| Summary: | 博士 === 國立成功大學 === 外國語文學系碩博士班 === 100 === This study aims to explore the themes of myths and rituals in Peter Shaffer’s four plays: The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964), Amadeus (1979), Equus (1973), and The Gift of the Gorgon (1992), all of which present the confrontations between two conflictive impulses—individual freedom and structured institutionalized mores, namely the Dionysian and the Apollonian forces. Shaffer, in these works, unfolds his metaphysical themes via the characters’ worship of and quest for the union with the divinity as well as sacrificial rituals, collective violence and identity crises. I will discuss these issues mainly by applying René Girard’s theory of mimic desire and the scapegoat mechanism to present Shaffer’s intention of bringing his audience a modern catharsis with his theatrical devices, as well as the impact of worship and rituals that are drawn from histories, religions and Greek mythology. Also studied are the impact of Bertolt Brecht and Antonin Artaud on Shaffer and the difference between Shaffer and his near contemporaries.
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