In the play, The Visit, Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s criticism over his society, can still be seen in today’s society too. The Visit takes place during the 1950s, after WWII, and the effect of war can be seen in the play with the language and tone the author used. The author castigates the human nature. How people can be feeble to the circumstances around them and consider about only themselves. As it was in the real world during WWII and is in modern society. Dürrenmatt in his post-WWII play, The Visit, reflects how humans can be selfish and weak at any era with the plot of the play.
In order to understand better, the reader should know what “selfish” means, “devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s own interests.”These …show more content…
The war has affected the town so terribly that no-one barely survives. Mayor says, “…the billionairess is our only hope”(Dürrenmatt 5). Later the townspeople add to him that even God cannot help them. Through the language and the characters’ expressions the author indicates that society has generally lost faith. The Güllners have seen prosperous times before, which builds the situation even more difficult because it means that townspeople know what kind of money Claire is offering and how much power it has. The teacher and doctor approach to Claire for an alternative more “humanist” solution, hopefully, after everybody in the town is in debt. The stage directions can also show that the teacher tries to be “courageous” (Dürrenmatt 70) and drive Claire away because the teacher believes the Gülleners have some kind of strength against her by owning the town. The deal is to give Claire every business the town has along with the oil underneath the forest. However, Claire’s reply, “Except it’s not feasible. I can’t buy the…, because it’s mine already”(Dürrenmatt 71) establishes that she has already bought everything the Güllenners have. The author’s spontaneous wording expresses that Claire knew they would come up with an alternative to avoid the decision villagers eventually will choose. It also shows how determined Claire is with her demand. The Gülleners do not have any kind of influence over Claire …show more content…
The author points out with his play The Visit how humans are selfish and weak on a deep level universally and timelessly. Therefore, the play continues to cause for the reader to question about one’s own society. Dürrenmatt with his language, plot and even absurdness in the play implies what the Gülleners have decided to do is not unrealistic. The circumstances may have changed over the years, but the core of human beings did not. In future, the criticism may still be relevant. People would still act according to their own needs instead of what is “right” by the civilized
In order to understand better, the reader should know what “selfish” means, “devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one’s own interests.”These …show more content…
The war has affected the town so terribly that no-one barely survives. Mayor says, “…the billionairess is our only hope”(Dürrenmatt 5). Later the townspeople add to him that even God cannot help them. Through the language and the characters’ expressions the author indicates that society has generally lost faith. The Güllners have seen prosperous times before, which builds the situation even more difficult because it means that townspeople know what kind of money Claire is offering and how much power it has. The teacher and doctor approach to Claire for an alternative more “humanist” solution, hopefully, after everybody in the town is in debt. The stage directions can also show that the teacher tries to be “courageous” (Dürrenmatt 70) and drive Claire away because the teacher believes the Gülleners have some kind of strength against her by owning the town. The deal is to give Claire every business the town has along with the oil underneath the forest. However, Claire’s reply, “Except it’s not feasible. I can’t buy the…, because it’s mine already”(Dürrenmatt 71) establishes that she has already bought everything the Güllenners have. The author’s spontaneous wording expresses that Claire knew they would come up with an alternative to avoid the decision villagers eventually will choose. It also shows how determined Claire is with her demand. The Gülleners do not have any kind of influence over Claire …show more content…
The author points out with his play The Visit how humans are selfish and weak on a deep level universally and timelessly. Therefore, the play continues to cause for the reader to question about one’s own society. Dürrenmatt with his language, plot and even absurdness in the play implies what the Gülleners have decided to do is not unrealistic. The circumstances may have changed over the years, but the core of human beings did not. In future, the criticism may still be relevant. People would still act according to their own needs instead of what is “right” by the civilized