Equus: Analysis of Major Characters
"Equus" is a play by Peter Shaffer that delves into the complex interplay of belief, mental health, and personal identity through its major characters. Central to the narrative is Martin Dysart, a British psychiatrist grappling with his own existential doubts while trying to understand Alan Strang, a troubled seventeen-year-old boy. Alan's unique religious fervor, centered around horses as deities, stems from a tumultuous family environment, where his devoutly religious mother, Dora, and atheistic father, Frank, impose conflicting values on him. This internal conflict culminates in a violent act against the horses he worships, leading to his psychiatric hospitalization.
Dysart's relationship with Alan raises profound questions about normalcy and the essence of spiritual devotion. Supporting characters like Hesther Salomon advocate for Alan's care, while Jill Mason, who becomes romantically involved with Alan, illustrates the complexities of young love and sexual awakening. The narrative explores themes of repression, the nature of faith, and the psychological consequences of familial expectations, making "Equus" a poignant examination of the human psyche. This compelling character analysis invites audiences to reflect on their own beliefs and the societal pressures that shape individual identities.
Equus: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Peter Shaffer
First published: 1973
Genre: Play
Locale: Great Britain
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The 1970's
Martin Dysart, a British child psychiatrist in his mid-forties. He is suffering doubts about the value of his profession as well as about the worth of his existence. After working with Alan Strang for several weeks and learning about the boy's intense religiosity, Dysart discovers that he envies the boy his passionate ability to worship a deity, even if it is one derived from the boy's imagination. He believes that he can purge Alan of his destructive religious beliefs, but he deeply doubts the beneficence of making the boy normal.
Alan Strang, a part-time employee at an appliance store and at Harry Dalton's stable. At the age of seventeen, he still lives with his parents. Having been torn between his Christian mother's intense religiosity and his father's equally intense atheism, at the age of twelve Alan created his own religion, the gods of which are horses ruled by Equus. Alan is taught for years by his mother that biological sex without spiritual love is sinful and that God's eyes are everywhere and always watching him. When Alan's first sexual experience occurs in Dalton's stable, the temple of Alan's gods, his guilt is so great that he stabs out the eyes of six horses.
Dora Strang, Alan's mother, a housewife married to Frank. In her mid-fifties, she is extremely religious and has devoted years to reading the Bible to Alan and indoctrinating him into Christianity, against her husband's expressed disapproval. Her God is essentially a punitive and unforgiving one, and her faith is based on fear.
Frank Strang, Alan's father, a printer married to Dora. In his mid-fifties, he is an atheist who considers vulgar his wife's religious beliefs, as well as the religious instructions she has imposed on Alan, and he blames these for Alan's blinding of the horses. When Alan was twelve years old, Frank ripped from his son's bedroom wall a picture of the crucified Christ and replaced it with a picture of a horse, from then on the object of Alan's religious faith.
Hesther Salomon, a magistrate in the British legal system. In her mid-forties, she is a friend of Dysart who, troubled by the savagery of Alan's crime against the horses and believing that Dysart is equipped to cure the boy of his mental illness, persuades the court to allow her to place Alan in the psychiatric hospital where Dysart works. It is she who persuades the already overworked doctor to take Alan as a patient. She becomes Dysart's confidante, listening and responding to his personal and professional doubts and complaints.
Jill Mason, an employee at Dalton's stable. In her mid-twenties and living with her mother, Jill learns of Alan's love of horses and is instrumental in getting him a part-time job at the stable. She is physically attracted to Alan, communicates this to the boy one evening, and, after persuading him to go with her to see a pornographic film, attempts to seduce him in the stable. It is on this occasion, after they have taken their clothes off and laid down together in the hay, that Alan hears the horses, his gods, stamping their hooves (in disapproval of his sexual behavior, he believes). He chases Jill away by threatening to stab her with a hoof pick, then turns on the horses with the pick and blinds them.