Judgment in Peter Shaffers Equus and Albert Camus The...

Personal judgment in Peter Shaffer’s Equus and Albert Camus’ The Stranger, though internal in the first and external in the latter, mirrors society’s judgment of those who differ from the norm. The two postmodernist authors both use judgment as a tool to promote the postmodern idea that society oppresses and criticizes people who are not like everyone else. Camus and Shaffer place specific motifs and elements into their novels in order to push the idea of societal judgment on the reader. However, while the ideas may be the same, Camus and Shaffer use them contrastingly. Shaffer tends to use judgment of the self while Camus leans towards judgment of others, but the judgment ultimately leads back to people who do not conform to the norm.†¦show more content†¦The combination of the setting of a trial, the inspection of Meursault, and the anonymity of the jurors leads to an unmistakable sense of external evaluation and consequently societal judgment in The Stranger. Camus and Shaffer use these physical elements in their works in order to permeate both texts with a sense of societal criticism. Shaffer and Camus pass judgment on Dysart and Meursault through their lack and removal of passion. In Equus, Dysart specifically mentions the lack of passion in himself. When speaking to Hesther, Dysart criticizes himself for his fake love for the wild and primitive. He states, â€Å"I settled for being pallid and provincial, out of my own eternal timidity† (2.25). This statement, just a small part of the entire rant against himself, is opposed by Hesther. Dysart, as a psychiatrist, tries to remove emotion and individuality from his patients, specifically Alan. Unlike Hesther, who sees psychiatry as removing pain, Dysart judges himself for becoming a person who removes uniqueness. Alan contains too much emotion to ever be considered normal and as the play continues Dysart becomes more and more opposed to ‘fixing’ him. Dysartà ¢â‚¬â„¢s specific speeches about how he hates himself for becoming impassionate and removing the passion in his patients contrast with society’s normal views. These rants, because they are inShow MoreRelatedA Comparison Peter Shaffers Equus and Albert Camuss The Stranger1042 Words   |  5 PagesThe ways in which truths are presented to external audiences concerning outside characters display not only a good judgment of character on the presenter, but furthermore, the often insignificant nature of whom the presenter is talking about, even if the insignificance presented is accidental. Both Peter Shaffer’s Equus and Albert Camus’ The Stranger approach different ways in presenting the truths of Alan Strang and Meursault to the audience/jury, but one thing remains clear; intentional or unintentional