From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus
The process of ‘labelling’ (whereby labels are socially imposed on a given behaviour by a given person) is an extensive and recurrent one in our society, as proved by the labelling of behaviours and people even into the literary text. In our analysis, we will try to show how applying one of two most...
| Autor: | |
|---|---|
| Tipo de documento: | Capítulo de livro |
| Data de publicação: | 2006 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) |
| Repositório: | Docta Complutense |
| Idioma: | Inglês |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/53529 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/53529 |
| Nível de acesso: | Acesso aberto |
| Palavra-chave: | 821.111Shaffer, Peter7equ Shaffer Evil Madness Psychiatry Theatre Sociopathy Psychopathy Violence Society Maldad Locura Psiquiatría Teatro Sociopatía p Psicopatía Violencia Sociedad Crítica textual Literatura Filología inglesa 6202.01 Critica de Texto 5701.07 Lengua y Literatura 5505.10 Filología |
| Resumo: | The process of ‘labelling’ (whereby labels are socially imposed on a given behaviour by a given person) is an extensive and recurrent one in our society, as proved by the labelling of behaviours and people even into the literary text. In our analysis, we will try to show how applying one of two most different labels (psychopathic or psychotic) greatly influences our understanding of the existence of ‘evil’ or moral responsibility in the deeds of a person. To such end, we will use Peter Shaffer’s play Equus (1973), which requires both the characters in the play and the spectators to decide whether Alan Strang’s terrible crime is a result of evil or of insane behaviour: whether he is ‘mad’ or simply ‘bad’. We will try to evince the current social and cultural confusion between madness and evil, and how processes of medicalization or criminalization affect our understanding of those around us and those living in the books we read. |
|---|