In the play “Equus”, written by Peter Shaffer, a guy named Alan creates his own god and worships it passionately. Dysart a psychiatrist who lives a life without worship and commitment becomes fascinated and envious of Alan. By living through the treatment of Alan, Dysart realizes he is able to have passion and commitment in his own life. Peter Shaffer is able to gradually show Dysart’s awakening throughout the play with a sense of excitement, suspense, and climax through Alan Strang’s treatment.
Dysart is a psychiatrist who is tired of his desolate life; he is also unsatisfied with his occupation. He questions the values of spending every day treating the never-ending supply of troubled youths back to a so-called normal life because after treatment ,when they return to a normal life, their life lacks any commitment or worship. Upon receiving Alan Strang’s case Dysart realizes that it is one the strangest cases he has ever dealt with. In the beginning of the treatment with Alan it was a struggle to get Alan to talk about anything, Alan would mockingly reply with songs, however Dysart gets Alan to talk when he introduces a question game. This game consists of both of them asking each other questions that have to be answered wholeheartedly. After playing the game Dysart gains knowledge of Alan’s family background. He learns that Alan grows up with conflicts with religion in his family, because his mother is an ardent Christian while his father on the other hand is an Atheist. His mother read to him every day from the bible and from these daily readings Alan took greater interest toward the more violent aspects. Frank Strang Alan’s Father was concerned with this and destroyed a picture of the crucifixion which Alan later replaced wi...
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...e portrays through Alan acting during the sessions, suspense by showing that when Dysart begins to realize that he has no passion, nothing to worship in life he does not want to fully treat Alan, Shaffer also uses a sense of rebellion in Alan to create a greater sense of suspense. To create a sense of climax, Shaffer prolongs the revealment of why and what actually happened the night of Alan’s crime. At the beginning of the play Dysart was a psychiatrist who was not only unsatisfied with his home life, but also his work life, and through the process of treating of his Patients Alan Strang he was able to come to the realization behind his barren life, and how his life lacked passion, and worship. Through Alan he was able to live, and feel the passion and worship he so desperately desires in life.
Works Cited
Shaffer, Peter. Equus. New York: Scribner, 2005. Print
... to those viewing the performance. The audience must focus their attention of the happenings and the words being portrayed on stage or screen or they will easily miss the double meaning Stoppard intended in each scene of the play. The human motivation is inseparably connected with the theme of life and death that runs through the play, for it is as the two are about to die that they observe that maybe they could have made a different decision, one that would let them remain alive and free they only missed their opportunity to make that choice. Stoppard wanted his play to express more meaning and different messages to his audience but he desired for them to search the play and pay close attention to the different meanings present so they could gain the most possible from the play and those who did not understand would walk away not understanding how much they missed.
the play. It looks at the person he is and the person he becomes. It
The scenes, which cover thirty years of the characters’ lives from eight to thirty-eight, each revolve around an injury that Doug has acquired through his accident prone life. The play progresses in five year intervals, jumping backwards and forwards, in a nonlinear progression. As they travel and run into each other’s lives, the two characters face new injuries. As the play progresses every five years, a new injury is added to one or both characters. Their lives intersect through these injuries, leading them to compare their wounds, both physical (Doug) and emotional (Kayleen), and drawing them closer together. With each new scene, old injuries and problems may have gotten better or resolved, but some became permanent. Yet, through these experiences, they are bonded together through bloodstains, cuts, and bandages.
... Amanda’s past inside Tom’s memory, removes the audience from the real world to the image and back, adding to the eerie atmosphere of the play.
... of all time, with a protagonist that is plagued with indecision, but spurred by a desire to avenge his father’s death. At the time of the play’s writing, religion was by far the largest influence on the lives of ordinary people, and the protagonist’s defiance of God for most of the play could only end in tragedy.
opinions in Act 1, Scene 2. The aim of this is to build the suspense
...e’s theory relies upon his belief that because there is no creator, human beings have no essence, and so they are “left alone, without excuse” and “born without reason.” He says that people realize this “the moment you lose the illusion of being eternal.” Similarly, White too admits to Black that he has always hated life and that when he realized that religion was just a “guise,” his hatred turned into boredom (138). White’s skepticism about life and God echoes throughout the play and through the suicidal choice that White makes even before the dialogue begins. Comparably, Father Vincent Minceli voices similar concerns about Sartre, concluding that Sartre’s philosophy leads directly to despair and suicide. McCarthy’s comparison of White and Sartre is remarkable, as both are not only atheists, but also convey life’s useless nature through using synonymous phrases.
The pointedness of the play is created through a distinct plot path. The observer is lead through the story, seeing first how greatly Amanda Wingfield influences her children. Secondly, the play-goer notes how Tom Wingfield desperately struggles and writhes emotionally in his role of provider- he wants more than just to be at home, taking care of his all-too-reminiscent mother and emotionally stunted sister. Tom wants to get out from under his mother’s wing; his distinct ambitions prevent him from being comfortable with his station in life. Lastly, Laura struggles inside herself; doing battle against her shyness, Laura begins to unfurl a bit with Jim, but collapses once again after Jim announces his engagement and leaves her, again. Each character struggles and thrashes against their places in life, but none of them achieve true freedom. This plot attests to the fact that true change and freedom can only come through the saving power of God Almighty and Jesus Christ, and by letting go of the past.
Caldwell, Richard S. The origin of the gods : a psychoanalytic study of Greek theogonic myth
One function of Dr. Rank in the play is to foreshadow events to come. Upon Rank's introduction in Act I, the reader is immediately given insight into the conflict Nora will face with Krogstad. Rank provides the reader with minute details into Krogstad's past that will help in understanding his desperate blackmail attempt. The reader can begin to see this in Rank's statement to Nora and Mrs. Linde: "Oh, it's a lawyer, Krogstad, a type you wouldn't know. His character is rotten to the root--but even he began chattering all-importantly about how he had to live" (1574). Rank also foreshadows the change of society that is a constant throughout the play. One can begin to see this foreshadowing in the statement Rank makes about the morally sick being forgiven, "That's the concept that's turning society into a sanatorium" (1574). Through these insights, Dr. Rank provides the reader with an ability to form opinions important to the plot.
intended to help reinforce the importance of God and religion people's lives (Everyman). The play
...r the reader to notice the parallels between them and the differences from everyone else. He also does this so that we can see the contribution it has on the characters. The madness of each individual is not itself realistic, but the idea that death, grievance, and revenge can drive someone to do things that seem to be mad or make them do things out of their nature.
Humans in the past and present have always strived to blend into their societies and uphold the appearance of normalcy. However, in Act I of his play Equus, Peter Shaffer explores normalcy both the upsides and downsides of normalcy. While Doctor Dysart examines the disturbed child of Alan Strang, Dysart reflects on the detrimental side effects of being normal and his own duties as a doctor. In Dysart’s monologue (Shaffer 62), Shaffer utilizes contrasting diction and antithesis between the good and bad sides of normalcy to emphasize Dysart’s conflict between maintaining mediocrity and maintaining individuality in his patients.
The lack of a point of view in this play adds to the lack of sense of the characters and suspension in the play. During this time period of Decadence in France and England the apprehensions of the characters are highly insignificant and conceited. The play in its entirety has a constant satiric tone in order to depict the shallow entanglements the upper society. The Importance of Being Earnest reflects a moral value, especially earnesty, dealing with human’s daily life. One may do whatever possible to reach their goal but, being earnest is a difficult task. Even though one may secretly uphold a falsehood eventually the truth will come to the light. Hence, under any circumstance honesty is always the best policy.
He opens the play with a very exposing account of what life used to be