Equus

Though the play centers on the mystery surrounding Alan Strang’s crime, Martin Dysart is the protagonist of Equus. As a psychiatrist, Dysart is given the responsibility of uncovering the cause behind Alan’s violence and offering treatment. However, Dysart’s authority is undercut by his inner turmoil. He is not a religious man, but he is undergoing a crisis of faith. This is not a crisis of faith in God, but in the value of his profession and the meaning of his own life. To reach this truth, Dysart approaches Alan’s case with the diligence of a detective, attempting to reconstruct the psychological history that led to the violent act. Yet in doing so, he is drawn into self-reflection, questioning whether he is equipped—or even entitled—to strip Alan of the very passion that makes him feel alive. The investigation becomes twofold: an inquiry into Alan’s crime and a parallel investigation into Dysart’s own spiritual emptiness. In dealing with the supposedly “anormal” Alan, Dysart comes to envy the “passion” (94) that Alan experiences. The passion may not be inherently good, he accepts, but it is something. This is preferable to the nothingness that Dysart has come to realize makes up his own life.