The Dionysiac Rupture in Equus: A Nietzschean Perspective on Peter Shaffer’s Modern Tragedy

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, and that the clash between the two forces leads to tragedy. 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.