{"id":165,"date":"2013-04-03T12:04:38","date_gmt":"2013-04-03T20:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/?page_id=165"},"modified":"2013-04-08T14:09:30","modified_gmt":"2013-04-08T22:09:30","slug":"equus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/equus\/","title":{"rendered":"Equus"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h3>\n
\n

“That’s what his stare has been saying to me all this time: ‘At least I galloped \u2014 when did you?'” — psychiatrist Martin Dysart speaking about Alan Strang, Equus<\/p>\n

“[I]t is my opinion that art lost its basic creative drive the moment it was separated from worship<\/em> <\/strong>[emphasis added]”\u00a0— <\/b>film maker Ingmar Bergman<\/p>\n

“Religion is the opium of the people” — Karl Marx, cited in the play by Alan Strang<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/h3>\n

REMINDER: MLA NOTES ON CITING DRAMA<\/h3>\n

In-text MLA citations of a play or dramatic work typically reference the act, scene, and\/or line number rather than the page number. For example:<\/p>\n

(Shaffer act II. scene 12. lines 110-112)<\/p>\n

Editions without line numbering should omit the line numbers.<\/p>\n

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/h3>\n

THE PLAY: READING QUESTIONS<\/h3>\n

“A Note on the Play”<\/h3>\n

Shaffer in this introductory note mentions that the play is inspired by an actual event.\u00a0 Why and how is this significant according to him?<\/p>\n

“The Setting”<\/h3>\n

The instructions for the construction of the stage here are specific and unique.\u00a0 What does it entail?\u00a0 Shaffer adds another specific detail, insisting that “the cast of Equus<\/em> sits on the stage the entire evening. They get up to perform their scenes, and return when they are done to their places around the set” (3).\u00a0\u00a0 What effect do you think this might have on the viewers of the audience? How does this impact the way the play is received?<\/p>\n

“The Horses”<\/h3>\n

Aside from track suits and gloves the actors playing horses wear masks made of wire and leather.\u00a0 If we think of this as a “caging” effect of the person inside of the animal, how might this be significant?<\/p>\n

“The Chorus”<\/h3>\n

This references the notion of the chorus, a mainstay of classical Greek drama — a group of performers apart from the main characters in play that comment on the actions unfolding within the play.\u00a0 This commentary of the classical Greek chorus is typically collective with lines being delivered through song, or simply spoken in unison.\u00a0 How does the chorus here in Equus<\/em> differ?\u00a0 How is it similar?<\/p>\n

Act One, Scene One<\/h3>\n

This act opens with a short speech (soliloquy) from the psychiatrist Martin Dysart.\u00a0 In this speech, how and why does Dysart compare himself to a horse?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Act One, Scene Two<\/h3>\n

Who is Hesther Salomon and what is her relationship to Alan Strang and Dysart?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Act One, Scene Three<\/h3>\n

Here we learn that Alan Strang seems only capable of singing commercial jingles.\u00a0 Is there any element of the story here that might have unfolded differently here had we not been viewing\/reading a play?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Act One, Scene Four<\/h3>\n

What is the overall purpose of the short dialogue in this scene?\u00a0 What does it show us?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Act One, Scene Five<\/h3>\n

Dysart tells us here about a disturbing dream he has had. What exactly makes it so disturbing?\u00a0 How is related to Dysart’s mention of his “doubts” (10) from scene 1? How might Dysart’s feelings about his profession be reflected in his actions in the dream or in his compulsion for “keeping up appearances” for the other priests?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0Works Cited<\/h3>\n

Shaffer, P. Equus<\/em>. 1973. New York: Scribner, 2005. Print.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“That’s what his stare has been saying to me all this time: ‘At least I galloped \u2014 when did you?’” — psychiatrist Martin Dysart speaking about Alan Strang, Equus “[I]t is my opinion that art lost its basic creative drive the moment it was separated from worship [emphasis added]”\u00a0— film maker Ingmar Bergman “Religion is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-165","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gantercourses.net\/spr13engl103\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}