A seventeen year old boy, Alan is brought to a psychiatric hospital because he has blinded six horses with a hoof pick. Dysart, a psychiatrist, works to "normalize" the boy, feeling that as he makes the boy "safe" for society, he is taking away his worship and sexual vitality, both of which are missing in the doctors own personal life. Dysart actually envies Alan and the sexual worship he has experienced. In spite of his own hang-ups, the doctor does help the boy work through his obsession, in which he identifies the horse Equus with God.

Shaffer is expressing to his audience that taking away the atypical aspe

Hesther: it still means something.

Alan's love for horses develops into devotion, a religious passion for the horses as all-powerful Gods. As Dysart envies Alan's passion for horses, a type of passion that he knows he will never feel, he questions his livelihood as a healer. He is healing nothing by removing the boys worship and faith. Is it right or worthwhile to try to "normalize" Alan when what others consider his infatuation with horses, he considers his religion.

world...and give him normal places for his ecstasy...

When Equus leaves - if he lives at all - it will be with

These contrasting beliefs of his parents leads Alan into a world of personal problems which encompasses an understanding of the world formed largely by watching television, an inability to read, a distorted view of sex and violence, and no sense of his place in society.

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Some common words found in the essay are:
Normal Hesther, Shaffer's Equus, God Shaffer, Dysart Alan, Frank Call, Gods Dysart, Overall Equus, , Martin Dysart, Dora DysartYou, passion horses, life dysart, alan's passion,
Approximate Word count = 717
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)