William Lake
Professor Floridia
June 29, 2018
Final Equus Essay
Sick in the Head
According to Whitaker, Mental illness has been on the rise for decades, and it is
thought that the number of Americans that are currently affected by some form of it has
almost doubled since the year 1987 (23). This is largely due to the fact that what we now
know today in terms of how to recognize and treat different forms of mental illness as
opposed to years prior when research and documented incidences was limited is much
greater. It is because of this lack of information that doctors and medical professionals
alike had trouble diagnosing and treating cases involving severe forms of psychological
problems in earlier years, and many people suffered from lack of proper treatment. In the
play “Equus”, by Peter Shaffer, the parents of a young, mentally ill boy by the name of
Alan Strang are at a loss of how to handle their child’s strange and clearly deranged
behavior as it begins to turn sexual and violent towards animals. The parents turn to a
psychologist by the name of Martin Dysart in hopes of finding a cure to end the madness
that they assure the doctor is plaguing their son. Despite the parents good intentions in
finding help for their child, it is because of events during Alan’s upbringing as well as
their involvement, both negatively and positively, that contributed to his ill state. After
analyzing the main character in Shaffer’s “Equus”, it can be understood that Alan’s
mental illness resulted from a combination of Zoophilia, having an Oedipal relationship
with his parents, and being subject to a damaging amount of religious influence as well as
a repressed childhood.
The development of Alan’s psychological problems resulted in abnormal thought
processes and fixations, which included but was not limited to divergent sexual desires
considered far different than that of what is deemed normal and accepted. Most humans
are born with an innate desire for love and affection shared with that of the opposite sex,
and most importantly the same species. However, it is not to say that some individuals
will not end up finding comfort in taboo sexual relations despite the natural inclinations
of their genetic makeup. Zoophilia is a term used to describe a type of paraphilia
involving a persistent sexual interest of humans in animals, and it is this type of
compulsion that Alan exhibited. Williams and Weinberg argue that this development of
emotional bonds and intimate relations with animals is largely due to predisposing factors
such as adolescent age, male gender, and the availability of animals (1). This is relevant
