Equus

by

Peter Shaffer

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Equus makes teaching easy.

Jill Mason Character Analysis

An employee at Harry Dalton’s stable. A kind and free-spirited person, she meets Alan Strang at the appliance store where he works, recognizes that he is often watching the horses at the stable, and gets him the job working weekends at the stable. Jill takes a liking to Alan, and eventually takes him on a date to a pornography theater and then back to the stable for sex. Alan’s failure to have sex with Jill is the catalyst for his crime against the horses.
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Jill Mason Character Timeline in Equus

The timeline below shows where the character Jill Mason appears in Equus. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
Passion Theme Icon
Religion and Worship Theme Icon
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Modern Society and Normality Theme Icon
...He says that in his opinion, Alan should be in prison, and tells Dysart that Jill Mason, a girl who also worked at the stable, has had a nervous breakdown. Jill... (full context)
Modern Society and Normality Theme Icon
Scene 15. Dysart questions Alan about Jill, the girl who introduced Alan to the stable. Alan tells him that they first met... (full context)
Religion and Worship Theme Icon
...horses,” Alan is completely mesmerized. He is about to kneel down when Dalton arrives with Jill, interrupting Alan’s reverie. Dalton cheerfully shows Alan how to use a hoof-pick to take a... (full context)
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Psychiatry, Repression, and Madness Theme Icon
...stroke the horses, and Alan moans in agreement. Dysart then asks how Alan felt about Jill. “Did you like her?” he says. “All right,” Alan responds. The doctor presses on, trying... (full context)
Act 2
Psychiatry, Repression, and Madness Theme Icon
...truth drug, Alan tells Dysart to ask him a question. Dysart immediately asks him about Jill. Alan turns away, resistant to talk. The doctor asks him repeatedly to describe her, but... (full context)
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Modern Society and Normality Theme Icon
Scene 28. Jill’s behavior “is open and lightly provocative.” She tells Alan that when her father left her... (full context)
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Modern Society and Normality Theme Icon
Jill tells Alan that she loves horses’ eyes. “D’you find them sexy?” she asks Alan. Shocked,... (full context)
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Alan is initially hesitant, but Jill persuades him to go with her by evoking images of “heavy Swedes, panting at each... (full context)
Religion and Worship Theme Icon
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
...Alan enters the square again, which is now a darkened movie theater. Together, he and Jill find their way to the downstage bench. Alan tells Dysart that the cinema was “full... (full context)
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Modern Society and Normality Theme Icon
Scene 30. Frank, Alan and Jill stand at a bus stop outside the movie theater. Alan and Jill try to explain... (full context)
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Modern Society and Normality Theme Icon
Psychiatry, Repression, and Madness Theme Icon
...reflects on the times his father told him to be disciplined, to improve his character. Jill runs after Alan and asks him what’s on his mind. “Nothing,” he says. Jill begins... (full context)
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
...perspective on his father made him feel free. He tells Dysart that at this moment, Jill was holding his hand. The doctor asks him what he was thinking at this moment.... (full context)
Religion and Worship Theme Icon
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Scene 32. The chorus “makes a warning hum” as Alan steps back in horror. Jill pressures him to enter the stable. Alan asks if they can go to Jill’s house... (full context)
Religion and Worship Theme Icon
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Scene 33. Alan and Jill enter the square; he tells her to lock the door to the stable, and she... (full context)
Religion and Worship Theme Icon
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Psychiatry, Repression, and Madness Theme Icon
Alan and Jill sit down and begin to kiss, but a “faint trampling” startles Alan. Despite his uneasiness,... (full context)
Religion and Worship Theme Icon
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Psychiatry, Repression, and Madness Theme Icon
...and collapses in anguish. He confesses that he couldn’t bring himself to have sex with Jill because “He was in the way.” Every time he touched Jill, he felt Equus instead.... (full context)
Sex and Sexuality Theme Icon
Psychiatry, Repression, and Madness Theme Icon
Jill sits up and asks Alan what the matter is, but Alan runs into a corner... (full context)