ipl-logo

Equus By Peter Shaffer

1133 Words5 Pages

“Equus” proves to be a timeless drama that delves into the darkest depths of human life. The concepts of adoration and praise are intimately related in “Equus”. Religious identity is the driving force of Peter Shaffer’s literary work. Throughout the play, Shaffer mulls over religion and the idea of unorthodox exaltation negatively impacting an individual’s morale. Alan creates the character Equus and his horse religion, which parallels Christianity. The biblical allusions in “Equus” employs Shaffer’s theme of unconventional means of worship, corrupting the character Alan Strang, thus causing his frame of mind to be negatively impacted. Peter Shaffer alludes to The Last Supper in this tragedy as well. The Last Supper is Jesus’ last accounted …show more content…

Shaffer uses the horses chains, referred to as the chinkle-chankle, as a representation of this. “Alan: He [does not] like it so late, but he does it for my sake. He bends for me. He stretches forth his neck to get it” (67). The horse subjects himself to Alan by choice, just as Jesus does to his followers. Both are a much stronger force that allow themselves to be controlled by a much weaker entity. Jesus also willingly forgives his followers sins. Alan believes that Equus does the same for him. These characters are a foil of each other. “Dysart: Why is Equus in chains? Alan: For the sins of the world. Dysart: What does he say to you? Alan: ‘I see you’ ‘I will save you’’ (64). Jesus dies for the sins of the world, otherwise known as original sin. Through these scenes Shaffer alludes to the sacrament of confession, the forgiveness of sins and Jesus’ crucifixion. Alan becomes convinced that Equus will save him from his sins and that he understands his prayers, just as Christians believe that Jesus not only dies for their sins, but will come back to judge the living and the dead, saving them once more. Through these scenes Alan’s schizophrenia becomes evident as he truly believes that the horse is talking to him. Alan’s frame of mind is deteriorating the more he praises this

Show More
Related
1492 Words | 6 Pages

The book, “Nothing But The Truth” by AVI follows the story of a ninth-grade student named Philip Malloy. Philip Malloy is generally a good kid who is a great runner. The story starts with Philip working out and getting ready for the track season. He has been working for months for the upcoming season until the track coach, Coach Jamison, has to talk with him. Philip is told that he has a D in his English class which is a failing grade according to their school's handbook.

Read More
497 Words | 2 Pages

The First Decision Reef, the main character in the novel, The First Stone, by Don Aker, makes a bad decision and ultimately has to deal with the consequences. To begin, Reef latches his anger onto a stone and deliberately throws it over an overpass into oncoming traffic. The stone causes a major accident between not one, but several cars and severely injures a teenage girl. Fortunately for Reef, the Judge sentences him to live at North Hills Group Home, and to volunteer at a rehabilitation centre. This punishment changes Reef’s life for the better.

Read More
1374 Words | 6 Pages

The poem “Facing it” by Yusef Komunyakaa is a deep poem that shows the aftereffects of war in modern society. The article called: “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders Among Vietnam Veterans”, by Robinowitz and Walter Penk shows the cultural context we need to understand about soldiers after the Vietnam War. By analyzing the article and the poem together we will discover the full cultural context and meaning behind the poem. The message of the poem is that PTSD is a serious issue that has been ignored for far too long, and now is the time to consider those who fought for us.

Read More
547 Words | 3 Pages

Edward Britton by Gary Crew and Philip Nielsen is a novel that explores a fictional story based on the historical past of Point Puer, the boy’s prison at Port Arthur, Tasmania. The story investigates the lives of two individual teenage boys, who as convicts are suffering the same consequences. However, it's their past, hopes and fears that separate each character from one another. As for one of the boys, Izod Wolfe suffers a very distinct and cruel past. His story is introduced very early as it impacts his character and intentions dramatically.

Read More
1659 Words | 7 Pages

Sometimes individuals get so determined to reach their goal they become lost and find their selves blind to their original desire in the process. Throughout AVI’s nothing but the truth, Philip Malloy and his narrow minded attitude bounces from wanting to be a part of the track team to becoming allies with his homeroom teacher, Miss Narwin. Phil becomes distracted overtime which leads towards him making choices that end up affecting other character’s daily lives. Phil’s hate for Miss Narwin forces him to get kicked out of her class due to him humming which turns into neither Phil nor Miss Narwin being able to attend Harrison high school any longer. Philips regretful decisions ultimately lead to a undeserved loss of a career and a developed well

Read More
938 Words | 4 Pages

In both Complete Maus and Night, there is a clear depiction that times of war unleash chaos on those involved, however, they are able to bring family members closer to one another in search of hope and safety. Throughout both novels, Vladek and Elie show clear acts of perseverance to help their family members in just Auschwitz alone. The acts that took place in Auschwitz are the worst possible things Humans can do to each other; mass-murder. However, during this time Vladek attempts to aid the love of his life, Anja, while Elie makes caring for his father his number 1 priority. It is evident that their actions determine the outcomes of the lives of their family members as well.

Read More
529 Words | 3 Pages

This also reveals how Edwards personifies justice to make the sinner scared and

Read More
672 Words | 3 Pages

In Allan Levine’s article “How a Summer Camp Taught Me What It Means to be Jewish in North America,” Levine highlights his personal experiences of how attending Camp Massad, a Jewish summer camp, positively influenced him growing up as a Jew in North America during the 1960s. Levine wrote this article to educate and reminisce on the importance of Jewish summer camps to Jewish youth and culture. Levine defines and explains jargon specific to individuals who have attended Jewish summer camp to ensure those unfamiliar with the topic understand his points. An example is when Levine explains the meaning of the phrase “Ruach,” meaning spirit, a term familiar to those who have attended Jewish summer camp. Levine draws on personal experiences to convey

Read More
210 Words | 1 Pages

In Jonathan Edward's sermon, "Sinners in the ahands of an Angry God," he strategically utilizes similies, imagery, and analogy to convice his followers into obedience. Jonathan Edward's use of imagery to demonstrate the fury that. god has upon the peoplebecause of their sinful actions. Edward states, "the God that holds you over the pit hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over a fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked," indicating how God views humans as an abominable creation who deserve to rot in hell. This use of imagery allows the reader to vividly imaging how disappointing God was due to the immoral actions of humans.

Read More
1207 Words | 5 Pages

In Nothing But the Truth there is one thing that stood out to me throughout the entire book. The whole book is full of lies. Philip Malloy tells lies about everything and to everyone. He lies to his parents, the principal, and even to a reporter that is interviewing him. Throughout the book we continue to see the lies play out until the very end of the book when Philip finally decides to tell the truth.

Read More
402 Words | 2 Pages

Edwards uses several grim and descriptive similes to show the restraint God shows in holding back his which could be seen as mercy if it’s thought about it in a deep enough manner. This mercy is demonstrated in lines such as, “ I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God 's mere will.” ( Edwards 110) . However God’s wrath is more prominent in the sermon in lines like, “God 's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces: they are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames.” ( Edwards 111).

Read More
896 Words | 4 Pages

They both die because of the evilness that humans possess. They wanted them both dead to prove a point, so they are seen as strong, and mighty, it also boosts their egos. Jesus and Simion both died from a violent, brutal death. As they were both killed the perpetrators all were yelling to kill them. People yelled to crucify Jesus, while the boys chanted kill the beast.

Read More
1274 Words | 6 Pages

In the novel Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth, the main character, Akhenaten, is strongly connected to religion and the main theme of the novel is religion. In the play, Equus, the main character, Alan, is also very connected to his religion. Alan and Akhenaten both let their religious views play such huge roles in their lives, which ultimately leads to their downfalls. While on the surface, the religion of both Akhenaten and Alan have stark contrasts, once digging deeper similarities begin to appear. The religions of the two characters aren’t similar in practice, but in the formulation of the religions, the two characters both project their issues into the foundation of the religion.

Read More
873 Words | 4 Pages

This interpretation of God becomes the reference point for the rest of the sermon. All of the commands and accusations in the sermon rely on Edwards' portrait of God as an angry, all-powerful being that has no obligation to have mercy upon his creations. By convincing his congregation of God's wrathful character, Edwards is then able to convince the congregation that they are in danger of damnation and severe punishment at the hand of this wrathful God. Edwards characterizes God as a being that "abhors" mortal men and "looks upon [them] as worthy of nothing else but to be cast into the fire" (200). Edwards then uses scriptural references to support his claims about the nature of God.

Read More
1253 Words | 6 Pages

In Edward’s eyes, God’s patience will eventually run out, and there would be no more room for mercy and forgiveness. In order for Jonathan Edwards to demonstrate his attitude of God being powerful, he compared the powers of God to the strength of water using a simile. “The wrath of God is like great waters… they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose” (Paragraph 3). The longer he holds his anger in, the stronger God gets. God’s anger will keep building up until he could no longer tolerate it.

Read More

More about Equus By Peter Shaffer

Related Topics

Open Document