LITERATURE POST 1900 – 2000 WORD COMPARATIVE ESSAY
SPIES / EQUUS – SECRETS ESSAY
Updated Wednesday 13 February and Friday 15 February – in bold
Here are some general feedback points I found while marking all 2000 word comparative essays
You must think really carefully about the topic you are writing about. Consider the definitions of the topic you have chosen. What are secrets – what are they in these texts? What is childhood – and who are the main children in the texts? How are they presented?
You do not have to analyse language in the same way as you did for the 1000 word essay. Instead show how a topic is presented and compare or contrast it with the second text.
Use short simple sentences to communicate your ideas rather than long complex ones.
As part of your essay introduction you should give a concise and detailed summary of the action of the play or novel. You will need to introduce quotations you use showing briefly where in the novel or play the quotation comes. Context within the novel or play
It’s also a good idea to refer to the historical context of the text in the introduction but try and refer to it elsewhere.
One contextual point I think will be very useful to refer to in all your essays regarding Equus and the explicit sexual content and language is the reference to the publication of Lady Chaterely’s Lover written by D.H. Lawrence and the trial that followed under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Check out the details here and here and then scroll down to the trial.
Here are
some specific feedback points I found while marking the secrets essays
Define in a detailed, clear, concise and full
way what the key secret in both Equus and Spies. In Equus Alan’s secret is his
religion. This has evolved from a mixture of his experience on the beach with
Trojan when he was younger – Stephen’s age? And his mother’s strong Christian
influence on him. In Spies the secrets are threefold. Firstly Uncle Peter’s
desertion from the RAF. If he is caught he will be charged with desertion and
probably executed. Secondly Aunty Dee and Mrs Hayward’s secret of looking after
Uncle Peter – this is made more complex by the love that Uncle Peter feels for
Mrs Hayward and possibly returned by Mrs Hayward. And thirdly Stephen’s secret
mission with Keith to uncover Mrs Hayward as a German spy. This is made more
complex by Mrs Hayward’s recruiting of Stephen to directly help Uncle Peter.
It is clear that the world we are introduced to in Spies and that of Equus is full of secrets. There are many layers of secrets some of these are interconnected. I think it’s a good idea to mention this in your introductions but I don’t think you can focus on these secondary secrets because there is enough material in Alan’s secrets and Stephen’s secrets. Secondary secrets include Frank’s trip to the cinema in Equus, Barbara’s revelation that her mother has a boyfriend in Spies.
writing about the exposure of the secrets is a
good approach. In Alan’s case his exposed secrets enable him to find peace and
healing. Hester reminds us of this several times. I don’t think the secrets in
Spies are exposed. Peter dies and the authorities may suspect he has had help
but this does not form part of the scope of the novel. Stephen may speculate
but there is no evidence.
Alan is not trying to start a new religion. Religion is Dysart’s word for it. Alan is just trying to recapture an intense and pleasurable experience that is so powerful he wants to repeat it again and again. That experience is so different from the dull, mundane and boring everyday life he leads. This experience gives his life meaning and purpose.
Why does Alan blind six horses? He blinds them because they have watched Alan trying to have sex with Gill. He feels so ashamed and humiliated by his failed encounter with Gill he wants to blot out and erase that experience. He wants to keep it a secret. He tells her not to tell anyone. He has also betrayed Equus, perhaps he wants to destroy Equus’s influence on his life. He realises and wants to make love to Gill and Equus – the horses - are stopping him he has become so affected by Equus.
Consider that the men in Equus have secrets - Dysart and what he thinks about the work he does. Refer to the dream he has. He only tells Hester. He confesses to her. However in Spies it is the women that have the core secrets. Mrs Hayward and Auntie Dee keep the secret about Uncle Peter. Its the men and boys who want to discover these secrets. Mr Hayward, the policeman and the two boys all want to know what Mrs Hayward and Auntie Dee know.
