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...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor: Méndez García, Carmen
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
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author Méndez García, Carmen
author_browse Méndez García, Carmen
author_facet Méndez García, Carmen
author_role author
collection Docta Complutense
description 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.
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institution Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
instname_str Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)
language eng
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
oai_identifier_str oai:docta.ucm.es:20.500.14352/53529
publishDate 2006
publishDateSort 2006
publisher Inter-Disciplinary Press
publisherStr Inter-Disciplinary Press
reponame_str Docta Complutense
spelling From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus De "malvado" a "loco": etiquetas y comportamiento en Equis, de Peter Shaffer Méndez García, Carmen 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 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. Inter-Disciplinary Press https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/53529
spellingShingle From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus
Méndez García, Carmen
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
title From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus
title_full From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus
title_fullStr From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus
title_full_unstemmed From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus
title_short From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus
title_sort From ‘Bad’ to ‘Mad’: Labelling and Behaviour in Peter Shaffer’s Equus
topic 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
topic_facet 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
url https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/53529