irony in the visit act 3

by Friedrich Duerrenmatt

The visit summary and analysis of act 3.

The third act opens in Petersens' Barn, where Claire stands wearing her wedding gown and veil. The visual effect is of a spider lying in wait amidst her webs. The wedding has just concluded, and the Doctor and the Schoolmaster approach Claire. She announces that she has sent her new husband, "Hoby", away, and that her lawyers are already filing for divorce. The Doctor and the Schoolmaster tell her that they want to talk about Ill . She asks, "O, has he died?" and they reply that they are loyal to their values, but that the town has gone into debt. The Schoolmaster takes the initiative, telling her how much they have sacrificed in an effort to restore Guellen to its former glory: "Madam, we are not poor; we are merely forgotten. We need credit, confidence, contracts, then our economy and culture will boom" (255). Claire takes this opportunity to reveal to them that she already owns everything in the town, and that she is the one who has orchestrated Guellen's downfall to avenge the injustice committed against her. In other words, she is implying that Ill himself is the root cause of their misery. The Schoolmaster pleads with her to cast away her desire for revenge and implores her, "Let your feeling for humanity prevail!" (257). She responds coolly: "Feeling for humanity, gentlemen, is cut for the purse of an ordinary millionaire; with financial resources like mine you can afford a new world order. The world turned me into a whore. I shall turn the world into a brothel" (257).

The scene then cuts to a view of Ill's store, which now boasts a new sign, a new counter, and new stock. The townspeople discuss Claire's wedding, and marvel about the journalists and film starlets who were present at the grand affair. Everyone is purchasing more expensive cigarettes - still on credit. Louisa passes across the stage wearing stylish clothing, and Mrs. Ill remarks, "She's got her head full of dreams dressing up like that. She must imagine we'd murder Ill" (258). Mrs. Ill tells the gathered company that Ill is upstairs, and has been there for days. The townspeople comment on his guilty conscience and - in a marked reversal from the previous act - express their sympathy for Claire for all that she has endured. They also express their hope that Ill won't say anything to the press. The painter arrives wearing colorful clothing and a black beret, and announces that "art's beginning to boom in Guellen" (260). He then presents Mrs. Ill with a portrait of her husband. Reporters begin to arrive at the store, asking the townspeople questions about Guellen's reaction to Claire's visit. Having gotten wind of the story of Claire and Ill from the blind eunuchs, they bombard Mrs. Ill with questions. Mrs. Ill lies, telling them that she and Ill married for love. She also declares that "money alone makes no one happy" (262), to which a reporter responds, "that's a truth we in this modern world ought to write up in the sky of our hearts" (262). The Schoolmaster arrives, drunk, and tries to tell the press the truth about what is transpiring in Guellen, but the painter stops him by hitting him over the head with Ill's portrait.

Ill comes downstairs, and the store is thrown into shocked silence. The Schoolmaster tries to explain that he is trying to tell the reporters the truth "because I'm a humanist, a lover of the ancient Greeks, an admirer of Plato" (263), but the reporters are distracted by Ill's arrival. Someone calls from outside, crying out that Claire already has a new husband, and that they are at this very moment walking through Konrad's Village Wood. The reporters rush off, and the townspeople scatter. The Schoolmaster tells Ill that he tried to help him: "That infamous million is burning up our hearts" (266), but Ill replies that he refuses to fight any longer, and that he recognizes that he is responsible for the town's downfall. The Schoolmaster says to Ill, "They will kill you. I've known it from the beginning, and you've known it too for a long time, even if no one else in Guellen wants to admit it. The temptation is too great and our poverty is too wretched. But I know something else. I shall take part in it. I can feel myself slowly becoming a murderer. My faith in humanity is powerless to stop it" (267). With that, the Schoolteacher exits.

Ill goes to speak with his family, only to find that his daughter now owns a tennis racket, his son has a new car, and Mrs. Ill has a new fur coat. Ill suggests that they all go for a drive together in the new car. As his family scatters to prepare for the trip, the Mayor arrives at the store. He enters carrying a rifle, and tells Ill that there is to be a public meeting that evening in the auditorium of the Golden Apostle to discuss his case and the pressure that Claire is placing on the town. He asks Ill whether he will submit to their judgment, and Ill says that he will. The Mayor then suggests that Ill would make it easier for everyone if he just turned the gun on himself, but Ill refuses, stating, "I have been through Hell. I've watched you all getting into debt, and I've felt death creeping towards me, nearer and nearer with every sign of prosperity...There is no turning back. You must judge me, now. I shall accept your judgment, whatever it may be. For me, it will be justice; what it will be for you, I do not know" (217). He goes on to add, "You may kill me, I will not complain and I will not protest, nor will I defend myself. But I cannot spare you the task of the trial" (271).

Ill then goes for a drive in the new car with his family. Karl, Ill's son, makes a wrong turn; to get back to town, they must drive through Konrad's Village Wood. In the forest, the four townsmen turn into trees, emphasizing the autumn season. Ill notes that "the leaves on the ground are like layers of gold" (274). The family decides to go see a film, but Ill says that he'll stay behind and walk back into town for the meeting.

On the way to the meeting, Ill runs into Claire and her new husband (Husband IX), a Nobel Prize-winner. She is now the owner of the wood, and tells Ill that she has sent the two eunuchs to Hong Kong to visit an opium den. Claire asks her new husband to leave them alone for a while, and Ill and Claire walk together, reminiscing about the times that they spent in the wood, smoking together, deeply in love. Ill asks Claire about the child that she had claimed was his, and Claire says that it was a black-haired girl, whom she named Genevieve. Claire tells Ill that the girl's eyes never opened, and that she died of meningitis a year after she was born. Claire then asks Ill to talk to her about how she was when she was seventeen, when he loved her. Instead, Ill tells her that he accepts whatever punishment she has in store for him: "I only know that my meaningless life will end" (278). Claire says that she will take him to Capri in the coffin that she brought with her, and place his body in a mausoleum overlooking the Mediterranean. He asks her to describe the location to him. She does, and then says: "You will remain there. A dead man beside a stone idol. Your love died many years ago. But my love could not die. Neither could it live. It grew into an evil thing, like me, like the pallid mushrooms in this wood, and the blind, twisted features of the roots, all overgrown by my golden millions. Their tentacles sought you out, to take your life, because your life belonged to me, forever. You are in their toils now, and you are lost. You will soon be no more than a dead love in my memory, a gentle ghost haunting the wreckage of a house" (278-9). When Claire finishes speaking, Ill leaves.

The scene then shifts to the town meeting in the auditorium of the Golden Apostle, where the press has gathered for the event. An awestruck radio commentator narrates the events that are transpiring. First, the Mayor announces that Claire has offered to donate one million pounds, half for the town and half to be shared by the families. The Schoolmaster then asks, "What is her aim? Is it her aim to make us happy with money?...Her aim is to have the spirit of this community transformed - transformed to the spirit of justice. We, staggered by this demand, ask: have we not always been a just community?" (281). The townspeople respond to this by stating that a crime has been committed - perjury - and that they plan to rectify the situation. The Mayor calls Ill forward, and declares that it is because of him that they are receiving such a generous gift. He asks Ill whether he will accept the gift or refuse it, and Ill answers that he will respect whatever decision is made. The Mayor asks the assembled people whether there are any questions. Representatives from the Church, the medical community, the police force, and the opposition party are all silent. There is a vote to accept Claire's gift - unanimous save for Ill. The Mayor then leads the citizens in an almost religious chant, stating that they accept the money not for the sake of wealth, but in the name of justice. Ill screams, "My God!"

The cameraman asks the assembled townspeople whether they can repeat everything that they have just done, because the news-reel is jammed. The town repeats the chant, but Ill does not repeat his "cry of joy" for the camera. The Mayor then urges the press to enjoy the refreshments in the restaurant. Ill is asked to remain, and the townspeople lock the doors of the auditorium and turn out the lights. The Priest crosses to Ill slowly, watching as he takes a last smoke. The Priest says, "I'll pray for you," to which Ill answers: "Pray for Guellen" (286). Ill turns to accept his judgment, and the townspeople kill him. A reporter appears just as the Doctor declares that Ill has died from a heart attack. The Mayor adds, "Died of joy," and the reporter declares that "Life writes the most beautiful stories" (287).

Claire arrives to examine the corpse, and sees in Ill's face the boy that she had known in her youth: a "black panther." She has Ill's corpse placed in the coffin to take with her to Capri, and hands the Mayor the check. As Claire exits, the town's wealth grows at a dazzling pace. Suddenly, everyone is wearing evening gowns and dress-suits. In the style of a Greek tragedy, the townspeople form into two choruses and begin chanting.

The play concludes at the railway station, where Claire waits. She is accompanied by Ill's coffin, which the townspeople refer to as a "precious charge" (291).

Act 3 brings the drama to its logical conclusion. When the Schoolteacher and the Doctor realize that Claire has been the one orchestrating Guellen's rapid decline, and that she is doing so in order to punish the town for Ill's mistreatment of her, the townspeople begin to rationalize murdering the man whom they had previously held in such high esteem. In other words, they figure out a way to justify his murder: slaughtering Ill, they decide, is the only proper punishment for a man who is guilty of a grave injustice against a woman, an injustice that has caused an untold amount of suffering. In the first act, the townspeople had viewed Claire's proposition in a negative light, believing that it was a simple exchange of a life for wealth and prosperity, but in this act the townspeople begin to believe that it is a matter of justice, not a matter of material wealth. The audience, however, realizes that the townspeople are simply fooling themselves: although they have declared Ill's death "just" in order to validate their actions, it is clear that they have decided that the material comfort of many justifies the sacrifice of a single life.

Act 3 reveals that Claire's power and wealth do indeed, as she has claimed, entitle her to alter the very foundation of the legal system. The audience has seen her "buying" justice several times throughout the play (such as when she pulls the emergency brake on the express train and escapes punishment), but it is only here that the true scope of her power is revealed. She is even able to sway officers of the law to abandon their posts: the Policeman flat-out refuses to arrest Claire on Ill's behalf, thereby directly contributing to his death. Even though the audience learned from the Priest that there is no death penalty in Switzerland, Claire's power is so all-encompassing that she is able to make her gift conditional upon a total overhaul of the legal system. The entire town becomes complicit in an extra-judicial proceeding; an extreme punishment that is meted out in blatant disregard of the established legal system.

Additionally, Claire's unique rule of law is driven by a "personal" sense of justice based on revenge; indeed, throughout the play Claire repeatedly appears to confuse "justice" with "revenge". She announces to the Schoolteacher and the Doctor that the world has turned her into a whore, and that she, in turn, intends to turn the world into a brothel. Motivated by the maxim of "an eye for an eye," Claire views justice as a kind of personal service that can be purchased as easily as a pair of shoes. The allusions to sexual services ("whore", "brothel") are direct references to Claire's personal history: she has suffered because the fact that she gave birth to a child out of wedlock and then became a prostitute has rendered her unsuitable for inclusion in "normal" society. Her clients, however, were free to satisfy their own desires - however "perverse" they might have been - because their wealth gave them the ability to do as they pleased. Even her first husband, from whom she inherited her wealth, was rich enough to purchase a beautiful young wife even though he was old and decrepit. Claire's real-world education proved to her that anything can be bought: marriage, justice (or revenge), personal services, and life itself. The only things that money cannot buy (and arguably the things that Claire wants most in the world) are a way to erase the past (although Claire certainly attempts to do this to the best of her abilities), and romantic love. Duerrenmatt appears to believe that it is romantic love that breeds true happiness; in a notable moment of irony, Ill's wife tells the reporters that "Money alone makes no one happy" - although she, along with the rest of the town, clearly equates wealth with happiness.

Since Claire is not powerful enough to literally turn back the hands of time or to restore herself and Ill to their previous state of youthful bliss, she finds solace in "justice", believing that revenge will sate the anger that has burned inside her for decades. By the end of the play, Claire has achieved the purpose of her visit, and the final moments of the play see Claire carrying away Ill's body to a mausoleum in the Mediterranean. The townspeople - including Ill's family - have also achieved their goals: they have all succeeded in finding happiness due to their improved economic status. While both Claire and the townspeople of Guellen might have preferred the love and wealth that they, respectively, enjoyed in the past to their present situation, they nevertheless prefer tainted happiness to no happiness at all. Claire cannot have Ill's love, but she can have his body, in the bleakest sense (yet another allusion to Claire's life as a prostitute). The town of Guellen cannot be restored to its former cultural and humanist glory, but it can enjoy a newfound - albeit ill-gotten - prosperity. Duerrenmatt appears to be arguing that it is market demand that generates culture and fine art; art is no more an expression of the soul than the justice system is an expression of the truth.

Interestingly, Act 3 casts Ill himself as the "victim" of Claire's "plot". He achieves an almost martyr-like status through his willingness to submit to the punishment that Claire has meted out for him. In this context, it is important to consider Ill's name (and particularly important given the emphasis that Duerrenmatt places on monikers throughout the play): the French pronoun "il" is a reference to the "everyman", and in the English language "ill" brings to mind an "illness" or "disease". Ill is thus a representation of the malaise that afflicts ordinary workingmen, who have little to no agency in the face of extraordinary wealth and power. The implication is that the "everyman" stands a better chance of living a "good" life and earning the respect of his neighbors, despite the hardships that accompany a lower social standing. However, Ill's very name is a reference to the slight that he committed against Claire, and the maladies - both private and public - that arose in the wake of his misdeed. Ill may be a victim, but he is also a criminal.

Claire's wedding brings the attention of the international community to the small town of Guellen. The townspeople's determination to keep the facts of Claire's gift a secret even though the town is swarming with journalists reveals the inevitability of Ill's death. Over the course of the third act, the townspeople's sympathy for Claire grows, although they continue to hypocritically criticize Louisa. Louisa represents who Claire was in her youth, and the fact that the townspeople overtly "sympathize" with Claire while rejecting her doppelganger reveals the disingenuous nature of their beliefs. Matilda, Ill's wife, declares that Louisa must expect them to actually kill Ill; ironically, however, Matilda herself has purchased an extravagant new fur coat in unconscious anticipation of her husband's death. The ease with which Matilda lies about the nature of her relationship with Ill stands as evidence of her solidarity with the townspeople: even Ill's own wife has fallen victim to the temptations of material wealth. The journalists symbolize the outside world, which turns a blind eye to the truth about what is transpiring in Guellen, preferring to believe that people are inherently "just" and "good". Duerrenmatt clearly believes that almost anyone, if placed in the same situation, would behave like the residents of Guellen, and by emphasizing the journalists' blindness, he reveals the hypocrisy inherent in modern society. The journalists are far more preoccupied with Claire's celebrity, wealth, and string of marriages than they are with exposing injustice.

In Act 3, the painter reappears: he is now a flourishing artist, and has painted a portrait of Ill for Ill's wife. The portrait - almost a memorial - ominously foreshadows Ill's imminent death. Moments later, the painter destroys his own work by breaking the portrait over the head of the Schoolteacher in an effort to prevent the Schoolteacher from telling the press about Claire's conditional gift. Not only does the destruction of the painting hint at the violence to come, but it reveals the painter's true attitude towards art: he is more concerned with maintaining his livelihood than he is with genuine artistic expression. The portrait, it seems, is no different from the welcoming sign that he was painting at the beginning of the first act: both works were created solely for financial gain. Even though the quality of his work has improved, his attitude is no different; he is simply being paid more.

The Schoolteacher is a key figure in the play, because, like Ill, he "sees" the reality of what is taking place in the town. However, even though the Schoolteacher has strong humanist ideals, he is incapable of acting on Ill's behalf or convincing the townspeople to reflect upon what is happening in Guellen. Though his attempt to alert the press is overtly noble, he nevertheless confides to Ill that he will also have a hand in his death. This pessimism is warranted: the Schoolteacher does, indeed, join the conspirators in the end, proving that ideals are no match for market forces and the power of wealth and prosperity. The Schoolteacher sacrifices his ideals as easily as he sacrifices Ill.

By the time the meeting begins, Ill has come to terms with his fate. The townspeople - including Ill's own family - have come to view Ill as a guilty man, and in the end even Ill himself arrives at the same conclusion. He recognizes that it was he who brought such misery to the town, and accepts his punishment. However, when the Mayor arrives with a rifle and suggests that Ill might make it easier on everyone if he would just turn the rifle on himself, Ill insists on a trial, believing that a public spectacle is the only way to reveal the truth about what is taking place. If he shot himself, the conspiracy could be easily covered up and denied. By forcing the townspeople to physically kill him, he cements his place in Guellen's collective conscience.

Ill also exhibits remarkable courage during his final moments, thus heightening the emotional and moral conflict at the center of the story. While Act 2 ended with Ill literally paralyzed by fear, unable to board the train because he was terrified of the possible repercussions, Act 3 ends with Ill to a certain extent orchestrating his own demise. He faces death unflinchingly; he arrives at the town meeting of his own free will, and smokes a cigarette, knowing full well that it will be his last. Ill ultimately dies fully cognizant of the seriousness of the wrong that he committed against Claire, but also aware that the townspeople are not actually achieving true "justice".

There are a number of clear parallels between Ill and Christ. Ill, like Christ, meets his death calmly, only crying out for a moment, "Oh, God!" (recalling Christ's cry of "Father, why hast thou forsaken me?"). Ill's cry, however, is mistaken for a cry of joy by the reporters, who use it as support for their contention that he suffered a heart attack because he was so overcome by happiness.

The ritualistic nature of Ill's murder is enhanced by the emphasis placed on the color gold: the townspeople wear yellow shoes; the policeman has a new gold tooth; layers of gold cover the floor of the forest; the name of Claire's hotel is the Golden Apostle. This excessive usage of the color gold is a clear allusion to the Biblical sacrifice to the golden idol: a calf. Here, Claire, the richest woman in the world, appears to represent the golden idol; the sacrifice that she requires, however, is a human one. In order to be "saved", the town must surrender one of its own, and by extension relinquish its very humanity.

By the conclusion of the drama, Ill has been transformed from a predator into a victim. At the very least, he has achieved redemption, and can even be viewed as a martyr. By acknowledging his guilt and bravely facing the punishment meted out to him by the town, he achieves an almost spiritual transcendence: the man that we see at the end of Act 3 is a very different person from the man who awaited Claire's arrival at the train station. The final scene appears to purge the guilt that has plagued Ill from the moment that he committed his unjust act. Ill is spiritually reborn at the very same moment that the town undergoes a spiritual death.

By the end of The Visit , Claire has successfully proven that money can, indeed, purchase "justice". While Claire can never recapture her youthful innocence, she has achieved her goal: total control over the man whose actions dictated the course of her entire life. For Claire, this is perhaps the only kind of happiness that she can ever know. She has truly become a monster, someone who can find peace only when inflicting pain upon others.

The Visit Questions and Answers

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What are the actors celebrating in "The Visit"?

The actors are attending a homecoming celebration.

grandparents

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Study Guide for The Visit

The Visit study guide contains a biography of Friedrich Duerrenmatt, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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Essays for The Visit

The Visit literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Visit.

• Examining Claire Zachanassian in Act One of The Visit
• An Exploration of Mob Mentality in The Visit
• The Ironic Tragicomedy
• The Effect of Dehumanization in The Visit
• Poverty and Humanistic Values in The Visit

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Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Visit

Analysis of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Visit

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on September 17, 2020 • ( 0 )

Tragedy presupposes guilt, despair, moderation, lucidity, vision, a sense of responsibility. In the Punch-and-Judy show of our century . . . there are no more guilty and also, no responsible men. It is always, “We couldn’t help it” and “We didn’t really want that to happen.” And indeed, things happen without anyone in particular being responsible for them. Everyone is dragged along and everyone gets caught somewhere in the sweep of events. We are all collectively guilty, collectively bogged down in the sins of our fathers and of our forefathers. . . . That is our misfortune, but not our guilt: guilt can exist only as a personal achievement, as a religious deed. Comedy alone is suitable for us. . . .

But the tragic is still possible even if pure tragedy is not. We can achieve the tragic out of comedy. We can bring it forth as a frightening moment, as an abyss that opens suddenly.

—Friedrich Dürrenmatt, “Problems of the Theatre”

Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s view of the theater as a vehicle for moral revelation and universal relevance is reflected in Der Besuch der alten Dame ( The Visit ), a tragicomedy combining expressionistic devices and elements of Brechtian epic theater with an inspired sense of the shocking and grotesque. At its core the play is a serious exploration of humanity’s dark side in its conviction that economics determines morality, an idea that is found in drama as early as the 1830s, with the opening scene of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck . In The Visit the tragedy is that an entire community is caught in a sweep of events that leads to a murder by the masses; Dürrenmatt’s genius is to present what is a tragedy of commission into a work of unsettling humor.

In Friedrich Dürrenmatt the attributes of the dissident intellectual coalesced with those of the rural villager, the result of a family situation in which strict Protestant training coexisted with unorthodoxy. Dürrenmatt was born in 1921 in the Swiss village of Konolfi ngen in the canton of Bern, the older of two children of Reinhold and Hulda Zimmerman Dürrenmatt. His father was the Protestant pastor of the town church and his paternal grand father, Ulrich, was an eccentric, who had been active in 19th-century Swiss politics. A fanatically conservative newspaper publisher, Ulrich was proud to have spent 10 days in jail for composing a viciously satiric poem he printed on the front page of the paper. His grandson was also affected by the tales his father told him from classical mythology and the Bible tales recounted by his mother, all of which would later provide material for his works. Dürrenmatt’s first ambition was to become a painter, and while attending secondary school in a nearby village he spent his spare time in the studio of a local painter. He continued to paint and draw as an adult, and his first published plays were accompanied by his illustrations. In 1935 the family relocated to the city of Bern, where Dürrenmatt attended the Frieies Gymnasium, a Christian secondary school. He was adept at classical languages but was otherwise a poor student, and after two and a half years there he was asked to leave. He was then sent to a private school from which he often played hooky. Rejected from the Institute of Art, Dürrenmatt studied at the University of Zurich and the University of Bern, where he tutored in Greek and Latin to earn money. After a stint in the military and a return to the University of Zurich, a bout with hepatitis sent him home to Bern, where he studied philosophy at the university and considered writing a doctoral dissertation on Søren Kierkegaard and tragedy.

Dürrenmatt began his literary career in the early 1940s with fictional sketches and prose fragments, and in 1945 he published a short story echoing the intense style of German writer Ernst Jünger. He failed in his attempt to become a theater critic as well as a cabaret sketch writer, although the latter efforts displayed his gift for social satire. In 1946 he married Lotti Geissler, an actress, and the following year the couple relocated to Basel. His first play, Es steht geschrieben ( Thus It Is Written ), performed in Zurich in 1947, is a parody of Western history in the guise of a panoramic historical drama with Brechtian influences. Set in the 16th century the 30-scene play concerns Anabaptists, their transformation of Münster into a New Jerusalem, and the destruction of the city by a coalition of Catholic and Protestant troops. At once solemn, passionate, prophetic, religious, existential, cynical, and apocalyptic, the play is unwieldy in execution, with a large cast and dialogue ranging from the biblically hymnic to the absurd. It drew boos from its first-night audience; however, reviewers praised Dürrenmatt’s potential, and he was awarded a cash prize from the Welti Foundation as an encouragement to continue writing plays. Twenty years later Dürrenmatt reworked the play as a comedy, Die Wiedertäufer ( The Anabaptists ), which was more stageworthy but failed equally with audiences. A similar fate greeted his second play, Der Blinde (1948; The Blind Man ), considered to be a pretentious, heavy-handed blend of theology and philosophy.

Dürrenmatt’s first theatrical success was Romulus der Grosse ( Romulus the Great ), performed in 1948. It is a Shavian-like tragicomedy, in which the title ruler, personifying deliberate irresponsibility and inaction, accepts that the power and tyranny of Rome must give way to truth and humanity. He refuses to try to halt the barbarian destruction of Rome and ultimately accepts a pension from the German conqueror that will allow for a comfortable retirement. In 1949 Romulus the Great became the first Dürrenmatt play to be performed in Germany, where it became a standard offering in German theater. Nevertheless, Dürrenmatt continued to suffer financially, and to help support his family, which had grown to three children, he turned to writing detective novels, which were a great success, as were his radio plays. The royalties from the latter allowed him to purchase a home near Neuchâtel in 1952, where he lived until his death in 1990. He completed the manuscript for his next play, Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi ( The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi ), in 1950. A panorama of violence and intrigue, with expressionistic touches, in which the title character destroys himself and everyone around him with his determination to impose absolute Mosaic justice, the play was rejected by Swiss theaters but was produced in 1952 at the Intimate Theatre in Munich and established Dürrenmatt as an avant-garde dramatist. Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon ( An Angel Comes to Babylon ), also produced at the Intimate Theatre in 1952, is a satire of power and bureaucracy that validates, through the hero, the beggar-artist Akki, the values of innocence and ingenuity over institutional power and corruption.’

https://viennaoperareview.com/

The philosophical, theological, and social themes that Dürrenmatt explored in his previous plays are highly developed, straightforward, and sardonically and grotesquely amusing in The Visit , first performed in Zurich in 1956 and from then on a mainstay of Western theater. The Visit is set in Guellen, a small town somewhere in German-speaking central Europe. The once-prosperous Guellen, where “Goethe spent a night” and “Brahms composed a quartet,” has decayed in recent years to the point where it is almost completely impoverished (the name in German translates to “liquid manure”). The Visit begins and concludes with a parody of a chorus like that of a Greek tragedy, which serves to give the play a classical symmetry, that heightens its sense of irony. The first act opens at the ramshackle railroad station, where four unemployed citizens sit on a bench and interest themselves in “our last remaining pleasure: watching trains go by,” as they recite a litany of woes:

Man three: Ruined.

Man four: The Wagner Factory gone crash.

Man one: Bockmann bankrupt.

Man two: The Foundry on Sunshine Square shut down.

Man three: Living on the dole.

Man four: On Poor Relief Soup.

Man one: Living?

Man two: Vegetating.

Man three: And rotting to death.

Man four: The entire township.

This chorus of men, together with Guellen’s mayor, schoolmaster, priest, and shopkeeper, gather to meet a train and greet its famous passenger, Claire Zachanassian (née Wascher), daughter of Guellen’s builder, who is visiting her hometown after 45 years. Now 63, she is the richest woman in the world, the widow of the world’s richest man, and the owner of nearly everything, including the railways. She has founded hospitals, soup kitchens, and kindergartens, and the Guelleners plan to ask her to invest in their town:

Mayor: Gentlemen, the millionairess is our only hope.

Priest: Apart from God.

Mayor: Apart from God.

Schoolmaster: But God won’t pay.

The mayor appeals to the shopkeeper, Alfred Ill (sometimes translated as Anton Schill), who was once Claire’s lover, to charm her into generosity. For his part Ill knows that if she were to make the expected financial gift, he will be victorious in the next mayoral contest. Madame Zachanassian arrives. She is a grande dame , graceful, refined, with a casual, ironic manner. She is accompanied by an unusual retinue: a butler, two gum-chewing thugs who carry her about on a sedan chair, a pair of blind eunuchs (who, as Dürrenmatt states in his postscript to the play, can either repeat each other’s lines or speak their dialogue together), her seventh husband, a black panther, and an empty coffin. When Claire and Ill greet each other, Ill calls her, as he used to, “my little wildcat” and “my little sorceress.” This sets her, as Dürrenmatt’s stage notes indicate, purring “like an old cat.” Eventually, the two leave the fulsome (and transparently false) cordiality of the town behind to meet in their old trysting places. In Konrad’s Village Woods, the four citizens from the first scene play trees, plants, wildlife, the wind, and “bygone dreams,” as Ill tries to win Claire over. When he kisses her hand, he learns that it is made of ivory; most of her body is made of artificial parts. Nevertheless, he is convinced that he has beguiled her into making the bequest. At a banquet in her honor that evening Claire sarcastically contradicts the overly flattering testimonial offered by the mayor of her unselfish behavior as a child, but declares that, “as my contribution to this joy of yours,” she proposes to give 1 million pounds to the town. There is, however, one condition: Someone must kill Alfred Ill. For her 1 million, Claire maintains, she is buying justice: Forty-five years earlier she brought a paternity suit against Ill, who bribed two witnesses to testify against her. As a result she was forced to leave Guellen in shame and to become a prostitute in Hamburg. The child, a girl, died. The two witnesses are the eunuchs, whom Claire tracked down, blinded, castrated, and added to her entourage. The butler was the magistrate in the case. The mayor indignantly rejects the offer “in the name of humanity. We would rather have poverty than blood on our hands.” Claire’s response: “I’ll wait.”

The second and third acts chronicle the decline of Guellen into temptation, moral ambiguity and complicity. In the weeks that follow the banquet, Madame Zachanassian, who, it is revealed, intentionally caused Guellen’s financial ruin, watches with grim satisfaction as the insidiousness of her proposal manifests itself in the town’s behavior. She also marries three more times; husband number eight is a famous film star, played by the same actor as husband number seven. At first gratified by the town’s loyalty to him, Ill becomes increasingly uneasy when the Guelleners, including his family, begin to buy expensive items on credit, even from his own store, and there comes into being the kind of night life and social activities found in a more prosperous town. Guelleners are clearly expecting their financial positions to change, and with this expectation comes a withdrawing of support for Ill and collective outrage for his crime of long ago. Claire’s black panther, who symbolizes Ill, is shot and killed in front of Ill’s store. Fearing for his life Ill tries to leave town on the next train but is surrounded on all sides by Guelleners. The citizens insist they are just there to wish him luck on his journey, but a terrified Ill is convinced they will kill him if he tries to board the train. He faints as the train leaves without him. The play reaches a crescendo, with the finale becoming a grand media event, when reporters and broadcasters arrive. Ill faces up to his guilt and publicly—and heroically—accepts responsibility for his crime and the judgment of the town, despite the support of the schoolmaster, the only citizen who attempts to question Guellen’s willingness to abdicate its responsibility as “a just community.” Ill is murdered by the crowd. The death is ruled a heart attack; the mayor claims Ill “died of joy,” a sentiment echoed by reporters. The mayor receives the check for 1 million, and Claire Zachanassian leaves with Ill’s body; the coffin now has its corpse. A citizen chorus descries “the plight” of poverty and praises God that “kindly fate” has intervened to provide them with such advantages as better cars, frocks, cigarettes, and commuter trains. All pray to God to “Protect all our sacred possessions, / Protect our peace and our freedom, / Ward off the night, nevermore / Let it darken our glorious town / Grown out of the ashes anew. / Let us go and enjoy our good fortune.”

In his postscript Dürrenmatt makes clear that “Claire Zachanassian represents neither justice . . . nor the Apocalypse; let her be only what she is: the richest woman in the world, whose fortune has put her in a position to act like the heroine of a Greek tragedy: absolute, cruel, something like Medea.” Guellen is the main character and Alfred Ill its scapegoat, ritually murdered so that the community can, at the same time, purge itself and justifiably accept a portion of Claire Zachanassian’s bounty. They are not wicked, claims Dürrenmatt, but, tragically, “people like the rest of us,” concerned with sin, suffering, guilt, and the pursuit of justice and redemption in an ostensibly alien and indifferent universe.

Source: Daniel S. Burt  The Drama 100 A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time

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