Context: Religion in 'Equus'

Equus as a play is wrought with religious lexis and references, and has, by some critics, been seen as an allegory for and parody of Christianity.

Equus as an allegory
- Alan is confused; he has been brought up memorising Biblical passages, mostly related to horses, and has thus confused Christ with Equus.
- This begins with the first time Alan rides a horse, and continues through until his Father takes the painting of Christ from him, eventually replacing it with a face-on photograph of a horse, showing his replacement of conventional religion with the religion he, himself, has created.
- This is demonstrated through his repeated use of biblical lexis when referring to Equus.

Biblical lexis in reference to the "character" of Equus
- Holy of Holies – the stable, his “temple” (spoken by Dysart, but agreed to by Alan)
- Begat – Alan creates a ‘parody’ of traditional Biblical ‘family tree’ – leading, traditionally, to the birth of Christ
- “Behold, I give you Equus, my only begotten son” – evidently, this would traditionally refer to Jesus; as the Nicene (Roman catholic) creed pronounces “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father” -- it seems likely that this is where Alan received these ideas
- “His last supper” – Dysart seemingly misses this reference to the Bible, asking only “last before what?”; however the way Alan uses this phrase shows his contorted understanding of religion
- While with Equus, many of Alan’s other utterances appear to be contortions of the Nicene creed; for example “I want to be you forever and ever” could be derived from “one God, forever and ever”

Sacrifice
Alan’s reference to the “last supper” links in to what some critics see as Alan’s sacrifice of “his Christ”;

- Christ was sacrificed on the cross to “take away the sins of the world”
- When Alan blinds the horses, already seen to be ‘his Gods’, he is doing so to relieve himself of the sins he has committed in their presence
- “The sadomasochistic act covers his need to obliterate his judge and to crucify his Christ.” – Mitchell Hay

Dora's influence

“The Book of Job. Such a noble passage, you know?”
- use of the tag question suggests that Dora believes everyone to know such biblical passages – demonstrating how Alan has such a detailed knowledge of them (enough so to contort them for his own purposes)
- use of the adjective “noble” shows the extent to which Dora believes the passage, and demonstrates the reverence her family had for horses (“we’ve always been a horsey family”)

“Sex is not just a biological matter. It is spiritual as well”
- Dora uses declarative statements here, demonstrating her clarity in her beliefs, and insinuating that she has passed them on to her son as fact. This contorts Alan’s beliefs and can be seen as having eventually lead to his ‘passion’ for horses.

Parental conflict

Dysart: “If there is any conflict over religion, it should be evident on a Sabbath evening”
- use of the more biblical word ‘Sabbath’ as opposed to ‘Sunday’ shows the strength with which Dysart believed Religion to be a cause of tension; everyone knows that Sunday is the Christian “day of rest”, however it tends to be ignored – those who refer to it as the “Sabbath” are more likely to have stronger religious leanings

Relevance
Religion is also a good way to contextualise easily in 'Equus', where genuine historical context is harder to find and easily relate to the text. Biblical lexis and references can show the restraint placed on characters, for example in line with January 2010's question regarding "Hostile Worlds", where religious repression could be seen in this way - where even Alan's God is hostile towards him.

It can also easily fit into the categories of sexual ethics and parental relationships (see "Dora's influence"), and can be added 'casually' in in many circumstances, as Alan's unique understanding of religion makes him truly an individual in society.

Questions? As ever, ask! :)

- HistGrrl x

Context: The Ottoman-Venetian Wars (1570-1573)

"News, lads! Our wars are done:
The desperate tempest hath so banged the Turks
That their designment halts. A noble ship of Venice
Hath seen a grievous wreck and sufference
On the most part of their fleet

- Othello, II.I, lines 20 to 24

The Ottoman-Venetian wars allow us to date Othello precisely, to the summer of 1573, at the end of the war which saw the Ottoman Empire, an Islamic force which was commonly accepted as the strongest Empirical force of the day, run a conquest against Cyprus, a Venetian colony which, in the play, Othello is sent to defend and govern.

However, in Othello, Shakespeare twists history to paint his tragic hero as more heroic, as the Turks actually won the wars, despite the above quote, with the Venetians seceding Cyprus, and a significant amount of money, to the Turks as a peace settlement in order to facilitate further trade between the two nations.

A brief over-view of the wars

Cyprus had been under Venetian rule since 1489, but was in the centre of the Ottoman Empire by 1517, when Ottoman secured Egypt, leaving it vulnerable to attack.

Despite a peace treaty with Venice in 1567, then, the Ottomans launched a naval and land invasion of the island in 1570s, taking all of its major cities between June and August of that year; massacres of Christians (resident under Venetian rule) ensued, with women and boys being saved to be sold on as slaves.

Venice, with the support of the Pope, secured backing from Spain, Portugal, and other states which make up what we now know as Italy, in order to take on the Ottomans, but they were nevertheless unsuccessful, realising the cost of the war in both arms and lost trade by 1573, when a peace treaty was drawn up between the Ottomans and the Venetians, seceding Cyprus to the Ottoman Empire, where it remained until 1879 (when it was given the Britain in a peace negotiation following the so-called "Eastern Problems" which lead to the eventual disillusion of the Ottoman Empire).

Relevance to the play
Critics agree unanimously that, as Othello was written in the early 1600s, it is definitely set at the end of these wars.

Thus, the fact that Shakespeare presents a Venetian victory suggests even greater power from the Venetian state, with Othello arriving in Cyprus in Act II as governor, giving him a position of greater power as he is asked to keep the peace.

Although it is not specifically stipulated in the play, the suggestion is that the "warlike Moor Othello" arrives fresh from battle, and thus has helped to secure a Venetian victory, painting him as all the more the hero, thus making his tragic fall at the end of the play even more tragic.

And YAY ME for getting more military history into my Othello revision!

Hope that made sense; any questions, just ask!

- HistGrrl x

Context: The Tragic Structure

The tragic structure is an important element of the plot of both plays; 'Othello' easily fits in to the traditional structure of a Grecian tragedy, whereas 'Equus' does not - however this does provide a comparison point in line with AO3.

The traditional tragic structure can most easily be seen in Freytag's Triangle, otherwise known as "the tragic ark".

This shows the advancement of a tragedy, from beginning to end:

- The deisis shows the rising action and building tension
- The peripateia is the crisis point, at which there is no turning back, and the action has reached its climax
- The denouement and lusis show the falling action and the unravelling of the plot to the end, or resolution, when catharsis, or a purging of emotions, occurs.

Tragedy of this style is defined as the downfall of a character of great stature because of their own flaws, or hubris, and always results in a death.

In some ways, therefore, 'Equus' can be seen to fit this structure - although no death occurs, and the character most like a tragic hero, Dysart, has no tangible hubris, given that he recognises his flaw before he falls because of it.

Now that's all covered, it's time for a break! Deep breaths, cups of tea and Doctor Who, mayhaps? Enjoy :)

- HistGrrl x

Dramatic Intentions

'Dramatic Intentions' are a concept which may well be alien to non-theatre students, but which are crucial to the understanding of any play - especially given the number of marks given in this exam to the understanding of the plays as plays.

An outline of dramatic intentions within "Basic Drama Theory" is given in Wikipedia.

So, what are they?
They're what the playwright or director wants an audience to get out of a play; for example the dramatic intentions in a comedy would be to amuse.

In some plays they are more evident than others; for example, in 'Equus', it can be seen fairly easily that Shaffer wants his audience to question psychoanalysis and the justice system, as well as the role of nurture and environment in the personality and psychosis of a child.

In 'Othello', however, dramatic intentions are harder to decide; they could be to lead the audience to question the role of race, or Iago's motives, or the nature of evil. None of these has a truly solid grounding, the way that the intentions for 'Equus' seem to, and so a degree of hedging in thus necessary so as not to generalise or make wild assertions with which the examiner could easily disagree.

Questions? Ask :)

- HistGrrl x

Context: what counts?

As explained in the specification, it's important to have a heavy contextual knowledge of random little nuggets which you can throw in for the examiner's pleasure.

The more random, the better - because, after all, that'll make you unique. You just have to make sure that they're correct!

So, some general contextual ideas for each play are listed below. They may be approached in greater detail at a later date, however.

Context in 'Othello'

Race
The Elizabethans and Jacobians had no concept of race, therefore the characters in the play cannot be construed as racist. This means that the effect of the play on a contemporary audience is very different from the effect of the play on a modern audience.

Arrangement of marriages
Women of Desdemona's stature would simply not have chosen their own marriage partners - and this is a common theme in Shakespearean drama. See 'Romeo + Juliet' for example.

Turkish wars
These date the play precisely; more information can be found on Wikipedia.

Role of women
Especially with reference to the character of Emilia, who is not the traditional meek wife, given that she is the one who 'outs' Iago as the culprit for all of the events of the play. Desdemona, too, subverts convention by marrying of her own free will. Iago's attitude to women should also be considered.

Tragedy
How does 'Othello' fit in the traditional tragic ark? (To be covered in a later blog)

Context in 'Equus'

Religion
An especially touchy subject given the 1970s setting and the Irish problems (to be covered in a later blog)

Commercialism
Alan's fixation on products and jingles, as well as Frank's socialist tendencies, lend themselves to the theme of 1970s materialism; the 1970s are a period when it is believed that Britain's materialistic edge fully began to develop, and 'Equus' highlights Shaffer's views on the effects this might have on society.

Psychoanalysis
A particularly relevant theme, given that attitudes to psychosis were altering significantly in this period.

Role of women
Debatable - but could possibly be shoe-horned in if the worst came to the worst!

Conservatism
And it's effects on people's attitudes to Alan; cold war politics and fear of the unknown.

Utter proof that I'm truly a history geek and not a literature student; I managed to get the words "cold war" into this! YAY!

Any questions are welcomed - comment :)

- HistGrrl x