Summary

Act 2, Scene 22 – Alan embraces Nugget. Dysart watches. As Alan leaves with Nugget, Dysart is left alone with Equus. Equus questions Dysart how Equus can be accounted for. Equus asks Dysart questions that he has avoided for most of his life. Children are born into a world full of things to enslave them. But why does a child become enslaved by one and not others, or some but not others? Dysart does not have an answer. He can trace a chain of moments, of memories, but doesn’t know how they can all snap together in the first place.

The Nurse interrupts Dysart’s ruminations to tell him that Alan’s mother has come to visit, and Alan has thrown a tray at her. She is screaming at her son when Dysart arrives, and she slaps Alan. Dysart orders her to leave, which...