Obsession Is Death

Obsession is Death

In Peter Shaffer’s play Equus, 17 year-old Alan Shrang is brought to a psychiatric hospital for blinding horses. The psychiatrist, Dysart, attempts to make Alan normal again. Alan believes horses are gods and creates a religious ritual with a horse-god in his behavior. Alan has a bizarre belief that horses, specifically harnessed horses with chains in their mouths, are both slaves and gods. He develops a sexual appetite for horses desiring to pet their thick coats, feel their muscular bodies and smell their sweat. Alan reveals that he blinded the horse because it saw him committing a sin and thus he wanted to blind god from the truth since he viewed horses as godlike creatures. He realizes that god sees all.

Chains symbolize pain. When Alan chains the horse’s mouth, the author is elucidating how self-control and self-restraint is required by society. He feels compassion for the horses because they are locked in by the chains. This chain throughout the story symbolizes the pain Alan sees the horses suffer through, the pain Alan suffers, and the pain. The author shows that humanity is materialistic because it is part of our psychological mindset. Furthermore, family has such an impact on a child. Children can so easily twist around innocent teaching to fit their own innate needs. Alan could have been a normal child. Alan's imagination of the horses as gods is link to his mother’s story about Prince, the story of Bible, and the ideas of sex through God.

Moreover, the author argues throughout the play the ambiguity of normal versus abnormality. Dysart sees Alan as an individual person and this person is someone Dysart admires. Dysart sees how boring his own life is compared to Alan’s and he is jealous of the passion Alan has known. Alan also has a capacity for worship and passion. He has the human need for understanding, compassion, and healing. Although he suffers from