Claire Durrenmatt

769 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Characteristics of a villain in literature

In the play The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt, the character of Claire Zachanassian is presented as an antagonist, primarily because of the bargain that she has placed on the life of her former lover, Alfred Ill. With this being said, Durrenmatt does provide details of Claire's history, that when contrasted with her current malicious behaviour, reveal the effects that the past actions of Ill had on her and in turn renders a level of sympathy for this apparent antagonist.

When the character of Claire is first introduced, the audience is given very little information as to who she is or why she has come; Durrenmatt merely reveals that she is a famed millionaire returning to the town of her youth, Gullen. With this being said, it does not …show more content…

Firstly, there is the fact that she has been married to over seven men and during her time in Gullen she marries twice more. “Everyone of my marriages is happy. But it was the dream of my youth to be wed in the Gullen Cathedral.” (28) Clearly, Claire is implicitly referring to her desire to have stayed with Ill when she was seventeen, meanwhile the several husbands of hers symbolize her inability to find a man she actually loves. Along with the men surrounding her, Claire has a caged back panther following her throughout the play. The significance of this once again lies in her past relationship with Ill “ I called you my black panther” (13). Moreover, the entirety of Claire's entourage is symbolism relating to Ill and more specifically the love they once had. This all contributes to the idea that Claire never stopped loving Ill, which would suggest that her motives for wanting him killed are not driven by any hatred she has for him. “I loved you. You betrayed me. But the dream of life, of love, of trust - this dream that was reality once - I haven't forgotten that. I want to rebuild it with my billions, I will change the past, by destroying you. ”(98) From this, It would certainly be reasonable to say that Claire still has feelings for Ill and isn’t attempting to have him murdered because of her distaste for him but rather because she seeks justice, and his

Show More
Related

  • Louise Halfe

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    Louise Bernice Halfe was born in 1953 in Two Hills, Alberta. Her Cree name is SkyDancer. She grew up a member of the Saddle Lake Reserve and at the age of 7 was sent to the Blue Quills Residential School in St. Paul, Alberta. . After leaving the school at the age of 16, she attended St. Paul’s Regional High School where she began to journal about her life experiences. (McNally Robinson)

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of The Glass Castle

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    Towards the middle of the memoir, the theme is shown through the irony of Jeannette’s mother’s situation as well as Jeannette’s feelings towards

    Read More

  • My Review of the Play ‘Proof’

    599 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play is about a young woman, Catherine who had been taking care of her father during his last years of life. Anne Heche plays Catherine. Prior to this play, I have never seen Anne Heche in any acting performance. I have to say she did an outstanding job in her portrayal of Catherine. She did a fantastic job of immediately drawing you into Catherine’s world. She aptly portrays the characteristics of a girl who never got a chance to grow up and the slight madness of the genius she inherited from her father. One can easily feel sad for her because after all she gave up all her dreams to take care of her ailing father. Anne Heche plays Catherine so well that it easy for you to fall in love with Catherine and desire only good things for her.

    Read More

  • Blanche's State of Mind in Tennessee Williams’ Play, A Streetcar Named Desire

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    To conclude, the author portrays Blanche’s deteriorating mental state throughout the play and by the end it has disappeared, she is in such a mental state that doctors take her away. Even at this stage she is still completely un-aware of her surroundings and the state she is in herself.

    Read More

  • Elisabeth Louise Vigée- Lebrun

    2103 Words  | 5 Pages

    Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun was one of the most successful painters of her time. Over the course of her life, spanning from 1755-1842, she painted over 900 works. She enjoyed painting self portraits, completing almost 40 throughout her career, in the style of artists she admired such as Peter Paul Rubens (Montfort). However, the majority of her paintings were beautiful, colorful, idealized likenesses of the aristocrats of her time, the most well known of these being the Queen of France Marie Antoinette, whom she painted from 1779-1789. Not only was Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun the Queen’s portrait painter for ten years, but she also became her close, personal friend. She saw only the luxurious, carefree, colorful, and fabulous lifestyle the aristocracy lived in, rather than the poverty and suffrage much of the rest of the country was going through. Elisabeth kept the ideals of the aristocracy she saw through Marie Antoinette throughout her life, painting a picture of them that she believed to be practically perfect. Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun’s relationship with Marie Antoinette affected her social standing, politics, painting style, and career.

    Read More

  • Anna Quindlen

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    Anna Quindlen describes in the essay “Abortion is too Complex to Feel one Way About” the different situation that we as a human race are put in everyday. She talks about the topic of abortion in a way that one feels they have had to make the decision of whether or not a person is pro-choice or pro-life. She uses references that are of different personal experiences in the essay that are vital to the audience. Quindlen is writing to state her point that one should never put their self in this situation because one should take the proper responsibility. In this paper you will read about the conflict with abortion and what Quindlen thinks about this issue.

    Read More

  • A Psychological Criticism In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

    1794 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton creates an interesting plot revolving around two star-crossed lovers. Unfortunately, there is only one important thing that gets in the way of these lovers, a wife who’s a hypochondriac. Zeena, the wife, finds herself in a particular situation, a situation where she needs to figure out how to get rid of Mattie. She tries everything to get rid of her, especially her illness, using it as an excuse to get what she wants, oppressing Ethan’s desires and needs. Despite her malicious actions, she creates a justifiable reasoning of her intent. In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton creates a psychological response in regards to Zeena. Rather than being depicted as the villain of the novel, Zeena is merely the victim of

    Read More

  • Racism in Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    is the understanding of this "rich" character. In this study I will try to analyze some of his traits (invisibility-lack of indentity , blindness) and his journey from idealism to a grim realism about the racism that confronts him in the story.

    Read More

  • The Feminist Movement In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main argument of this novel has been diluted though a too widened scope of Edna’s life. Throughout the novel Edna mentions countless flat characters that do not bring much to the Awakening that she is encountering. The wide variety of characters makes the novel very frustrating level of work. The audience can become confused with the different characters and the meaning Chopin holds behind each character. The Audience will them spend infinite time trying to incorporate meaning of the characters that they lose the overall journey that Edna is challenged with. While repeatedly reading this novel it became apparent to me that many of the characters could have been excluded from the novel to make the journey more objectified. The audience could still understand the object of this novel without Alcée Arobin, Madame Lebrun, Victor Lebrun, Mariequita, Dr. Mandelet, Mrs. James Highcamp and many others. All of these characters have little to no meaning that enhances the novel. For example, Alcée Arobin played a minor role as the second affair Edna was engaged in during her awakening. Without mentioning the affair between the two, there would still be circumstantial evidence that Edna is breaking free from society. She was already moved out of her husband’s home, abandoned all duties as a

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of A Streetcar Named Desire

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    Blanche’s immoral and illogical decisions all stem from her husband's suicide. When a tragedy happens in someone’s life, it shows the person’s true colors. Blanche’s true self was an alcoholic and sex addict, which is displayed when “She rushes about frantically, hiding the bottle in a closet, crouching at the mirror and dabbing her face with cologne and powder” (Williams 122). Although Blanche is an alcoholic, she tries to hide it from others. She is aware of her true self and tries to hide it within illusions. Blanche pretends to be proper and young with her fancy clothes and makeup but is only masking her true, broken self.

    Read More

  • Proof: Movie Analysis

    2032 Words  | 5 Pages

    Colleagues and students . However , later in his life , he started to have bouts of psychosis , although the exact dis was not mentioned in the movie . Claire , Catherine 's elder sister was in New

    Read More

  • So Much Water So Close To Home by Raymond Carver

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through out the story Claire acts very irrational, especially towards men. These irrational acts are caused by the fact that she believes that men are the reason for this girl's death and the murder of women in general, and she shows this by the way she reacts to what Stuart says and towards the men in the story.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Betrayal In A Streetcar Named Desire

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    One character that has been plagued by betrayal, throughout her entire existence, is Blanche. Blanche’s husband, Allen, first betrays her. She catches him with another man and then shortly after he commits suicide. Being one of the influences behind his death, Blanche began to carry the guilt around with her. Their young love blinds them and hides all the obstacles they had to face. After catching him, she felt like she had lost part of herself, and after he shot himself, she felt like she

    Read More

  • A Streetcar Named Desire: Sympathy for Blanche

    600 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ehavior is after her and Stanley have an inappropriate encounter (possibly raped her). After that point the audience knew that after that point, Blanche could no longer stay at Stella and Stanley's apartment. Considering all of these circumstances, how can any rational being claim that anyone but Blanche is the sympathetic character?

    Read More

  • Irony In Mrs. Mallard's Death

    341 Words  | 1 Pages

    Irony is displayed by Mrs. Mallard’s death. “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.” From the first line of the story it is known what will cause her death in the end. Mrs. Mallard’s sister informed her gently of her husband’s death, and prepared her to deal with this loss; however while she was adjusting she would never be equipped for him to walk through the door. Chopin allows the reader to create their own perspective of Mrs. Mallard’s health, leading them to believe she is physically ill. Ironically, Mrs. Mallard is excited from her husband’s death; the opposite emotion her family expected from her. “Louise, open the

    Read More

More about Claire Durrenmatt

Open Document