Information AboutThe Visit |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT THE VISIT | |
| swiss plays | |
| 1956 plays | |
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''The Visit'' is the title of various English translations of Friedrich Dürrenmatt 's 1956 play '''''Der Besuch der alten Dame''''' (literally, ''The Visit of the Old Lady''). It is probably the best known of his works, at least in the English-speaking world. It has become particularly well known following its frequent study in German A-Level courses. The play deals with the themes of punishment, greed, revenge, and moral strength. PLOT SUMMARY The play centers on the fictional Central-European town of Güllen (the exact location is deliberately obscured to emphasise Dürrenmatt's point that the events could/would happen anywhere) which was always formerly a humdrum center of culture but has in the past few decades decayed into near-bankruptcy. When the play opens, the town is preparing a celebration of the arrival of Claire Zachanassian, a former resident who had since attained a great fortune and is coming back to visit. She arrives with her fiancé (throughout the play, she has several husbands – often played by the same actor – and it is mentioned repeatedly that she has had many more), and after some general festivities on the part of the townspeople she announces the true reason she has visited: when she was young she was impregnated by her lover Anton Schill (changed from Alfred Ill in the original German), who, at the paternity suit, denied the charges and Bribed two drunks to testify that they had slept with Claire, and she was shamed out of the town and eventually forced into prostitution. Now that she has become rich, she will give the town one Milliarde (billion) pounds if they kill Anton Schill, who over the years became one of Güllen's most popular townspeople. Even though Güllen is said to be situated in Central Europe , Claire Zachanassian presents her reward in pounds, so that the town is kept as an anonymous location in Europe that is detached from the outside world. The townspeople initially unanimously refuse Claire's offer – but soon they start to buy things on credit, expensive things, even from Schill's own store, as if they expect some new source of income in the future. Schill notices this and becomes troubled. The townspeople's rhetoric of support behind Schill slowly but surely changes. A Salon blog relates the rest of the story:
Schill is killed during a ceremony. All the press, women, and children leave for coffee. The men crowd around Schill and quickly turn off the lights. When the lights come back on, Schill is found lying on the floor, dead. The doctor claims it was a heartattack, fulfilling one of several ominous prophesies made by Claire in the first Act to the, at the time, bemused townspeople. Then the mayor receives the check for the billion. The dark tone suddenly gives way to a seemingly prosperous, cheerful ending for the townspeople. But this facade falls away and we see a glimpse of a fear felt by the townspeople about the future. Ironically, the only person who truly grieves Schill's passing is not Schill's wife or one of his children, but Claire Zachanassian herself. The revenge she sought for years was finally fulfilled, but she is left unsatisfied. In the play, Dürrenmatt is highly critical of the church. The character of the priest is one of the weakest, choosing to hide behind ceremony and rhetoric, rather than actually trying to help Schill or guide the townspeople. Instead the most moral character is that of the teacher. He is the only one who tries to prevent the death of Schill, but eventually he too realises that it is inevitable and is forced to turn to drink. The play is written in a kind of resigned, slow manner that reflects the state of the town after their gradual ruin (which is revealed around the middle of the play to have been intentionally brought on by Zachanassian). It is generally seen as a treatise on corrupting influence of money, but there is a lot of potential in the play for varying interpretations, both in meaning and in production. It remains, more than fifty years after its writing, a mainstay of Western theater. MAIN THEME The author often emphasized that ''The Visit'' is intended first and foremost as a Comedy . However, it is often difficult to ignore the serious and usually dark points being made about human nature throughout the play. A popular method of bringing up concerns important to German-language authors of this period was through their use of unsettling humour of this type. The fundamental underlying point of the play is that money can buy anything. As the arrival of Claire Zachanassian shows, the promise of money can lead people to hate and even murder. It can pervert the course of justice, and even turn the local teacher, who is one of the few who manage to warn Anton Schill (Alfred Ill) of his impending doom. The teacher is a self-declared humanist and his moral collapse, as well as that of the priest, demonstrates the power of money to overcome both religious and secular morality. It proves that greed can turn anyone. ADAPTATIONS ''The Visit'' is a popular production to attend for German Language students, as it is considered one of the keystones of twentieth century German-language literature. (Dürrenmatt was Swiss , not German). The play is also often used as a text for those taking German as a foreign language. The play was adapted as an Opera libretto by the author and set to music by composer Gottfried Von Einem , entitled '' Der Besuch Der Alten Dame '' and translated as ''The Visit of the Old Lady'', and was first performed in 1971 . Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn starred in a much-altered film adaptation, also called '' The Visit '', directed by Bernhard Wicki , in 1964. In 1988 a TV Movie titled ''Bring Me The Head Of Dobie Gillis'' was a version of ''The Visit'' adapted to the characters and world of '' The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis ''. Senegalese director Djibril Diop Mambéty 's film ''Hyènes'', from 1992, is based on the play. A fairly faithful Musical ''The Visit'', with music by John Kander , lyrics by Fred Ebb , and book by Terrence McNally received its first production at Chicago 's Goodman Theatre in 2001 . The Chilean Telenovela ''Romané'' loosely use some elements of the plot in the script. It gives the novela a slightly happier ending, though; the main characters aren't fully reconciled, but they manage to sort out their differences before Jovanka, the Claire equivalent, leaves the town. SEE ALSO |
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