Essay Database

Equus Equus, written by Peter Shaffer, the creator of plays such as Amadeus and The Royal Hunt Of The Sun creates a psychological thriller that probes deep in to the misguided intentions of religion in a boy named Alan Strang. The play does not stop with character development in him though; it also explores the doctor treating him, Martian Dysart, and even Alan’s parents, Dora and Frank. The play opens with several monologues from …

…ecstasy. . . Passion, you see, can be destroyed by a doctor. It cannot be created." This play explores questions about what is Normal and to what extent society will go to normalize people (or to lock them away somewhere if they can't be normalized). The role of the psychiatrist in this process both challenges and depresses Dr. Dysart, who hates the losses such normalization necessarily requires, and finds himself envying the passionate obsessions of his patient.