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The present article aims to analyze the notion of metatheatricality in Peter Shaffer’s Equus and to investigate the functions of such metatheatrical notions as self-reflexivity and fictionality in the overall structure and theme of the play. The central questions of this survey include: In what ways are typical metatheatrical techniques employed in Peter Shaffer’s Equus, and what are the structural and thematic functions of these elements? The present dramaturgical study first reviews the basic tenets of the concept of metatheatre as a postmodern genre in the theatre and then contextualizes them in the structural fabric of the play, focusing on two important metatheatrical elements, namely, play within a play and breaking the fourth wall. The present research shows that there are inner plays in the narrative structure of Equus, which are aligned with the characteristic features of metatheatricality as delineated by Richard Hornby in Drama, Metadrama, and Perception (1986). These plays within a play, which belong to the so-called “the inset type,” construct two sharply distinguishable structural layers. As metatheatrical plays within a play, they self-reflexively call attention to the fictional nature of the play as well as to the possibilities of narrative diversity. Equus breaks the fourth wall of the realistic drama when its lead character directly addresses the spectators, thereby getting them physically and mentally involved in the action. The spectators, as a result, step into the fictional world of the play and start to interact with the characters as the characters start to interact with them. Judgment and interpretation become reciprocal as both the audience and the performers take part in the process of narration and meaning-creation.  

Personnage clé de l’enseignement, l’enseignant occupe une place centrale dans le milieu scolaire. Accompagnant la vie des enfants, il peut jouer un rôle important dans l’avenir de chaque société. Sensibles à ce rôle, certains auteurs, en Iran et en France, à travers leur écrits romanesques ou autobiographiques (récits scolaires), mettent à notre disposition des figures qui pourraient être considérées comme modèle ou anti-modèle du bon enseignant. Dans ce travail, on s’intéresse de près à ces figures pour savoir ce que pourraient être les exigences de l’enseignement. Cela devrait nous amener à dresser une typologie du « bon » enseignant. Pour délimiter ce vaste sujet ainsi qu’orienter notre travail vers une perspective pragmatique et effective, on se contente des relations pédagogiques qui mettent en rapport l’Instance scolaire à l’enseigné par l’intermédiaire de l’enseignant dans le but de la « transmission du savoir ». Cela nous permettra de remettre en lumière la grandeur de la « mission » d’enseignant.

The pursuit of freedom has constantly been debilitated due to external shackles embodying themselves mainly with the presence of an authority that anesthetizes individuals into voluntary submission. Erich Fromm (1900-80) is the German psychologist who underscores the significance of individual freedom in his book Escape from Freedom (1941) and maintains that on the path towards freedom, individuals attempt at unshackling themselves from restrictive forces; however, as they release themselves from the restrictions of an authority and refuse to yield to its demands, individuals are left with feelings of insecurity and powerlessness. As a result, they try to compensate for the feeling of insecurity by either submitting themselves to another authority figure or becoming authority figures themselves. Within the paper, Fromm’s concept of freedom is elaborated upon and applied to Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962). The paper discusses the two major concepts of “freedom from” and “freedom to” known as “negative freedom” and “positive freedom” and demonstrates the possibility of finding a getaway from a negative sense of freedom by investing mankind with the power of love and communication. Real freedom is not a release from external constraints but mainly a release from internal forces.