Dehumanization In The Visit By Feidrich Durrenmatt

Power characters emit through literature, which cause for great differences in the plot. In The Visit by Freidrich Durrenmatt, the Teacher was the character who had the correct mind set of Mrs. Claire Zachanassian which caused a great influence on how humanism was encrypted into the story line, the deceiving ways that Claire Zachanassian manipulated the law to buy justice, and the teachers view on dehumanization. Through textual evidence from the Teacher, he stayed true to himself and his morals throughout the play in order to defend Ill. This is why the teacher was the only one in the play whose morals were set accordingly. Humanism and the proper treatment of people in the story was frond upon by Claire. She was conniving and had an ego …show more content…
The definition of dehumanization would be the unfair treatment of morals of the human race, to deprive of human qualities or attributes. Treating someone like an animal would be an example of dehumanization. This is present throughout the storyline of the play in many areas whether it be by the town’s name even, exactly translating to manure. Also when Claire exposed her two eunuchs Moby and Toby who she castrated so she wouldn’t have the threat of them trying anything sexual with her and to strip them of their manhood. Another example of dehumanization was when Claire was explaining how her past husbands were used to being left very soon after their marriage. “They’re used to it. It’s my second shortage marriage. Only one with Lord Ishmael was even speedier”. This quote reveals a short advance to Claire’s inhumane thought process. She has no care in the world to provide a lasting marriage with men. She does it only for money and pleasure for herself. “Human kindness, gentlemen, is made for the purses of millionaires. With financial power like mine, you can afford yourself a new world order. The world made a whore of m, now I’ll make a whorehouse out of the world”(72). This quote is considered a primary fact of the dehumanized mind of Claire. She is stating that money is what makes the world happy. Not morals, not love, but incumbent resources of money. She was dehumanized at a young age and we see that the Teacher tries to help provide a hitch for Claire to stand on, yet he gets no support from his fellow town goers of Gullen. The Teacher tries to set the truth free in act three when he states “Calamity is battening, beware! As in Oedipus: swollen like a toad” (80). By the Teacher bringing up the allusion of Oedipus the King who was sought out to be blind of the truth of his life and kingdom, one sees