Before Shaffer is totally misunderstood, we must say his play isn’t obscene and bestiality is never on Shaffer’s mind when Equus was written. Rather, the playwright depicts a boy who is thrilled by the sadism of the Crucifixion - whipping, flagellating, bondage, you name it - but re-channels his fanatic semi-religious devotion to horses. Alan deifies the hunky horse Nugget and takes it out occasionally for a sticky ride. Imagine a boy mounting a horse bareback and naked at midnight. In the play, he shouts something like “WEE! … WAA! … WONDERFUL! … I’m stiff! Stiff in the wind. My mane, stiff in the wind! My flanks! My hooves! Raw! Raw!, which can be translated by SS sexual dictionary as “YES! YES! I’m hard! I’m stiff! Faster, horse! Faster! You like my stiffy on your back, horse! YES! YESSS!!!” No doubt Alan is subconsciously, erotically fixed on Nugget and the horse does its master a favour by galloping him to orgasm.
In Equus sex and religion are fused. Horses become both god and sexual outlet for Alan. Shaffer introduces this perverse parallel of religion and sex in order to criticize the strict and repressive bourgeois morality as well as to propose its detrimental effects to a child’s naïve mind.
Why horses? It’s very difficult to tell, but relooking at Stubbs’ painting, it is probably because horses are the most pristine, elegant and god-like species of all animals. Once those perceptions are turned upside down, tarnished by obscenity, the artistic vision of an artist or a playwright will become more pronounced and shocking. To de la Haba, horses are nitty-gritty sex metaphors. To Shaffer, horses exist in the idealistic space where sexuality and spirituality merge. But, right now, we have just had an equestrian overload and would love to have the horses in the stable where they are meant to be.
Words: Poonperm Paitayawat