The role of the gaze in the play Equus Anonymous College

The play Equus was written in 1973 by Peter Schaffer. In the play, Alan, a 17-year-old boy with a horse fetish, blinds six horses in a stable, and it is down to Dysart, a psychologist, to understand why he did it. A major theme of the play is “looking”, and the play features the word "stare" 39 times (including variations such as "staring" and "stared", and the stages notes). Equus, Dysart, the horses all stare - but the character who stares the most is Alan. Dysart calls him "this boy, with his stare" (84) and that “[Alan] has the strangest stare I ever met" (44). When characters stare in Equus, they are often being stared back at, as though in silent conversation. Characters in Equus “stare” and “gaze” to convey and explore a wide spectrum of emotions, including sexual attraction, accusation, hate, reverence, guilt, and shame. In this essay, the meaning of Alan’s stare will be investigated, followed by Alan’s poster of a staring horse, then Equus staring at Alan, and finally Equus and Dysart’s mutual staring at one another.

Alan often gazes at horses. Alan is "always staring into the yard around lunch-time" (76) and "keeps staring in at the door" of the stables (76). Alan says, "[horses] sort of pulled me. I couldn't take my...