The Dıonysıac Rupture In Equus: A Nıetzschean Perspectıve On Peter Shaffer’s Modern Tragedy
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Date
2024
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Ankara Üniversitesi
Abstract
This paper aims to explore Peter Shaffer's ritualistic play Equus (1973) by means of
utilising Nietzsche's interpretation of ancient Greek tragedy which is based on the collision
between the Apollonian impulse and the Dionysian impulse. Equus tells the story of Martin
Dysart, a psychiatrist, who struggles to treat a young man, Alan Strang, who has a
mystical fascination with horses and blinds six horses. This study argues that Alan
represents the Dionsyian principle, while Martin embodies the Apollonian principle before
his confrontation with Alan, and that the clash between these forces leads to tragedy in
Martin's life as he comes to realise that he is divided between these two impulses. The
Dionysian impulse is an urge towards obliteration of boundaries, dissolution of individual
selves, excess, intoxication, and ecstatic experience of oneness whereas the Apollonian
impulse gestures toward drawing and maintaining boundaries, individuality, distinction
and discreteness. Alan is a Dionysian character who ecstatically experiences a sense of
oneness with horses through bacchic frenzy. By contrast, Martin is an Apollonian
character who attemtps to give a form to this chaotic force and whose sense of purpose as
a psychiatrist is disrupted by his patient's mystical experience of primordial unity with
horses. As an antagonistic force that shatters Martin's sense of meaning in life, Alan and
his Dionysiac state compel Martin to rethink about his life and his profession. This paper
contends that Martin is the protagonist of this play who, as the embodimentof the modern
subject, experiences the battle between the Dionsyian impulse and the Apollonian impulse
and thus undergoes a tragic moment in his life.