What do the horses represent in Equus?

What do the horses represent in Equus?

The horse is the primary symbol in Equus, and at a glance, it represents everything we might expect a horse to represent: power, freedom, animal desire. Indeed, Alan Strang’s worship of the horse-god Equus emphasizes the pure physicality of the horse.

What are the themes in Equus?

Psychiatry, Repression, and Madness.

Why is Dysart jealous of Alan?

Dysart argues that his pain is his own, and that in fact he is jealous of Alan. He admits that he feels himself to be a hypocrite, by failing to live his life as he wants to. By contrast, although Alan has committed a criminal act, he is also free and living life to the full when he is with the horses.

What happens in Equus?

Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses. Shaffer was inspired to write Equus when he heard of a crime involving a 17-year-old who blinded six horses in a small town in Suffolk.

What do eyes symbolize in Equus?

In Equus, eyes and sight are motif that represent power and judgement and through this motif, the audience can better understand the characters and the reasons behind their actions.

What does the word Equus mean?

horses

Medical Definition of Equus
: a genus of the family Equidae that comprises the horses, asses, zebras, and related recent and extinct mammals.

What happens at the end of Equus?

By the end of the novel, Dysart has fully adopted Alan’s pain as his own, in the way that he has for so many children that came before. He wears the chain in his mouth that Alan loathes, the chain that represents confinement and a loss of freedom.

Why did Alan blind the horses?

Alan, however, ended up in blinding horses as the result of his worship of this deity. Why did Alan blind horses? I found some possible reasons for his blinding horses: his ambivalence to the god, Equus; or the embodiment of his super-ego; or the denial of adult society. I suggest, more importantly, the fear of Eros.

What does Dysart use as a truth drug on Alan?

Dysart tells Hesther that he will give Alan a placebo pill to trick him into divulging everything; he thinks Alan is ready to “abreact”—to express the things he has been repressing, and thus begin to overcome his illness.

What is the climax of Equus?

At the play’s climax, Alan is confused when he finds himself sexually aroused by Jill Mason. He feels great shame as a result both of his “infidelity” in the presence of Equus and his inability to actually have intercourse with Jill.

When was the Equus written?

1973Equus / Date written

Who was in Equus with Daniel Radcliffe?

Daniel Radcliffe made his Broadway debut in the 2008 revival of Equus, costarring another Harry Potter veteran, Richard Griffiths. The revival, directed by Thea Sharrock, transferred from the West End, and attracted much attention for its nude scene, which was performed by a then 17 year-old Radcliffe.

What is a lover of horses called?

hippophile (plural hippophiles) A person who loves horses.

Is zebra a donkey or horse?

However, zebras are no more horses than donkeys are. While zebras, donkeys and horses, all belong to the equine species, they each have distinct characteristics of their own. Zebras and donkeys are more closely related to each other than they are to horses.

What did Alan injure the horses with?

Hesther proceeds to tell Dysart that Alan Strang, age 17, blinded six horses with a hoof-pick one night in a stable where he worked on weekends.

Who is the protagonist in Equus?

Synopsis. Dr. Martin Dysart, a dissatisfied and disaffected psychiatrist, is faced with a unique case when a young man, Alan Strang, is brought to him for treatment. Alan, a passionate and obsessive horse lover, has blinded six horses, to the horror and surprise of his family.

How big was the first horse?

4.2 to 5 hands
During the early Eocene there appeared the first ancestral horse, a hoofed, browsing mammal designated correctly as Hyracotherium but more commonly called Eohippus, the “dawn horse.” Fossils of Eohippus, which have been found in both North America and Europe, show an animal that stood 4.2 to 5 hands (about 42.7 to 50.8 …

What is a female horse called?

mare
form and function. …male horse is called a stallion, the female a mare. A stallion used for breeding is known as a stud. A castrated stallion is commonly called a gelding.

What do you call a girl who rides horses?

horsewoman. noun. a woman who rides horses for pleasure or sport, especially someone who is good at riding.

Can horse and zebra mate?

Horses and zebras can reproduce, and whether the result is a zorse or a hebra depends on the parents. It’s an unusual pairing usually requiring human help. Other zebra hybrids include the zonkey. Properly imprinted, equine hybrids can be trained like other domestic donkeys and horses.

Is a zorse real?

Did you know there are animal hybrids that sound fake, but are, in fact, real? A zorse, aka a cross between a zebra and horse, is really a living creature that walks this Earth. They are the offspring of a zebra stallion and a horse mare with the most defining characteristic of the zebra parent.

What are the 3 types of horses?

All horse breeds are classified into three main groups: heavy horses, light horses, and ponies. Heavy horses are the largest horses, with large bones and thick legs. Some weigh more than 2,000 pounds. Light horses are smaller horses, with small bones and thin legs.

What was the first horse called?

Eohippus
Eohippus, (genus Hyracotherium), also called dawn horse, extinct group of mammals that were the first known horses. They flourished in North America and Europe during the early part of the Eocene Epoch (56 million to 33.9 million years ago).

What is a 2 year old horse called?

Male horses over one year old but haven’t reached two are yearling colts, and females are yearling fillies. After horses turn two, they are called colt (male) or filly (female) until they turn four.

What is the opposite of horse?

What is the opposite of horse?