A Study Of Rituals And Power In Peter Shaffer’s Plays

The plays of Peter Shaffer,a British dramatist,are profound and widespread,which makes him a unique playwright who suits both refined and popular tastes.His most popular works are the “Trilogy of Belief”,among which The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Equus contain rich ritual elements.The two plays make the drama full of a sense of wonder and mystery and arouse the awe and admiration of the audience.Shaffer’s use of rituals in the two plays has attracted the attention of some scholars,but it hasn’t been given deeper exploration,and the researches on these rituals are not comprehensive and in-depth enough.Therefore,more intensive studies are needed to explore Shaffer’s thinking on the pursuit of the human spirit expressed in the rituals.Based on David I.Kertzer’s political ritual theory and Freud’s totemistic theory,this thesis selects the various rituals in The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Equus as the research objects.With the help of detailed reading and literature analysis,the thesis aims to observe the ritual phenomena in the dramas,analyze the relationship between rituals and power,explore the social diseases under the power conflicts presented by rituals,and discuss the creative motivation of Shaffer’s ritual writing.This thesis is divided into five parts.Chapter one summarizes the researches on Shaffer’s plays at home and abroad and introduces the concept of ritual,especially political ritual and totemism.Chapter two studies the relationship between political rituals and power in The Royal Hunt of the Sun.The Spanish invaders use the rituals to build a stronger power identity and deprive the Inca king of the legitimacy of power,but rituals also witness how a Spanish atheist becomes a believer of the sun god.There is a sharp contrast between the invaders who seek hegemony to satisfy their desires and ambitions through rituals and the Incas who aim to maintain power stability and protect the rich spiritual world through rituals,which enlarges the tension of drama and satires on the spiritual sterility of human beings.Chapter three focuses on the relationship between religious rituals and power in Equus.Under the background of the sharp class contradictions in a capitalist society,the son Alan vents his contradictory feelings about his father’s power through totemistic ritual,which are eagerness and resistance.And the sacrifice ceremony expresses the modern citizens’ questioning of the power of reason and the marginal people as mental patients’ resistance to the hegemony of reason.Chapter four discusses the author’s intention for ritual writing.Chapter five is the conclusion of the whole thesis.The thesis points out that the ritual writing in The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Equus is Shaffer’s criticism and reflection on two important phases of the development of western civilization.During the colonial period,by manipulating political rituals,the colonists struggled for power and whitewashed their aggression,while the political ceremonies of the Inca king were aimed at stabilizing power,protecting the peace and spiritual prosperity of his people,and also purifying the enemy leader.Spain who conquered the Incas by force was completely defeated in spirit,which was Shaffer’s satire on the spiritual emptiness caused by the blind pursuit of expansion of the colonists.In the industrial capitalist period,a worker oppressed by the bourgeoisie turned class hatred into imprisonment for his son Alan.Meanwhile,Alan suffered from the hegemony of instrumental reason after growing up.Double oppressions of power made him use strange rituals as a way of catharsis and confrontation.Alan’s abnormal behaviors impacted his psychiatrist who later regarded psychiatric treatment as a ritual of “sacrificing” the personality of modern people,and“reason” as a power to sanction against “personality” reasonably.By ritual writing,Shaffer criticized the phenomena of spiritual emptiness,personality loss and sanction of reason,and presented his pursuit of justice and faith,and his anti-reason consciousness.