The Visit By Friedrich Dürrenmatt

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In Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play, The Visit, the decrepit town of Guellen is given the ultimate choice: They may lift themselves out of poverty through a gift from billionaire Claire Zachanassian, but in doing so, must abandon their morality and murder one of their own. As the leader of the town, the mayor has a particularly difficult struggle between morals and money. And, in the same way that the mayor represents the people in town government, the mayor’s struggle, too, reflects the struggle that the entire town experiences; a slow, painful slide into desire and decaying morality.
Before Claire arrives in Guellen, the mayor, along with the entire town, holds Alfred Ill as one of Guellen’s most beloved citizens. This is demonstrated in the opening scene of the play, when the mayor’s unaltered opinion of Ill is expressed when he says, “I’ve sounded out to Opposition: we’ve agreed to nominate you as my successor” (Dürrenmatt 15). Not only is Ill esteemed by the people of Guellen, they wish for him to become their leader, which clearly demonstrates the deep respect they have for him. This trust for Ill continues when Claire’s return to Guellen is announced, and the town puts Ill up to the task of securing a donation from Claire to revitalize the town. In a conversation with other town leaders, the mayor calls for a toast to Ill, and says he is “a man who’s doing all a man can to better our lot” (Dürrenmatt 27) In this same conversation, the mayor reveals his feelings about Claire’s purpose, stating “Ill has her in the bag… He’ll get thousands out of her” (Dürrenmatt 26). This degradation of Claire to nothing but a money source contrasts sharply to the admiration the mayor has for Ill, yet as the play progresses, the regard of ...

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...ey value Alfred Ill as their favorite citizen, and they carry on with their squalid lives. Naturally, they are quick to defend Ill when Claire offers a million to the town upon the murder of Ill. However, the seeds of desire were planted, and they grew into a powerful challenge to the town’s original values. This dissonance between desires and morals caused the distress seen in the town’s early behavior, and as the desire grows, it becomes impossible to resist. Therefore, in order to reunite their morals and desires, they change them, now citing the condemnation of Ill and acceptance of the money not as giving in to desire, but as a deliverance of justice to correct the wrong they had allowed to occur. The mayor’s speech and town’s repetition of that speech cement this change of morality, and Alfred Ill is unanimously “convicted” by this new court of justice.

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