Equus [Paperback]

Peter Schaffer has successfully captured what goes on behind closed doors between physiatrist and patient for both reader and audience in his play Equus. Developing a storyline around this relationship definitely provides for an interesting experience that the mentally stable wonder about but can never truly understand until they are in need of their own doctor. The fact that Equus is a play adds an extra twist because the reader does not have access to the thoughts of the patient or doctor but rather must imagine how the characters are feeling and thinking. This can produce frighteningly brilliant results for now the reader too is forced to evaluate their own mind based on their interpretation and reaction to the horrific acts that Alan, a young stable-hand and who is the patient, commits as well as the reaction that the doctor, Dsyart, has to Alan's actions and the conclusions about Dysart's own life he draws from them. I found myself asking, Is it okay that I understand why Alan gorged the eyes out of six horses with a steel hoof pick? Why am I not bothered by this gruesome act? These questions are what I think Schaffer was trying to achieve. He was successful in allowing me to understand the mind of a mentally ill patient. He explained enough in the story, gave me enough about poor Alan to be able to understand why he did what he did. He made the actions of a psychopath make sense to a relatively sane person and that is what is frighteningly brilliant.
For anybody interested in this play I would suggest to read it first and then see the production. Having a personal response and relationship with the characters before allowing other people to portray their interpretation I think will render the best results and achieve what Shaffer was getting at.

I didn't know if this play was going to be good or not, after hearing that in a recent stage version of it, Daniel Radcliffe performs a scene in full nudity. After reading it in its entirety, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it! It's very interesting to see the characters delve so deeply into the mind of a troubled boy, but everyone has their story. And Equus definitely delivers in its suspense and psychological trauma.

I was introduced to the title Equus when my high school's winterline played the "Equus Song". The music had a constant tempo with complex and driving rhythms, and a suspenseful melody. The book Equus, written by Peter Shaffer, matched the flow of th music with heavy foreshadowing in the beginning of the book, quickly coming to a climax.

This play was written in the 19720s, inspired by a true story. It was set in a small town, a town where everyone seems to know each other, and "downtown" was only a couple blocks away. The innocent setting soon gives way the the cruel events that are about to take place. The cruelty of Alan's actions is beyond the comprehension of many people in this unsuspecting town. Dalton, the owner of the stables, the place of Alan's crime, asks "Look...why would anyone do that?"

The play opens with a teenage boy stroking a horse, and a psychiatrist, Dysart, observing him. As Dysart watches the boy, his observations quickly turn into questions, which is Dysart's way of expressing his bewilderment at the workings of mankind. Shaffer skillfully integrates this case study with themes related to the dysfunction and cruelty of mankind when it is pushed past its tolerance level for sanity. The play proceeds through the investigation of Alan's crime through interviews and personal narratives. The suspense begins to increase as Alan tells more of his story. Suddenly, Alan breaks and tells Dysart everything. He tells the events of that night in detail, leaving the audience in shock at his sudden snap and stunned into silence at Alan's story. After telling his story, Alan throws a fit, and has to be calmed down by Dysart. At the very end, Dysart is asked to "heal" Alan. But going through this journey with Alan tells him that Alan will never be completely healed. He says, "my desire might be to make this boy an ardent husband, a caring citizen, a worshiper of an abstract and unifying God". (Scene 35, pg. 108) He knows though, that Alan's horrifying act was a desperate reach fro freedom from himself and his mind. Dysart realizes that by trying to "heal" Alan, he would be forcing him back to the realities of the world that we live in, and that he would be "more likely to make a ghost."

I was amazed with the themes of this book; it led me to wonder what would happen to the world in the light of immense emotional pressure. My big question was: What keeps us sane? This book was relatively easy to read, and I finished it in one day. Shaffer's writing keeps the reader engaged, with its constant acceleration to its climax. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone.

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