Playwright, Friedrich Durrenmatt, in his play, The Visit, uses his text to comment on society, post-WWII. Durrenmatt’s purpose is to bring to light issues that are facing society, especially in Switzerland, in the early to mid-1950s. Durrenmatt creates a satirical tone and uses the genre of tragicomedy to convey to his readers and patrons his thoughts and opinions on what is going on in society during his lifetime. In order to convey the issues Durrenmatt sees facing society in the 1950s in a more relatable fashion, he uses satire. Satire criticizes or ridicules people, ideologies, problems, and corruption through the use of exaggeration, parody, blatancy, and irony. One of the ways Durrenmatt achieves this is the use of the character, Claire
…show more content…
The genre of tragicomedy uses tragic events alongside comic relief and ridiculousness in order to convey opinions or ideals to an audience. Tragicomedy also uses a great deal of irony to accomplish this purpose. An example of this is, “Claire Zachanassian: Next time you determine the cause of death, call it a heart attack. Ill: My little wildcat! What hilarious jokes you make!” (17). This is a great example of irony in, The Visit, because Claire is foreshadowing Ill’s murder and he is completely oblivious to it. Ill thinks that Claire is just making another joke; when she is actually plotting his demise. Another example of irony in, The Visit, comes via the townspeople. They say, “Second Man: You’ll be elected mayor in the spring. First Man: That’s dead certain. The Woman: Dead certain, Mr. Ill, dead certain” (41). At this point in the play, the people have begun to subconsciously turn on Ill. They begin to charge expensive things and spend the money Claire has promised them before they have obtained it. The townspeople saying that it is “dead certain” Ill will be elected mayor is another form of foreshadowing Ill’s death. These examples are humorous because of how oblivious Ill is to his situation. In this instance, Ill represents how oblivious Europe and Switzerland are to the problems Durrenmatt feels are facing them …show more content…
He uses these literary devices to show how he feels Europe and Switzerland are under the control of, owned, by America, capitalism, and big business. He accomplishes this by using Claire to represent capitalism, big business, and America, and the town/townspeople to represent Europe and Switzerland. An example of this use is, “We belong to the old lady, we belong to the old lady. She calls us Koby and Loby” (18). Koby and Loby are the two men who lied at Claire’s trial to protect Ill in exchange for a bottle of Schnapps. They represent the corruptibility of the justice system and the fact the townspeople can be bought for so little in exchange for someone else’s life. As the townspeople come more under the influence of Claire and her money, they even begin to mimic the behavior of Koby and Loby. Another example of this use is, “I own those too… I had my agents buy 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). This shows how Claire is the embodiment of the town’s problems, and that she does not care at all what happens to the town, or its people, as long as she gains what she desires. In order to gain what she wants, Claire flaunts her money or just outright bribes people because she knows that is what
The genre of tragicomedy uses tragic events alongside comic relief and ridiculousness in order to convey opinions or ideals to an audience. Tragicomedy also uses a great deal of irony to accomplish this purpose. An example of this is, “Claire Zachanassian: Next time you determine the cause of death, call it a heart attack. Ill: My little wildcat! What hilarious jokes you make!” (17). This is a great example of irony in, The Visit, because Claire is foreshadowing Ill’s murder and he is completely oblivious to it. Ill thinks that Claire is just making another joke; when she is actually plotting his demise. Another example of irony in, The Visit, comes via the townspeople. They say, “Second Man: You’ll be elected mayor in the spring. First Man: That’s dead certain. The Woman: Dead certain, Mr. Ill, dead certain” (41). At this point in the play, the people have begun to subconsciously turn on Ill. They begin to charge expensive things and spend the money Claire has promised them before they have obtained it. The townspeople saying that it is “dead certain” Ill will be elected mayor is another form of foreshadowing Ill’s death. These examples are humorous because of how oblivious Ill is to his situation. In this instance, Ill represents how oblivious Europe and Switzerland are to the problems Durrenmatt feels are facing them …show more content…
He uses these literary devices to show how he feels Europe and Switzerland are under the control of, owned, by America, capitalism, and big business. He accomplishes this by using Claire to represent capitalism, big business, and America, and the town/townspeople to represent Europe and Switzerland. An example of this use is, “We belong to the old lady, we belong to the old lady. She calls us Koby and Loby” (18). Koby and Loby are the two men who lied at Claire’s trial to protect Ill in exchange for a bottle of Schnapps. They represent the corruptibility of the justice system and the fact the townspeople can be bought for so little in exchange for someone else’s life. As the townspeople come more under the influence of Claire and her money, they even begin to mimic the behavior of Koby and Loby. Another example of this use is, “I own those too… I had my agents buy 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). This shows how Claire is the embodiment of the town’s problems, and that she does not care at all what happens to the town, or its people, as long as she gains what she desires. In order to gain what she wants, Claire flaunts her money or just outright bribes people because she knows that is what