Conflicts and Confrontations between Two Cultures in Peter Shaffer's Equus and Amadeus

• Main Authors: Chiang Hanyang, 蔣漢揚
• Other Authors: Professor David Dai Weiyang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/02918658887993542775

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 英語研究所 === 87 === This thesis mainly discusses conflicts and confrontations between the two pairs of diametrical cultures--Friederich Nietzsche’s philosophical theory--“Apollinian spirit” vs./ and “Dionysian force”--in his first published book The Birth of Tragedy, and Matthew Arnold’s literary, philosophical as well as social conception--Hellenism vs./and Hebraism--in his Culture and Anarchy. In addition, their concepts of these two polar cultures will be used to interpret the inter- actively complicated relationships--the conflicts and con- frontations as well as reconciliation between them--in Peter Shaffer’s Equus and Amadeus, which are reflected on the two pairs of the main characters’ personalities; ideas; life attitudes; ideologies; mental, psychological, and moral dis- positions in Equus and Amadeus. The concept of “binary opposition” was not challenged until Deconstruction which flourished in 1970s. “Binary opposi- tion,” however, is an inevitable element in Shaffer’s plays, especially in Equus and Amadeus. We thus can be sure that, although some of Shaffer’s well-known plays were created in the so-called Deconstruction (or Post-structuralism) period, his creative rationales have something to do with both Modernist and Post-modernist theories. The introductory chapter illustrates not only the status of Peter Shaffer among contemporary playwrights, but also the reasons why Equus and Amadeus will be interpreted in the light of Nietzsche’s and Arnold’s concepts. The second chapter elucidates in detail the real meanings of both Nietzschean and Arnoldian theoretical philosophies, and, above all, clarifies the homogeneity and heterogeneity between them. Chapters Three and Four deal individually with the con- flicts and confrontations between the two cultures in Equus and Amadeus. The final chapter talks about Peter Shaffer’s great achievements in contemporary drama; moreover, his chiasmatic idea of conflicts and reconciliation between two polar cultures not merely excels traditional “binary opposi- tion,” but provides readers/audiences/interpreters with wider and deeper space and miscellaneous perspectives on human nature and cultures as well.