142). This

system was created to preserve the country from illegal drug trade (Marwick 142).

The parochial Britain suddenly seemed to be completely under the rule of

revolutionary permissiveness removing old restraints established by the previous

evangelic era. The absolute end of Victorianism was now undoubtful. However, this

"flower power" movement definitely introduced also some kind of sexual revolution.

Sex-related issues, such as masturbation or diverse sexual practices were not a taboo

topic anymore, which was evident in increasing demand for newly appeared magazines

with pornographic themes. Generally, sex was seen as a pleasure and not only an

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activity necessary to give birth a child, which was also reflected in marriage. For about

65 per cent of married couples (Marwick 169) sexual love became one of the most

important things strengthening their relationship. Even the attitude to pre-marital sex

was more liberal. The interviews regarding the issue of the pre-marital sex presented in

professor Marwick´s sociological survey of British society are clearly showing the clash

between modern and traditional thinking - a young girl being raised up in the traditional

background believed that she should have waited with sex until marriage, while a young

boy influenced by modern views simply remarked: "If it comes along, you don´t turn it

down" (Marwick 170). Nevertheless, probably because of the revolutionary conceptions

of liberalism, the number of divorces between years 1961 and 1971 greatly increased,

although it was not an evidence of decline of popularity of marriage (Marwick 168).

Moreover, even homosexuals did not have to hide their orientation thanks to abolition

of the Sexual Offences Act in 1967 (Marwick 148). This legal measure allowed

persecuting homosexuals because a sexual act between two adults of the same sex was

seen as a crime (Marwick 148).

In 1967, another revolution came – the Abortion Act (Marwick 147), which was

completely against the provincialism of Victorian era. To avoid abusing of the new

legislation, the abortion was permitted only if it was medically or psychologically

necessary (Marwick 147). Moreover, a woman applying for abortion had to be first

registered on a waiting-list (Marwick 148).

To avoid possible expansion of abortions, it was necessary to develop some

effective birth control. A leading medical historian Dr. Himes called the 1960s as "The

Era of the Pill" (Marwick 113), when the newly developed hormonal contraception

started to be widely used in Britain (Marwick 113). However, the first intra-uterine

contraceptive methods appeared already in the 1930s but the side-effects were in fact

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quite disastrous (Marwick 113). Even the price was not very favourable because the

scientist were still lacking a cheap source of synthetic progesterone-like steroids

(Marwick 113). In the 1940s, American biologist C. L. Markert discovered rich sources

of steroids in certain plants, particularly the Mexican yam (Marwick 113), which then

enabled to produce cheaper and more gentle birth control method without negative side-

effects. Finally in 1954, an American biologist G. G. Pincus successfully presented the

new hormonal oral contraception based on combination of oestrogen and gestagen in

Puerto Rico (Marwick 113).

However, older generations still lived in the shadow of Victorian faith (Marwick

151) unable to accept the arrival of a modern age breaking all the traditional views they

were used to. On the contrary, the young generations seemed to be fascinated by the

modern concept of liberal, open and tolerant society, affecting all aspects of life.

Unfortunately, the different attitudes had intensified the social gap between these two

generations, which even led to hostility to the authority of the young(Marwick 145).

4.1. Portrayal of British Society in Equus

This chapter will depict some of the most radical moments in contemporary

British society as they are portrayed in Shaffer´s Equus. From the perspective of a

traditional family, the Strangs, the play reveals the difficulties the society generally had

in accepting the innovations described in the previous chapter, especially the sudden

transition from Victorianism to the newly integrating social model calling for equality

and liberalism.

For affluent higher social classes the concept of equality was the end of dictating

what is and what is not acceptable for the whole society (Joyner). Despite, some people

still felt the allegiance to a particular social class and were not willing to give up this

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class division of society. Shaffer did not omit to make reference to unequality of social

classes rooted in Victorianism. Dora and Frank Strang are of different social

backgrounds, which makes a visible tension between them. Especially for Dora it is

difficult to reconcile with her husband´s working-class origin. She, being of a middle-

class origin, still cannot get rid of the feeling that she married beneath her (Shaffer 38).

However, Dora and Frank are real examples of traditional Victorian values

characterized by strong emphasis on the importance of family and religion. Their son

Alan was already born to a modern society, which symbolizes the birth of a new age.

The parents then have to face an important question - according to what values to bring

up the child? The traditional ideology seemed to be in absolute decline at that time.

Shaffer wanted to point to the dilemma numerous British families had to struggle with.

In fact, older generations of parents had been brought up according to Victorian

traditions and the new social model was something absolutely uknown for them.

However, the influence of modern thoughts was inevitable. Worse, if the child was then

brought up in some kind of mixture of Victorian and modern values, as in the case of

the Strangs. They are said to respect the Victorian values but besides, they

unconsciously accept some of the modern points of view, however, each in a different

way. Consequently, their contrasting priorities create a constant fight of power between

them, which leads to the inability to seriously agree on a joined approach to the

upbringing of their child. For instance, the religious mother wants to raise her child also

to piety, while for the atheist father it is an invincible problem; on the contrary, the

father forbids his son to watch television, calling it "a dangerous drug full of violence

causing stupidity and taking concentration away" (Shaffer 32), while for the mother,

watching television is something everyone does (Shaffer 33), and so her son can do it

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when the father is not at home. Their son Alan, or children in general, being brought up

in such an ambiguous background may then start to feel some personal inner chaos.

The most visible conflict between Victorian values and liberal society Shaffer

provides in Equus is especially Dora´s inability to accept new sexual mores. For her,

"sex is not just a biological matter, but spiritual as well" (Shaffer 40), which suggests a

strong religious subtext. She tries to pass her ideas on Alan so that he did not find out

what is sex "through magazines and dirty books" (Shaffer 40). Here, Shaffer alludes to

the pornographic magazines that appeared as a result of the "sexual revolution", which

was still unacceptable for traditionally thinking generations.

Dora´s obssesive religious teaching forbidding sex as a purely bodily pleasure

unconsciously leads to sexual repression of Alan. The accumulating confusion of the

family and social background together with hormonal changes during the adolescence

may negatively influence the child´s mentality and behaviour and consequently result

even in a mental disorder. In order to run away from this personal crisis, Alan creates

his own harmonious world affording him pleasure. In his case it is the presence of

horses.

Alan´s constant running away to the blissful world of horses even developed into

obsession. In general, its form depends on some secret desire, usually something

forbidden. It may be both a thing and a pleasant feeling, such as passion. Alan´s love for

horses together with his sexual frustration develop into sexual obsession and horses

become his object for masturbation. Therefore, apart from being a psychological drama,

in many ways Equus may be even seen as some kind of a "passion play" dealing with

the consequences when passion becomes one´s object of desire (Phillips).

Although Shaffer´s masterpiece primarily shows the problematic adaptation of

traditional generations to the newly established liberalism mentioned above, it is not

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possible to overlook references to other most important changes that were affecting

British society from the 1960s. It was especially the increasing popularity of television

and advertisements shown in Alan´s singing of tunes from TV commercials: "Double

your pleasure, double your fun with Doublemint, Doublemint, Doublemint gum"

(Shaffer 26); and also the increasing prestige of working positions obvious in Frank

Strang´s longing for some self-improvement in his job (Shaffer 33).

However, the topic of the origin of mental insanity as Shaffer presents in his

work perfectly depicts the main point of the so called nature and nurture discussion. In

fact, it is a dilemma of the 20th century, whether an individual is only a product of his

genes, or a product of environment and society he lives in (Paris IX), and how these two

factors interact with each other. However, this debate caused a lot of controversy that

has divided the psychiatrists into two camps – the biological and the psychological. The

older generation, insisting on a strongly biological paradigm established in the early

19th century, was not able to accept the new modern stream (Paris 4). The necessity of a

new theory appeared as a result of the failure in identifying the biological abnormalities

in psychotic patients (Paris 4), and secondly the inability to provide a purely medical

model to explain these abnormalities (Paris 4). In the end of the 19th century, the

younger generation of psychiatrists, calling themselves the antipsychiatrists, was

searching for a new innovative attitude to the treatment of a patient via psychotherapy,

or psychoanalysis, and the so called "talking cure", rather than medical one. Moreover,

together with such a new attitude, the modern opinions dealing with the origins of

mental disorders appeared. Now, it was not only the biological predisposition, but also

the environment and events in the patient´s life (Paris 8) affecting his personality and

mentality that played the crucial role.

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 One of the leading figures of the stream of antipsychiatry in Britain was a

renowned Scottish psychiatrist Ronald David Laing. In the 1970s, he published several

studies on the origin of mental insanity, and studies on personal relations in situations of

extremity, meaning those of ordinary life (Laing). Moreover, Laing´s studies on mental

illness strongly influenced Shaffer in writing Equus. He shared with Laing the idea of

people never being born with some embryo of mental disorder. On the contrary, it is

society playing the main role of the creator of insanity.

Shaffer was well aware of the newly appeared dillema of the origin of mental

insanity and clearly portrayed it in Equus. Dora Strang represents the more traditional

biological point of view while Martin Dysart is the representative of the modern

psychological attitude. Dora absolutely denies her and her husband´s fault in the

development of mental disorder in their child: "Alan is himself. Every soul is itself. If

you added up everything we ever did to him, from his first day on earth to this, you

wouldn´t find why he did this terrible thing – because that´s him" (Shaffer 90). On the

contrary, Martin Dysart, who may be partially considered Laing himself, is a typical

"antipsychiatrist". He treats his patients via psychoanalysis and, moreover, almost from

the very beginning of the story he feels Alan´s crime was a result of complicated family

background.

- 24 -
 5. Origins and meanings of Equus

Horses undoubtedly rank among the most powerful images of human culture

(Joyner). In fact, it was a horse that was often portrayed by prehistoric peoples on the

walls of caves, and in the past periods it was again a horse playing a significant role in

transportation, work and war (Joyner).

In Latin, the horse was called "Equus", and also today the zoologists use this

word as a technical term for naming a genus of horses, donkeys and zebras. But the first

mentions of the word Equus, or a horse in general, in literature in the context of

divinity, had appeared even earlier in the centuries before Christ, concretely in Greek

and Roman mythology. His name was Pégasos, in Latin called Equus Pegasus,

described as a divine winged stallion and born as the son of God Poseidon and Gorgon

Medusa ("Ancient Greek Theatre"). For mankind, it was the clear evidence that the

Gods themselves selected a horse to be a Godhead figure. To follow their will, horses

soon became objects of celebration, worship and started to represent certain symbols.

For instance, they were often described as the embodiment of wealth, nobility, strenght

and even threat ("Horses in the Bible"), like later, the famous Biblical Four Horsemen

of the Apocalypse or the legendary majestic Trojan horse.

Concerning the Bible, many modern publications claim that the Word of God,

apart from being a Christian doctrine, provides also an interesting glimpse of people´s

habits, including a historical background of a particular period. On the other hand, there

are also several negative opinions about Biblical stories being only rewritings of

Ancient myths ("5 Bible Stories Ripped Off From Greek Mythology"). Apart from

resemblances in the creation of the world, the literary scholars often compare Dionysus

with Jesus Christ ("5 Bible Stories Ripped Off From Greek Mythology"). Both of them

were born as sons of God and a mortal virgin mother, and even died and then, three

- 25 -
days later, were resurrected ("5 Bible Stories Ripped Off From Greek Mythology").

Moreover, to be honored, they created a ritual for men that involved eating and drinking

food symbolising their body and blood ("5 Bible Stories Ripped Off From Greek

Mythology").

This fact does not have to be necessarily applicable only to Biblical people, but

even to animals. In the 39th chapter of the Book of Job from the Old Testament of a

Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate, appears a mention of a horse called

"Rinoceros". In the English King James Version, the horse´s name is translated as "the

Unicorn" and according to his description, the same as Shaffer used in Equus, this

Biblical horse could be called the Horse of horses, which quite precisely resembles

Greek Pegasus:

Hast thou given the horse strength; Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?

Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory of his nostrils is

terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: He goeth on to

meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; Neither turneth

he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, The glittering spear and

the shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage (Shaffer 36).

Moreover, the horse worship gave rise to a mythological creature called centaur

with half-human and half-horse body (Joyner). Its physical appearance suggests that

people in fact envied horses their grace and majesty so much that they wanted to be a

part of it. In fact, Alan Strang also longs for becoming the "centaur" when he wants to

blend in one person with a horse: "I want to be in you! I want to be you forever and

ever! Make us one person!" (Shaffer 85).

- 26 -
 6. Themes in Equus

Equus is a play full of different themes and motives. Some of them are visible

almost from the very first page, such as religion or worship, but on the contrary, some

of them are hidden and it is necessary to search for them between lines. But the question

is what is the main theme? And is there really any? This chapter will separately analyze

these motives in order to find the adequate answers for the questions.

6.1. Symbol of Worship

The origins of worship are narrowly associated with the first primitive

manifestations of religion in the Stone Age (Sheedy). However, these first

manifestations were not spiritually advanced because the primitive human mind was not

capable of explaining the complexity of life. The first objects of worship were usually

those of natural substance, such as stones or fire. Along with the development of human

thinking, the objects of worship were developing as well. The inanimate items were

replaced by the living beings, such as animals or people, especially women as symbols

of fertility, which later provided an important basis for the creation of worship of

something more supernatural – God (Sheedy).

Shaffer´s play reveals several different forms of worship. For instance, for

Alan´s mother Dora it is the Christian teaching, while his atheist father´s continuous

striving for self-improvement may be percieved as some kind of self-worship in a sense

(Burke). However, the most striking is Alan´s strong worship of the so called Equus, a

spirit living in all horses, which suggests a questions: what exactly is Equus? The only

characteristic of the spirit the audiences and readers learn from the story is the fact that

it is a god living inside all horses. But its appearance is completely unkown. Therefore,

- 27 -
Equus may represent something more abstract – some kind of "god" each individual

conceives in a different way. Actually, this kind of interpretation Shaffer suggests in

one of Dysart´s personal reflections: "The only thing I know for sure is this: a horse´s

head is finally unknowable to me. Yet I handle children´s heads…" (Shaffer 22).

Obviously, the horse´s head is the metaphor for passion or worship. As Dysart is

portrayed as a passionless person, it then makes clear why he states that the horse´s

head is unknowable to him.

The animal worship suggests some kind of return to the past and likewise the

whole play is full of flashbacks revealing prior events, mainly from Ancient times.

Actually, Shaffer was more than enthusiastic about history and after finishing his

studies at St´Pauls School, he received a scholarship for history studies at Trinity

College of Cambridge University ("Peter Shaffer Biography"). Apart from Equus, his

love for the past times is reflected for instance in the plays Amadeus or The Royal Hunt

of the Sun.

In Ancient Egypt, certain animals were believed to be "the homes of spirits"

("Religion in Ancient Egypt: The Gods and Goddesses"), likewise Alan´s Equus.

Therefore, many Egyptian gods were portrayed with animal heads according to the role

and characteristic of that particular animal ("Religion in Ancient Egypt: The Gods and

Goddesses"). For instance, Anubis, the god of the dead, was usually portrayed with the

head of a jackal. Jackals were considered some guardians of deceased souls because

they were often seen in places were Egyptians were buried ("Religion in Ancient Egypt:

The Gods and Goddesses"). Shaffer´s theatrical horse masks in some way resemble

these Ancient gods. The actors should stand upright with the big horse masks on their

heads, which evokes the image of the traditional portrayal of Egyptian gods on the walls

of the pyramids.

- 28 -
 In Ancient Greece animals were usually included in important rituals of

sacrifice. Generally, each form of worship was usually accompanied by some ritual. In

modern age, the ritual does not have to be necessarily associated with religion – it is

also some repeated action (Joyner). The symbolism of both Ancient Greece and

religious rituals represents one of the crucial moments in the story and their importance

will be further analyzed in the next chapter.

6.2. Religious and Ritualistic Imagery

As a juvenile, Shaffer attended St Paul´s School for gifted boys ("Sir Peter

Shaffer") providing an all-round education, including compulsory religious studies

("Religious Studies"). There, he probably received some religious knowledge that he

later applied to writing the story of Equus.

In reaction to the previous chapter, Equus is obviously a strongly religious play

but not in the fully conventional sense (Meyer 28). Shaffer does not show religion

simply as the God worship, but in its extreme form as a detrimental obsession.

Alan is raised in a complicated religious background, where the family life is a

constant fight between atheism and Christianity. The father does not mind admitting

that he is an atheist. He even cannot stand his wife´s religious fervor considering it the

source of all family conflicts:

A boy spends night after night having this stuff read into him: an innocent man

tortured to death – thorns driven into his head – nails into his hands – a spear

jammed through his ribs. It can mark anyone for life, that kind of thing (Shaffer

39).

- 29 -
 "That stuff" Frank Strang mentions is the everyday "ritual" created by his wife

Dora. Instead of the bedtime fairy tales, she used to read to Alan the stories from the

Bible. Unconsciously, she then transmitted her religious enthusiasm to Alan, which

even led him to buy and hung a picture of Jesus Christ in chains on the wall at the bed -

probably the first sign of his "extreme" perception of religion.

At the age of six, Alan experienced his first encounter with a horse called

"Trojan" on the beach (Shaffer 48). Since then, his increasing interest in Biblical horse

figures resulted in the new object of his obsession. Moreover, he wanted his mother "to

read him the same book over and over, all about a horse called "Prince" (Shaffer 35):

My name is Prince, and I´m a Prince among horses! Only my young Master

(Alan having a vision of himself) can ride me! Anyone else – I´ll throw off!

(Shaffer 36).

The subsequent replacement of the picture of Jesus for the picture of a white

horse looking over the gate (Shaffer 35) was then the first evidence of his twisted

religious ritualistic act of worship of the self-created God called Equus:

Behold – I give you Equus, my only begotten son! … He took a piece of string

out of his pocket. Made up into a noose. And put it in his mouth. And then with

his other hand he picked up a coat hanger. A wooden coat hanger and began to

beat himself (Shaffer 59).

Actually, Alan did not create a new form of religion at all. His religion was just

a modification of Christianity, a modification that could be called some kind of pseudo-

Christianity ("Equus by Peter Shaffer: The Difference between Pagan and Christian

Sacrifice?") based on his experience from childhood and his mother´s teaching. Alan´s

- 30 -
God-incarnate Equus possesses all the truths of Jesus´ own – he was born in the straw

(Shaffer 77) and was chained for the sins of the world (Shaffer 76). The origin of Equus

Alan derived from his self-created genealogy starting with the previously mentioned

horse called Prince:

Prince begat Prance. And Prance begat Prankus! And Prankus begat Flankus!

Flankus begat Spankus. And Spankus begat Spunkus the Great, who lived three

score years! … And Legwus begat Neckwus. And Neckwus begat Fleckwus, the

king of Spit. And Fleckwus spoke out of his chinkle-chankle (meaning the

mouse chain)! (Shaffer 58).

To make the last sentence of the passage from the play clear, Alan thought he

could speak to his horse spirit and believed that he wanted to be free of the chains – the

sins of the world (Shaffer 76).

The time of common hormonal changes in adolescence gave Alan´s religion a

strong sexual overtone, which originated from the sexual frustration produced by his

mother. According to her, sex as a bodily pleasure was a dirty act (Shaffer 40). She used

to tell him that "if God willed, he would fall in love one day because his task was to

prepare himself for the most important happening of his life – he might come to know

the higher love" (Shaffer 40). To fulfill mother´s words, keen on getting to know the

spiritual love, he started to work as a groom in the local stables owned by Harry Dalton.

There, he spent several weeks preparing himself and a horse called Nugget, with the

spirit of Equus inside him, for their glorious night ("Take my Sins. Eat them for my

sake…").

As it was mentioned in the previous chapter, each form of worship was usually

accompanied by some ritual. Alan´s and his God´s preparation for that glorious night

- 31 -
was also the ritual of becoming one body, repeated every three weeks (Shaffer 77). The

ritual is full of strong symbolism of Jesus Christ, already discussed above, showing the

undeniable parallel between Equus and Jesus. First, Alan puts on Nugget´s sandals,

calling them the sandals of majesty (Shaffer 79) and gives him a lump of sugar – his

Last Supper (Shaffer 82) Then, he buckles on the bridle calling it "the chinkle-chankle"

(Shaffer 79), suggesting the sound of rattling chains. Finally, naked and without any

saddle, he rides him (Shaffer 79).

Alan unconsciously confuses mother´s words with the words from the Bible

claiming that "the pagans thought horse and rider were one body" (Shaffer 36), which is

the exact nature of Alan´s sacred ritual. Instead of spiritual pleasure, the words suggest

some physical connection between the horse, Nugget, and the rider – Alan. Horses then

become the embodiment of Alan´s sexual desire, in fact the objects for "masturbation":

"With one particular horse, called Nugget, he embraces. The animal digs its sweaty

brow into his cheek, and they stand in the dark for an hour – like a necking couple"

(Shaffer 21).

However, Alan experiences the real physical sexual pleasure with a woman. He

is seduced by Jill Mason, the girl he had met in the stables working for Mr. Dalton as

well. The stables are the holy place for Alan. He even calls them the Temple or the Holy

of Holies (Shaffer 76). After all, his God Equus was born in the straw, suggesting the

place where Jesus Christ was born. Suddenly, for Alan it was as if the Devil came in his

life and seduced him to commit that dirty act, that sin his mother was warning him

against, and even on the sacred ground of his "church" in presence of his God: "He was

there. Through the door. The door was shut, but he was there! He´d seen everything. I

could hear him" (Shaffer 120).

- 32 -
 The "white eyes" of "Equus", burning "like flames" (Shaffer 121), make Alan´s

God the judge of his sin. "Forgive me. I´ll never do it again. I swear…I swear!" (Shaffer

120). But he could see the eyes of Equus "rolling" (Shaffer 120) – he was "jealous"

(Shaffer 121). His never closing eyes would follow him "everywhere, always and

forever" (Shaffer 121): "No more. No more, Equus." Alan takes the metal pick and

gently saying "noble Equus, faithful and true Godslave" (Shaffer 121), he first stabs out

Nugget´s eyes and then other horse´s eyes (Shaffer 121) - because Equus is present in

all horses. "Thou – God – Seest – NOTHING!" (Shaffer 121).

6.3. Imagery of Ancient Greece

Apart from history, as already mentioned above, another one of Shaffer´s

interests was literature, especially drama. Its origins are traced back to Ancient Greece,

where the theatre tradition started with festivals celebrating gods. One of the best-

known festivals was "City Dionysia" honoring, as the title suggests, the god of wine

Dionysus. The songs celebrating his deity were called "dithyrambs", which according to

Aristotle´s Poetics gave rise to the first tragedies ("Ancient Greek Theatre ").

Essentially, the word tragedy is tragic itself. In Greek it means the "goat song", which

probably refers to goats sacrificed to Dionysus before performances ("Ancient Greek

Theatre ").

The Birth of Tragedy, written by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche,

designates two central opposite principles in Greek culture (Kreis) – the Apollonian and

the Dionysian. According to Nietzsche, the true tragedy then must be created by some

kind of tension between them (Kreis) therefore he criticized Euripides for separating the

Dionysian element from the tragedy ("Equus by Peter Shaffer: The Difference between

- 33 -
Pagan and Christian Sacrifice?"). Both Apollo and Dionysus were the Greek gods of

arts and sons of Zeus. In literature, the contrast between these two Titans is used to

describe opposite principles, such as the principles of civilization and nature, order and

chaos or mind and heart. The Apollonian element corresponds to the unique

individuality of a man, his rational thinking and civilized society, while the Dionysian

element is the very opposite ("Apollo vs. Dionysus"). It symbolizes emotions, primal

nature, madness, enthusiasm and ecstasy ("Apollo vs. Dionysus"). Actually, much of the

critical works written on Equus discuss these two tendencies ("Equus by Peter Shaffer:

The Difference between Pagan and Christian Sacrifice?") because Shaffer´s play may be

considered to be constructed on a Greek myth framework ("Equus by Peter Shaffer: The

Difference between Pagan and Christian Sacrifice?"). First of all, the play is definitely a

tragedy – both Martin Dysart and Alan Strang are tragic heroes in a sense. However, the

intellectual gap between them corresponds to the clash between Apollonian and

Dionysian values. Martin Dysart is a renowned psychiatrist, appreciated by the society,

educated and reasonable – he possesses the attributes typical for Apollo. On the

contrary, Alan is ruled by his emotions and his god worship can be called some kind of

ecstatic, which is of Dionysian nature.

However, the mentioned critical references to Ancient Greece are not the only

ones appearing in the play. Another reference is "the chorus". In Greek theatre, the

chorus was a very active part of the theatre consisting of a small group of actors and

representing some collective voice ("Ancient Greek Theatre"). In Equus, it is

represented by the "Equus Noise" (Shaffer 18) illustrating "the presence of Equus the

God" (Shaffer 18). Such as the Greek chorus, it is composed of a small group of actors,

who remain on the stage during the entire performance. Secondly, Greek actors usually

wore masks and sometimes even special robes and shoes (Joyner) - such as Shaffer´s

- 34 -
horses. In some productions of Equus the horse actors also wear "footwear designed to

suggest hooves" (Joyner).

However, the most obvious reference to the Greek mythology and culture is

Dysart´s dreams:

That night, I had this very explicit dream. In it I´m a chief priest in Homeric

Greece. I´m wearing a wide gold mask, all noble and bearded, like the so called

Mask of Agamemnon found at Mycenae. I´m standing by a thick round stone

and holding a sharp knife. In fact, I´m officiating at some immensly important

ritual sacrifice, on which depends the fate of the crops or of a military

expedition. The sacrifice is a herd of children: about five hundred boys and girls

(Shaffer 29).

However, at first sight, Dysart´s dream may seem only as an unimportant

nightmare he has because of being too enthusiastic about reading books on Ancient

Greece, what his wife Margaret hates ("Analysis on Shaffer´s Equus"). But for Dysart,

his books are the place where to run away from his unhappy marriage with the

"domestic monster" as he calls his wife (Shaffer 71).

As Dysart´s psychoanalysis of Alan proceeds, he himself seems to undergo some

kind of psychoanalysis - with Alan as his psychiatrist:

DYSART: It´s my job to ask questions. Yours to answer them.

ALAN: Says who?

DYSART: Says me. Do you dream often?

ALAN: Do you?

DYSART: Look – Alan.

ALAN: I´ll answer if you answer. In turns.

- 35 -
…

DYSART: So. Do you dream often?

ALAN: Yes. Do you?

DYSART: Yes. Do you have a special dream?

ALAN: No. Do you?

DYSART: Yes. What was your dream about last night?

ALAN: Can´t remember. What´s yours about?

DYSART: I said the truth.

ALAN: That is the truth. What´s yours about? The special one?

DYSART: Carving up children (Shaffer 42).

Such continuous mutual interviewing during the whole of Alan´s treatment

reveals Dysart´s subconscious feelings, which consequently causes him some kind of

crisis of his own. In fact, as he "exposes the truths behind Alan´s demons, he finds

himself face-to-face with his own" (Gans). He becomes conscious of that he is living in

unhappy and boring marriage without passion – he is a completely hollow person.

Consequently, the doubts about the sense of his life lead him to hesitate even about his

work – does he really help children to be returned back to normal life, or is he simply a

killer of their souls and their passion?:

The Normal is the good smile in a child´s eyes – all right. It is also the dead stare

in million adults. It both sustains and kills – like a God. It is the Ordinary made

beautiful: it is also the Average made lethal. The Normal is the indispensable,

murderous God of Health, and I am his Priest. My tools are very delicate. My

compassion is honest. I have honestly assisted children in this room. I have

- 36 -
 talked away terrors and relieved many agonies. But also – behind the question –

I have cut from them parts of individuality… (Shaffer 74).

Now, Dysart´s nightmare is more comprehensible and suggests having deeper

and more significant meaning. Actually, it is a transformed picture of his everyday life.

The "chief priest" is a metaphor of him as the leading psychiatrist at hospital, and the

"thick round stone", representing some kind of pagan altar, is in fact the table at his

office. The stone, or his office in reality, is the "place where the sacrifice is the herd of

children", on whose faces he could see Alan´s face (Shaffer 30). Basically, Dysart´s

awareness of this fact is a proof of a crisis of his own, as already discussed, and

suggests some kind of power struggle between Alan´s desire and his intellect.

6.4. Normalcy vs. Madness

This chapter will extend the idea started to be discussed in the previous chapter.

The issue of madness and normalcy was already discussed in the chapter called "The

Portrayal of British Society in Equus". In the play, Shaffer obviously presents his

attitude towards the dilemma of the origin of insanity - Alan´s abnormality is caused by

the background he lives in and he was brought up in, not because of the genetic

predisposition.

The reciprocal psychoanalysis reveals Dysart´s crisis of his mind, as mentioned

in the previous chapter. He seems to envy Alan´s passion because it is something he has

never experienced in his life and "he feels guilty for taking away the part of Alan that

makes him a totally distinct individual" (Shapiro):

He´ll be delivered from madness. What then? He´ll feel himself acceptable!

What then? Do you think feelings like his can be simply re-attached, like

- 37 -
 plasters? Stuck on to other objects we select? Look at him! My desire might be

to make this boy an ardent husband – a caring citizen – a worshipper of abstract

and unifying God. My achievement, however, is more likely to make a ghost! ...

Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created (Shaffer

124).

The central aim of the psychiatric treatment of Alan is to remove his passion and

push him back to be "accepted by society", which will definitely make him lose his

sense of life. The question then is who decides what can be considered to be normal or

mad in society? Truthfully, Alan´s crime of blinding horses was definitely completely

against generally percieved "normalcy". On the contrary, he is definitely the only

character in the play not wearing a mask as society demands ("Equus by Peter Shaffer:

The Difference between Pagan and Christian Sacrifice?") – Alan´s parents live in an

unhappy marriage because their traditional values forbid them to divorce. Or Martin

Dysart for instance – he is educated, he has a respectable job. But his life misses some

spiritual element. Moreover, Alan is a religious enthusiast, exactly as his mother – is

this also the sign of her madness?

It seems quite impossible to find an appropriate answer. Generally, it depends on

each individual´s point of view and especially on the moral code established in every

single society.

- 38 -
 7. Conclusion

To sum up, Shaffer´s Equus is based on the large range of motives to be

discussed. It provides the portrayal of the social situation in Britain during the transition

from Victorianism to the modern age that started especially in the 1960s. From the

perspective of the Strangs family it shows, how people were able to deal with such a

radical and unexpected situation. The clash of ideas, both influenced by the Victorian

moral code and modern thinking, between the parents Frank and Dora reveals the

dilemma many older generations of inhabitants had in deciding in which values to bring

up their child. The inappropriate decision may then even cause the mental illness, which

was another great dilemma of the time that divided the psychiatrists into two camps –

the biological and the psychological. The biological attitude was advocating the genetic

predisposition, while the modern psychological attitude saw the social background as

the main creator of insanity. While writing Equus, Shaffer was strongly influenced

especially by the ideas of the Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing, who was one of the

leading figures of the psychological camp of psychiatrists. Shaffer clearly shows, how

the parents are responsible for the behaviour and mentality of their child – if the child is

brought up in extremity, he will definitely in the future continue following what was

established in his childhood.

The large extent of the thesis occupies the analysis of the motives presented in

Equus. Each chapter separately is dedicated to a different motive in order to decide on

the main one. It includes the religious and Ancient Greece imagery, the symbols of

worship and the imaginary border between madness and insanity. At first sight, it may

seem that the play is fully focused on the issue of upbringing or religion for instance.

On the contrary, after deeper analysis it seems quite impossible to emphasize simply

one theme that could be considered the main one. In a sense, all of the motives

- 39 -
appearing in Equus are connected to each other and play an important role. However,

there is one attribute present in all motives and thus joining them together. This attribute

may be called "the clash". Regarding the religion, it is the clash of atheism and

Christianity between Frank and Dora Strang, and even the psychiatrist´s Dysart´s

personal clash of values. Moreover, Alan´s treatment may be seen as some kind of clash

between an individual and society.

To conclude, Shaffer´s Equus is the timeless play – although it was written 40

years ago, its message still seems to be current. For instance, people will always discuss

religion because its potential of fanaticism in fact is the present day problem.

- 40 -
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Shapiro, Eric. "The God of Health and the Destruction of the Individual Spirit in Peter

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 English Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to analyse the dramatic work called Equus written by

English playwright Peter Shaffer in 1973. The real event, when a mentally disturbed

young man inexplicably blinded several horses, inspired Shaffer to create the story that

would make such atrocious act comprehensible for the quite provincial British society

of the 1970s.

The thesis includes the chapter called "Cultural and Social Background"

providing a general characteristic of the social situation in Britain in the 1960s and

1970s. At that time, the society was undergoing several significant changes that

consequently caused both the "death" of deep-rooted Victorian traditions and the arrival

of modern thinking. In Equus, Shaffer portrayed the difficult situation using the family

of the Strangs as an example. In connection to the general characteristic of the society

presented in the chapter mentioned above, the following subchapter called "Portrayal of

British Society in Equus" deals with the situation from the perspective of that particular

family showing their fight with the newly appeared clash of values.

The publication of Equus completely subverted contemporary notions of

religion, god worship and mental insanity. While analyzing the work, the main focus

was put on clarification of individual controversial motives, especially the religious

obsession, repressed sexuality and ecstatic worship of a self-created god of horsedom.

All these factors, causing the mental illness, refer to parents´ influence on their

children´s upbringing, which disproves the genetic predisposition as the main creator of

insanity.

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 Czech Abstract

Předmětem této práce je celková analýza díla Equus britského dramatika Petera

Shaffera z roku 1973. Skutečná událost, kdy psychicky narušený mladík z neznámých

důvodů vypíchnul koním oči, jej inspirovala k vytvoření příběhu, který by tento

pobuřující čin ospravedlnil před poněkud provinčním myšlením tehdejší britské

společnosti.

Součást práce tvoří kapitola zabývající se právě jejím rozborem a

charakteristikou, zejména událostmi v 60. a 70. letech. V této době britská společnost

procházela významnými změnami, které zapříčinily konec zažitých viktoriánských

tradic a nástup moderního životního stylu. Danou situaci Shaffer promítnul i do svého

díla a znázornil ji na rodině Strangových. V návaznosti na obecnou charakteristiku

tehdejší společnosti, se analýzou jejich rodinné situace v době zmíněného rozkolu

hodnot zabývá následující podkapitola.

Publikace dramatu Equus kompletně rozvrátila zažité představy o otázkách

náboženství, uctívání boha a mentálních poruch. Při analýze díla byl kladen velký důraz

na objasnění jednotlivých, mnohdy kontroverzních, motivů. Jedná se zejména o

nábožensky fanatickou výchovu, potlačovanou sexualitu a následné vytvoření vlastní

božské podstaty v podobě koně. Všechny tyto faktory mají za následek mentální

poruchu dítěte a poukazují na vliv výchovy na jeho osobnost a chování, což vyvrací

dlouho zažitý názor na genetickou predispozici jako hlavního viníka.

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