Comparing Peter Shaffer's Equus and Harold Pinter's The birthday party through psychoanalysis and the theory of the subject
Critical discussions of post-war British dramas do not usually select the two plays in my title for comparison, but my contention is that if we understand them as cultural practices that problematize the positions of human beings as subjects in society, these two dramas lend themselves to a valid an...
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| Dokumentumtípus: | Könyv része |
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Institute of English & American Studies (IEAS)
Szeged
2024
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| Sorozat: | Acta Universitatis Szegediensis de Attila József nominatae : papers in english and american studies
25 Papers in English and American studies : Tomus XXV. - Distinguished Szeged student papers 2024 25 |
| Kulcsszavak: | Angol irodalom története - 20-21. sz., Műelemzés - angol, Pszichoanalízis - műelemzés, Irodalomtudomány - összehasonlító |
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| Online Access: | http://acta.bibl.u-szeged.hu/86777 |
| Tartalmi kivonat: | Critical discussions of post-war British dramas do not usually select the two plays in my title for comparison, but my contention is that if we understand them as cultural practices that problematize the positions of human beings as subjects in society, these two dramas lend themselves to a valid and relevant comparative analysis. On its own, Equus is often analysed through psychoanalysis, but by comparing it to The Birthday Party, this analysis can be further crystallized. Therefore, in this paper, I compare Peter Shaffer’s Equus and Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party in order to identify similarities and differences, which can be used to describe the inner conflicts of individuals who are represented as socially positioned subjects in post-war British society. I aim to use specifically the psychoanalytic approach to build the foundations of the analysis and connect the dramas through the theme of the inner pursuit of passion that is perhaps the most important common aspect they share. As a result, the plays, similarly to their contemporaries, propose the following question: can passion as a unique and authentic value stand in opposition to ideology and can it be a tool, a strategy to escape ideology? The poststructuralist theory of the subject will be the overarching theoretical framework of my investigation, which will enable me to show how both dramas throw light on how ideological technologies work to keep the protagonists of the plays in fixed subject positions. |
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| Terjedelem/Fizikai jellemzők: | 145-161 |
| ISBN: | 978-963-306-983-7 |
| ISSN: | 0230-2780 |