Swiss novelist and play writer, Friedrich Durrenmatt, in his tragicomedy, The Visit, tells the corrupted tale of how one woman earns her justice by turning a whole town of people against one man, all for revenge. Durrenmatt uses Claire’s revenge to show the true corruption of justice in Europe following World War II. Durrenmatt creates a suspenseful tone in order to express to his readers the idea that wealth and corruption can bring one power. Claire Zachanassian shows her power and control by dehumanizing and destroying people.
Claire first demonstrates her control by purchasing the two eunuchs and depriving them of their freedom. After falsely swearing to court about fathering Claire’s baby, Walter and Jakob, now Koby and Loby, are the first …show more content…
The two eunuchs introduce themselves by saying, “We belong to the old lady, we belong to the old lady. She calls us Koby and Loby.” (18) This is the first hint at revealing Claire’s obsession with control. By owning these two men and every aspect of their lives, Claire is able to treat them as if they were her own personal slaves. Claire goes far beyond just enslaving these men though; she really makes them pay for what they have done to her. At the end of Act I the pair states, “The lady tracked us down,” and “She gave us to Toby and Roby,” finally followed by the ever shocking “Toby and Loby castrated and blinded us.” (34) Claire seems to be a firm believer in the saying ‘what goes around comes around,’ because instead of simply killing the two, Claire has symbolically turned their lies into their reality. As the pair had once turned a blind eye towards the justice of Ill’s paternity …show more content…
Claire figures that if she owns the town, she can force it into bankruptcy, which is exactly what happens. Claire realized that she could compel the citizens to rely on her and her money to keep the town afloat, but tragically, the catch is that the only way to get this money is by turning against Ill. When speaking with the teacher about attempting to fix the town, Claire blatantly says, “I had my agents buy out the whole mess and shut every business down. Your hope was a delusion, your perseverance was pointless, your sacrifices were stupid, and your whole life has been a useless waste.” (71) Claire has purchased an entire town for the sole purpose of destroying it, just to get revenge on a man that she has wanted dead for forty-five years. The fact that she has the amount of money that she does is the only reason she was not exposed for doing this. Any person with normal finances, and some sanity, would never have been able to purchase a town, let alone get away with devastating it and everyone inside. Later on in her conversation with the teacher Claire says, “With financial power like mine, you can afford yourself a new world order. The world made a whore of me, now I’ll make a whorehouse of the world.” (72) Claire very obviously knows that what she is doing is considered ‘ethically wrong’, but frankly she does not care. Claire feels absolutely no regret for putting the
Claire first demonstrates her control by purchasing the two eunuchs and depriving them of their freedom. After falsely swearing to court about fathering Claire’s baby, Walter and Jakob, now Koby and Loby, are the first …show more content…
The two eunuchs introduce themselves by saying, “We belong to the old lady, we belong to the old lady. She calls us Koby and Loby.” (18) This is the first hint at revealing Claire’s obsession with control. By owning these two men and every aspect of their lives, Claire is able to treat them as if they were her own personal slaves. Claire goes far beyond just enslaving these men though; she really makes them pay for what they have done to her. At the end of Act I the pair states, “The lady tracked us down,” and “She gave us to Toby and Roby,” finally followed by the ever shocking “Toby and Loby castrated and blinded us.” (34) Claire seems to be a firm believer in the saying ‘what goes around comes around,’ because instead of simply killing the two, Claire has symbolically turned their lies into their reality. As the pair had once turned a blind eye towards the justice of Ill’s paternity …show more content…
Claire figures that if she owns the town, she can force it into bankruptcy, which is exactly what happens. Claire realized that she could compel the citizens to rely on her and her money to keep the town afloat, but tragically, the catch is that the only way to get this money is by turning against Ill. When speaking with the teacher about attempting to fix the town, Claire blatantly says, “I had my agents buy out the whole mess and shut every business down. Your hope was a delusion, your perseverance was pointless, your sacrifices were stupid, and your whole life has been a useless waste.” (71) Claire has purchased an entire town for the sole purpose of destroying it, just to get revenge on a man that she has wanted dead for forty-five years. The fact that she has the amount of money that she does is the only reason she was not exposed for doing this. Any person with normal finances, and some sanity, would never have been able to purchase a town, let alone get away with devastating it and everyone inside. Later on in her conversation with the teacher Claire says, “With financial power like mine, you can afford yourself a new world order. The world made a whore of me, now I’ll make a whorehouse of the world.” (72) Claire very obviously knows that what she is doing is considered ‘ethically wrong’, but frankly she does not care. Claire feels absolutely no regret for putting the