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Analysis of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Visit

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on September 17, 2020 • ( 0 )

Tragedy presupposes guilt, despair, moderation, lucidity, vision, a sense of responsibility. In the Punch-and-Judy show of our century . . . there are no more guilty and also, no responsible men. It is always, “We couldn’t help it” and “We didn’t really want that to happen.” And indeed, things happen without anyone in particular being responsible for them. Everyone is dragged along and everyone gets caught somewhere in the sweep of events. We are all collectively guilty, collectively bogged down in the sins of our fathers and of our forefathers. . . . That is our misfortune, but not our guilt: guilt can exist only as a personal achievement, as a religious deed. Comedy alone is suitable for us. . . .

But the tragic is still possible even if pure tragedy is not. We can achieve the tragic out of comedy. We can bring it forth as a frightening moment, as an abyss that opens suddenly.

—Friedrich Dürrenmatt, “Problems of the Theatre”

Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s view of the theater as a vehicle for moral revelation and universal relevance is reflected in Der Besuch der alten Dame ( The Visit ), a tragicomedy combining expressionistic devices and elements of Brechtian epic theater with an inspired sense of the shocking and grotesque. At its core the play is a serious exploration of humanity’s dark side in its conviction that economics determines morality, an idea that is found in drama as early as the 1830s, with the opening scene of Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck . In The Visit the tragedy is that an entire community is caught in a sweep of events that leads to a murder by the masses; Dürrenmatt’s genius is to present what is a tragedy of commission into a work of unsettling humor.

In Friedrich Dürrenmatt the attributes of the dissident intellectual coalesced with those of the rural villager, the result of a family situation in which strict Protestant training coexisted with unorthodoxy. Dürrenmatt was born in 1921 in the Swiss village of Konolfi ngen in the canton of Bern, the older of two children of Reinhold and Hulda Zimmerman Dürrenmatt. His father was the Protestant pastor of the town church and his paternal grand father, Ulrich, was an eccentric, who had been active in 19th-century Swiss politics. A fanatically conservative newspaper publisher, Ulrich was proud to have spent 10 days in jail for composing a viciously satiric poem he printed on the front page of the paper. His grandson was also affected by the tales his father told him from classical mythology and the Bible tales recounted by his mother, all of which would later provide material for his works. Dürrenmatt’s first ambition was to become a painter, and while attending secondary school in a nearby village he spent his spare time in the studio of a local painter. He continued to paint and draw as an adult, and his first published plays were accompanied by his illustrations. In 1935 the family relocated to the city of Bern, where Dürrenmatt attended the Frieies Gymnasium, a Christian secondary school. He was adept at classical languages but was otherwise a poor student, and after two and a half years there he was asked to leave. He was then sent to a private school from which he often played hooky. Rejected from the Institute of Art, Dürrenmatt studied at the University of Zurich and the University of Bern, where he tutored in Greek and Latin to earn money. After a stint in the military and a return to the University of Zurich, a bout with hepatitis sent him home to Bern, where he studied philosophy at the university and considered writing a doctoral dissertation on Søren Kierkegaard and tragedy.

Dürrenmatt began his literary career in the early 1940s with fictional sketches and prose fragments, and in 1945 he published a short story echoing the intense style of German writer Ernst Jünger. He failed in his attempt to become a theater critic as well as a cabaret sketch writer, although the latter efforts displayed his gift for social satire. In 1946 he married Lotti Geissler, an actress, and the following year the couple relocated to Basel. His first play, Es steht geschrieben ( Thus It Is Written ), performed in Zurich in 1947, is a parody of Western history in the guise of a panoramic historical drama with Brechtian influences. Set in the 16th century the 30-scene play concerns Anabaptists, their transformation of Münster into a New Jerusalem, and the destruction of the city by a coalition of Catholic and Protestant troops. At once solemn, passionate, prophetic, religious, existential, cynical, and apocalyptic, the play is unwieldy in execution, with a large cast and dialogue ranging from the biblically hymnic to the absurd. It drew boos from its first-night audience; however, reviewers praised Dürrenmatt’s potential, and he was awarded a cash prize from the Welti Foundation as an encouragement to continue writing plays. Twenty years later Dürrenmatt reworked the play as a comedy, Die Wiedertäufer ( The Anabaptists ), which was more stageworthy but failed equally with audiences. A similar fate greeted his second play, Der Blinde (1948; The Blind Man ), considered to be a pretentious, heavy-handed blend of theology and philosophy.

Dürrenmatt’s first theatrical success was Romulus der Grosse ( Romulus the Great ), performed in 1948. It is a Shavian-like tragicomedy, in which the title ruler, personifying deliberate irresponsibility and inaction, accepts that the power and tyranny of Rome must give way to truth and humanity. He refuses to try to halt the barbarian destruction of Rome and ultimately accepts a pension from the German conqueror that will allow for a comfortable retirement. In 1949 Romulus the Great became the first Dürrenmatt play to be performed in Germany, where it became a standard offering in German theater. Nevertheless, Dürrenmatt continued to suffer financially, and to help support his family, which had grown to three children, he turned to writing detective novels, which were a great success, as were his radio plays. The royalties from the latter allowed him to purchase a home near Neuchâtel in 1952, where he lived until his death in 1990. He completed the manuscript for his next play, Die Ehe des Herrn Mississippi ( The Marriage of Mr. Mississippi ), in 1950. A panorama of violence and intrigue, with expressionistic touches, in which the title character destroys himself and everyone around him with his determination to impose absolute Mosaic justice, the play was rejected by Swiss theaters but was produced in 1952 at the Intimate Theatre in Munich and established Dürrenmatt as an avant-garde dramatist. Ein Engel kommt nach Babylon ( An Angel Comes to Babylon ), also produced at the Intimate Theatre in 1952, is a satire of power and bureaucracy that validates, through the hero, the beggar-artist Akki, the values of innocence and ingenuity over institutional power and corruption.’

https://viennaoperareview.com/

The philosophical, theological, and social themes that Dürrenmatt explored in his previous plays are highly developed, straightforward, and sardonically and grotesquely amusing in The Visit , first performed in Zurich in 1956 and from then on a mainstay of Western theater. The Visit is set in Guellen, a small town somewhere in German-speaking central Europe. The once-prosperous Guellen, where “Goethe spent a night” and “Brahms composed a quartet,” has decayed in recent years to the point where it is almost completely impoverished (the name in German translates to “liquid manure”). The Visit begins and concludes with a parody of a chorus like that of a Greek tragedy, which serves to give the play a classical symmetry, that heightens its sense of irony. The first act opens at the ramshackle railroad station, where four unemployed citizens sit on a bench and interest themselves in “our last remaining pleasure: watching trains go by,” as they recite a litany of woes:

Man three: Ruined.

Man four: The Wagner Factory gone crash.

Man one: Bockmann bankrupt.

Man two: The Foundry on Sunshine Square shut down.

Man three: Living on the dole.

Man four: On Poor Relief Soup.

Man one: Living?

Man two: Vegetating.

Man three: And rotting to death.

Man four: The entire township.

This chorus of men, together with Guellen’s mayor, schoolmaster, priest, and shopkeeper, gather to meet a train and greet its famous passenger, Claire Zachanassian (née Wascher), daughter of Guellen’s builder, who is visiting her hometown after 45 years. Now 63, she is the richest woman in the world, the widow of the world’s richest man, and the owner of nearly everything, including the railways. She has founded hospitals, soup kitchens, and kindergartens, and the Guelleners plan to ask her to invest in their town:

Mayor: Gentlemen, the millionairess is our only hope.

Priest: Apart from God.

Mayor: Apart from God.

Schoolmaster: But God won’t pay.

The mayor appeals to the shopkeeper, Alfred Ill (sometimes translated as Anton Schill), who was once Claire’s lover, to charm her into generosity. For his part Ill knows that if she were to make the expected financial gift, he will be victorious in the next mayoral contest. Madame Zachanassian arrives. She is a grande dame , graceful, refined, with a casual, ironic manner. She is accompanied by an unusual retinue: a butler, two gum-chewing thugs who carry her about on a sedan chair, a pair of blind eunuchs (who, as Dürrenmatt states in his postscript to the play, can either repeat each other’s lines or speak their dialogue together), her seventh husband, a black panther, and an empty coffin. When Claire and Ill greet each other, Ill calls her, as he used to, “my little wildcat” and “my little sorceress.” This sets her, as Dürrenmatt’s stage notes indicate, purring “like an old cat.” Eventually, the two leave the fulsome (and transparently false) cordiality of the town behind to meet in their old trysting places. In Konrad’s Village Woods, the four citizens from the first scene play trees, plants, wildlife, the wind, and “bygone dreams,” as Ill tries to win Claire over. When he kisses her hand, he learns that it is made of ivory; most of her body is made of artificial parts. Nevertheless, he is convinced that he has beguiled her into making the bequest. At a banquet in her honor that evening Claire sarcastically contradicts the overly flattering testimonial offered by the mayor of her unselfish behavior as a child, but declares that, “as my contribution to this joy of yours,” she proposes to give 1 million pounds to the town. There is, however, one condition: Someone must kill Alfred Ill. For her 1 million, Claire maintains, she is buying justice: Forty-five years earlier she brought a paternity suit against Ill, who bribed two witnesses to testify against her. As a result she was forced to leave Guellen in shame and to become a prostitute in Hamburg. The child, a girl, died. The two witnesses are the eunuchs, whom Claire tracked down, blinded, castrated, and added to her entourage. The butler was the magistrate in the case. The mayor indignantly rejects the offer “in the name of humanity. We would rather have poverty than blood on our hands.” Claire’s response: “I’ll wait.”

The second and third acts chronicle the decline of Guellen into temptation, moral ambiguity and complicity. In the weeks that follow the banquet, Madame Zachanassian, who, it is revealed, intentionally caused Guellen’s financial ruin, watches with grim satisfaction as the insidiousness of her proposal manifests itself in the town’s behavior. She also marries three more times; husband number eight is a famous film star, played by the same actor as husband number seven. At first gratified by the town’s loyalty to him, Ill becomes increasingly uneasy when the Guelleners, including his family, begin to buy expensive items on credit, even from his own store, and there comes into being the kind of night life and social activities found in a more prosperous town. Guelleners are clearly expecting their financial positions to change, and with this expectation comes a withdrawing of support for Ill and collective outrage for his crime of long ago. Claire’s black panther, who symbolizes Ill, is shot and killed in front of Ill’s store. Fearing for his life Ill tries to leave town on the next train but is surrounded on all sides by Guelleners. The citizens insist they are just there to wish him luck on his journey, but a terrified Ill is convinced they will kill him if he tries to board the train. He faints as the train leaves without him. The play reaches a crescendo, with the finale becoming a grand media event, when reporters and broadcasters arrive. Ill faces up to his guilt and publicly—and heroically—accepts responsibility for his crime and the judgment of the town, despite the support of the schoolmaster, the only citizen who attempts to question Guellen’s willingness to abdicate its responsibility as “a just community.” Ill is murdered by the crowd. The death is ruled a heart attack; the mayor claims Ill “died of joy,” a sentiment echoed by reporters. The mayor receives the check for 1 million, and Claire Zachanassian leaves with Ill’s body; the coffin now has its corpse. A citizen chorus descries “the plight” of poverty and praises God that “kindly fate” has intervened to provide them with such advantages as better cars, frocks, cigarettes, and commuter trains. All pray to God to “Protect all our sacred possessions, / Protect our peace and our freedom, / Ward off the night, nevermore / Let it darken our glorious town / Grown out of the ashes anew. / Let us go and enjoy our good fortune.”

In his postscript Dürrenmatt makes clear that “Claire Zachanassian represents neither justice . . . nor the Apocalypse; let her be only what she is: the richest woman in the world, whose fortune has put her in a position to act like the heroine of a Greek tragedy: absolute, cruel, something like Medea.” Guellen is the main character and Alfred Ill its scapegoat, ritually murdered so that the community can, at the same time, purge itself and justifiably accept a portion of Claire Zachanassian’s bounty. They are not wicked, claims Dürrenmatt, but, tragically, “people like the rest of us,” concerned with sin, suffering, guilt, and the pursuit of justice and redemption in an ostensibly alien and indifferent universe.

Source: Daniel S. Burt  The Drama 100 A Ranking of the Greatest Plays of All Time

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The Visit: A Tragi-comedy Summary & Study Guide

The Visit: A Tragi-comedy Summary & Study Guide Description

The impoverished town of Guellen looks to Claire Zachanassian for financial salvation. When she offers them a million dollars if they kill Ill, a citizen of the town and her former lover, the townspeople initially refuse, but their resolve is worn down by the allure of wealth, and they wind up carrying out her wish.

As the play opens, the townspeople of Guellen are preparing for the arrival of Claire Zachanassian, a millionaire who was born there, hoping that she will help relieve their poverty. Claire arrives with her husband, her eighth, and her butler, Boby. The townspeople greet her with much fanfare. Among those greeting her is Ill, now an old man, who was once her lover when they were younger. Claire asks to see the places where she and Ill made love and she travels to them. After she leaves, the townspeople remark that she seems to think of herself as some kind of Greek Fate, as if she controls the destiny of men. Meanwhile, Claire and Ill recall their old relationship. Claire was in love with him, but he left her to marry his current wife. Crushed, she left the town and became a prostitute and, luckily, attracted the attention of a rich Armenian whom she married (and later divorced after getting most of his money). Claire and Ill go the town's hotel, the Golden Apostle, and the mayor gives a speech in praise of her. She thanks the mayor and, to the town's delight, offers them a million dollars. They rejoice, but she interrupts by saying that it comes with a condition. Ill, she says, impregnated her and then bribed two men to lie to a judge to avoid any responsibility. Since she was denied justice then, she demands it now and promises to give the money upon Ill's murder. The mayor, on behalf of the town, insists that they will not do it, but Claire leaves the offer open.

Ill, at first heartened by the town's show of support for him, starts to become suspicious as he notices that everyone in the town, even the priest and mayor, have purchased all sorts of new, expensive goods. He fears that they will get used to living that way and will weaken in the resolve not to kill him so they can sustain their lifestyle. Everyone he conveys this fear to dismisses him, but gradually they change their tactic and focus instead on the "crime" he committed against Claire. Ill tries to leave town, but the townspeople stand in his way while schizophrenically denying that they are preventing him from going.

Ill comes to the conclusion that he brought this misfortune on himself by mistreating Claire. The mayor says that the they will hold a town meeting which will decide Ill's fate, and he promises to abide by whatever decision they come to. Ill goes on a ride with his family in his son's new automobile and gets out of the car at Village Wood, a place where he and Claire once made love, and finds her there. They talk for awhile about their past together and what she plans to do with his body. He leaves for the town hall where reporters have gathered to cover the meeting, though they are unaware of the condition Claire attached to her offer. After giving another speech, the mayor has the press leave and the townspeople vote unanimously—except for Ill—to kill him. They immediately surround him and kill him. When the press return, the townspeople say that Ill died of joy to know that the town would be rescued from its poverty. The town then breaks into chorus and reassures itself, citing the evil of poverty and rejoicing in how wonderful their lives will now be.

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FOLLOW BOOKRAGS:

by Friedrich Duerrenmatt

The visit summary and analysis of act 2.

Act 2 opens with a view of the balcony of the Golden Apostle Hotel and Alfred Ill 's general store. The scene is ominous: the town is clearly a grimy place, and Roby and Toby are passing by, carrying funereal flowers. Ill, feeling relatively confident that the townspeople are on his side, speaks briefly with his son and daughter, asking them where they are going. His son, he learns, is headed to the railway station, and his daughter is going to the Labour Exchange. They are both seeking jobs.

Claire stands on the balcony of the hotel, looking for her prosthetic leg. A townsman enters Ill's store to buy cigarettes, and the audience learns that Ill frequently allows the townspeople to purchase anything that they need on credit. From the balcony, Claire asks Roby to play an Armenian folk-song, and comments that her husband Zachanassian had been "a great teacher, and a great dancer; a real devil. I've copied him completely" (232). More women from the town enter Ill's store to buy milk, butter, bread, and chocolate - all on credit. Some men, watching as Claire smokes an expensive cigar on the balcony, vocally criticize her extravagance. The men also reinforce the idea that Ill is the most popular man in town, and discuss the fact that he will be elected mayor in the spring. Suddenly, a half-naked girl, Louisa , rushes across the stage, chased by Toby. Husband VIII (or "Hoby," as Claire calls him), joins Claire on the balcony. He is a film star: tall and slender, with a red moustache.

Suddenly, Ill notices that the townspeople in his shop are all wearing new yellow shoes. Shocked by this unexpected display of wealth, he begins to feel fearful and goes to the Policeman , demanding that he arrest Claire for the incitement of his murder. The Policeman, however, says that no one is taking her offer seriously, and that there is no real threat. Ill looks down, and sees that the Policeman himself is wearing new yellow shoes. He exclaims that the town is running itself into debt, and that the standard of living is rising. Soon, there will be an even greater need to kill him. The Policeman begins to protest, and Ill notices a gold tooth flashing in his mouth.

Ill rushes to the Mayor , who sets a revolver down upon Ill's entrance. In response to Ill's visible dismay, the Mayor explains that he has armed himself because Claire's black panther is on the loose. The Mayor is smoking expensive cigarettes, and Ill again expresses his nervousness about the rising standard of living. He complains that the Policeman wouldn't do anything about his concern. The Mayor chides Ill: "You're forgetting you're in Guellen. A city of Humanist traditions. Goethe spent a night here. Brahms composed a quartet here. We owe allegiance to our lofty heritage" (243). He continues: "If you're unable to place any trust in our community, I regret it for your sake. I didn't expect such a nihilistic attitude from you. After all, we live under the rule of law" (244). The Mayor then adds that there is no way that Ill can expect to be voted into his office in the coming election: "The post of Mayor requires certain guarantees of good moral character which you can no longer furnish" (244). Additionally, the Mayor has decided that the matter of Claire's gift should be kept out of the press. Alfred responds: "For me, silence is too dangerous" (245).

As Claire discusses her coming wedding with her new fiance, he declares that Guellen is boring: "And nothing else is happening at all, either to the landscape or to the people, it's all a picture of deep, carefree peace and contentment and cosy comfort. No grandeur, no tragedy. Not a trace of the spiritual dedication of a great age" (246).

Ill goes to the Priest and alerts him to the "rise in the standard of living." The Priest answers enigmatically: "It's the spectre of your conscience rising" (247). The Priest goes on to declare: "You are your own Hell. You are older than I am, and you think you know people, but in the end one only knows oneself...You impute your own nature to others. All too naturally. The cause of our fear and our sin lies in our own hearts. Once you have acknowledged that, you will have conquered your torment and acquired a weapon whereby to master it" (247). When Ill expresses his fear about the fact that the townspeople are buying new washing machines and radios that they can scarcely afford, the sound of a new bell tolls. The Priest ignores Ill's alarm and declares the bell "rich and powerful. Just affirming life" (248). Ill realizes that even the Priest is complicit in his slaughter.

Gunshots ring out, and the Butler informs Claire that the black panther has been killed. She commands Roby to play a funeral march on his guitar, and the balcony disappears from the stage. The scene then shifts to the railway station, where there is a new poster that reads "Travel South" and is decorated with a sun. Ill appears with his suitcase. Strangely enough, the Mayor and the townspeople are also gathered there. The Mayor greets him amiably, and asks him where he is going. Ill says that he's planning to go to Australia. Everyone seems confused. Ill explains that he wrote a letter to the Chief Constable in Kaffigen, and that the Post Office refused to send the letter. The Mayor again tells Ill that no one wants to kill him, and the townspeople echo the Mayor's sentiment. Ill, however, notices that they are all wearing new trousers. The train pulls into the station, and everyone flocks around him to wish him a good trip ("Long life and prosperity!"). However, Ill doesn't seem to be able to board the train. He is convinced that someone will stop him, and wonders who it will be. In the end, he cannot bring himself to leave, and collapses in the crowd, crying: "I am lost!" (252).

Act 2 opens with a scene reminiscent of the balcony scene in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet . However, whereas in Romeo and Juliet the love scene is romantic and idyllic, [ The Visit ] offers a darkly comedic, grotesque interpretation: the lovers are old and ugly, and their youthful love affair ended in a sordid manner that invalidates the romantic notions espoused by Shakespeare's work. Duerrenmatt destroys idealistic notions of romantic love by revealing the grotesque monstrosity that it can be transformed into.

At the opening of Act 2, Claire sits on the balcony of her hotel room, looking down on the town below and watching as Ill and his wife manage the everyday doings of the general store. The audience learns that Ill, the most popular man in town and the likely successor to the Mayor of Guellen, has won the hearts of the townspeople largely because he facilitates their survival by permitting them to purchase goods and supplies from his store on credit. This relationship has given him a sense of solidarity with the town, and he feels confident that they will reject Claire's proposition in return for his history of generosity.

Act 2 also offers the audience a glimpse of Ill's son and daughter, both of whom are leaving in search of employment. In Act 1, Ill complained to Claire that his children had no ideals. Duerrenmatt uses the children to illustrate his belief that ideals become weak in the face of poverty; indeed, in impoverished children it is near-impossible to breed any sense of idealism whatsoever: their key concern is survival. Impoverished children search for work and worry about money; education and ideals are only a secondary concern. The condition of Ill's children hints at the more general status of the town of Guellen. At the end of Act 1, the Mayor rejected Claire's proposal with a grand declaration of idealism, asserting that the town would rather be poor than have blood on its hands. However, Duerrenmatt forces the audience to consider how strong this idealistic commitment really is.

As Act 2 progresses, Ill begins to notice a disturbing pattern in the behavior of the townspeople. When he vocalizes his worries, however, everyone else around him refuses to "see" the truth, denying that anything is amiss. Ill worries about the fact that the townspeople are wearing new shoes, and that they are purchasing increasingly expensive items on credit, while at the same time hypocritically denouncing Claire's extravagance and Louisa's debauchery. The contrast between Louisa and Claire serves as a visual and symbolic arc depicting Claire's life. The townspeople criticize both figures, but in a manner that suggests unconscious envy: they wish to be sexual and free in their youth, and then wealthy and famous in their old age.

Ill, seeing the rise in the standard of living, suspects that the townspeople are spending beyond their means in subconscious anticipation of Claire's gift. The townspeople are purchasing more and more items in the expectation that they will soon be given the money needed to pay off the debts and to generally live a far more comfortable life. The changes in the townspeople's behavior allow Ill to "see" the possibility of his own death.

Ill seeks help from three prominent townspeople: the Policeman, the Mayor, and the Priest. These three characters represent the law, the government, and the Church, social bodies that have traditionally functioned to protect the weak and to prevent injustice. Each of the men, however, fails Ill. Duerrenmatt clearly believes that these institutions are just as susceptible to corruption as the "average" person. The Policeman, like the rest of the townspeople, wears new yellow shoes and has a new gold tooth in his mouth, but insists to Ill that there is nothing to fear, because no one is taking Claire's proposition seriously. Indeed, the Policeman even rejects Ill's request that he arrest Claire, thereby underscoring the fact that Claire is, indeed, above the law. Claire's plan for vengeance, it seems, is a clever one, because she has merely made a "suggestion" that the townspeople can easily pretend is not real.

The Mayor, while not wearing new yellow shoes, is smoking more expensive cigarettes than usual when Ill comes to see him. He essentially tells Ill that he ought to have faith in the town and its citizens, and that Guellen's humanist history would never allow the townspeople to accept Claire's conditional gift. At the same time, however, the Mayor is holding a gun, and tradition holds that whenever a gun is seen in a play, it must eventually be fired. It is implied that the gun will be pointed, either literally or figuratively, at Ill. In other words, the appearance of the gun renders Ill's death even more probable. From the Mayor, Ill receives three crucial pieces of information. First, he learns that Claire's black panther is on the loose and is a danger to society (hence the Mayor's possession of a gun). "Black panther," however, was the term of endearment that Claire used for Ill when they were lovers; the town's reaction to the panther therefore suggests their attitude towards Ill himself. Second, the Mayor informs Ill that, because of his past indiscretions, he no longer has a future in politics. In other words, his past has destroyed any possibility that he will rise to a position of power in the town. While this is of course a characteristic of modern politics, the irony lies in the fact that even though the Mayor faults Ill for his misdeeds, he (and by extension, the political system) is just as corrupt. The Mayor's expensive cigarettes and the fact that the townspeople are considering murdering one of their own (with the Mayor's approval) both stand as evidence of the corruptibility of the political system. Finally, the Mayor tells Ill that news of Claire's proposition will not be published in the newspapers. This, Ill quickly realizes, is a dangerous development: such secrecy ensures that he will be unable to gather support from outside of the town. Silence, in other words, isolates Ill, locking him into a figurative "cage".

The Priest's garments have not been visibly altered, so Ill entertains the brief hope that he has found help at last. The Priest, however, simply offers Ill a speech that sounds profound, but at core is vague and wholly unhelpful. Duerrenmatt uses the character of the Priest to suggest that the Church is just as corruptible as its secular cousins, and is in fact an institution that espouses empty rhetoric and is slow to take action. When Ill hears the tolling of a new bell, he realizes that even the Church has been spending money in expectation of his death and Claire's resulting gift. The Priest's words, "Rich and powerful. Just affirming life," overtly refer to the sound of the bell, but in fact is a rationalization of Claire's conditional gift. Claire is rich and powerful, and her gift will "reaffirm life" by saving the townspeople of Guellen from their impoverishment and misery. Ill realizes that he will not find help even in the Church, a place that ought to have offered him solace and served as a check on the power of the government and the law. While it is perhaps unsurprising when institutions fashioned by men to govern society suffer from corruption, Duerrenmatt expresses the belief that the Church is just as susceptible to the temptations of wealth. By the end of Act 2, Ill is the very picture of a condemned man: isolated, bereft of sympathy and aid.

The news of the black panther's death cements the inevitability of Ill's fate. While Ill has spent the entirety of Act 2 toying with the possibility of his imminent death, the slaughter of the black panther makes his demise a certainty . In the final scene Ill, propelled by fear, appears at the train station where he had previously awaited Claire's arrival. He hopes to flee the town, but finds a surreal scene awaiting him: all of the townspeople are gathered at the station to "see him off". He attempts to leave, but recognizes that his efforts are futile: although the townspeople bid him farewell, he is convinced that someone will prevent him from boarding the train, and also realizes that escape will bring him only temporary relief, given the breadth of Claire's power (recall that she was able to locate Koby and Loby at the very ends of the earth). In the end, he can do nothing; he is rendered utterly powerless. The effect is not unlike the powerlessness created by poverty; an impoverished individual, though autonomous in the ideal sense, is boxed in by his or her circumstances. The only hope for release and redemption lies in forgiveness, but Ill recognizes that he is beyond help. The townspeople have gone too far: they have tasted wealth, and are unwilling to surrender the joys of plenty.

The Visit Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Visit is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

What are the actors celebrating in "The Visit"?

The actors are attending a homecoming celebration.

grandparents

Ok, so i know this is weird because this answer is 4 to 5 years from when you asked this question. But, what happened is the real grandparents were working at the asylum. and the fake grandparents broke out and went to there house, knowing they...

How do I choose the best Laravel developers?

Sorry, this is a literature site.

Study Guide for The Visit

The Visit study guide contains a biography of Friedrich Duerrenmatt, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Visit
• The Visit Summary
• Character List

Essays for The Visit

The Visit literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Visit.

• Examining Claire Zachanassian in Act One of The Visit
• An Exploration of Mob Mentality in The Visit
• The Ironic Tragicomedy
• The Effect of Dehumanization in The Visit
• Poverty and Humanistic Values in The Visit

Lesson Plan for The Visit

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Visit
• Relationship to Other Books
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Macbeth Act 3: Characters, Themes, Motifs

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House Republicans reject their own funding bill with a shutdown around the corner

WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Wednesday defeated their own plan to avert a government shutdown at the end of the month, with the party divided over the length of a short-term funding bill and what, if anything, should be attached to it.

It was an embarrassing blow to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who had yanked the same funding package off the floor last week amid growing GOP defections, only to watch it collapse on Wednesday in a vote that seemed doomed from the start.

The vote was 202-220 with two members voting present. In all, fourteen Republicans voted against the package, and three Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Don Davis of North Carolina — voted for it.

Thirteen days before money runs out for the federal government, there is still no bipartisan plan to stave off a shutdown. While the GOP-led House could try again, the focus now likely shifts to the Senate, where leaders in both parties agree a shutdown would be disastrous weeks before the election.

Johnson’s plan called for extending funding at current spending levels for six months, through March 2025, and linking it with the SAVE Act , Donald Trump-backed legislation requiring that people show proof of citizenship to register to vote.

A GOP-only funding bill was always going to be a heavy lift for Johnson given Republicans’ razor-thin majority and the fact that a number of GOP lawmakers — a mix of fiscal conservatives and defense hawks — had vowed for days to tank it.

Democrats want a “clean” three-month funding patch with nothing attached, and virtually all voted no on the Johnson plan. Many oppose the SAVE Act, noting that it is already illegal , and rare , for noncitizens to vote .

GOP opponents were comprised of some unusual bedfellows. Some conservatives said they never vote for stopgap funding bills, known as continuing resolutions, or CRs, while Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., has warned that half a year is too long for military spending to remain stagnant.

That would be "devastating" to the Pentagon, the chairman told NBC News before the vote.

Other GOP defections included Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado; Matt Gaetz and Cory Mills, both of Florida; Nancy Mace of South Carolina; and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

But the overwhelming majority of rank-and-file Republicans backed Johnson’s move, saying holding the vote would put lawmakers on record.

“I think it’s good to put it on the floor, let people know who the people are that support it and don’t,” Rep. Warren Davidson, of Ohio, said earlier Wednesday. “I think that’s more important to call the vote, let the record show who stands where. Everyone.”

Davidson, who was ousted in July from the far-right House Freedom Caucus, lamented that Republicans have failed to unify behind a plan weeks before the election. “It’s a combination of bedwetters who won’t fight for anything,” he said, “and purists who won’t fight for anything unless it’s perfect.”

Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, has loomed large in the funding fight. Hours before the vote, Trump reiterated his message that Republicans should shut down the government unless the SAVE Act becomes law.

"If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form," Trump wrote on Truth Social , making the baseless claim that tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants will vote in the upcoming election.

"Only American Citizens should be voting in our Most Important Election in History, or any Election! A Vote must happen BEFORE the Election, not AFTER the Election when it is too late," Trump added. "BE SMART, REPUBLICANS, YOU’VE BEEN PUSHED AROUND LONG ENOUGH BY THE DEMOCRATS. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN."

After the vote, Johnson met with reporters and defended his strategy but declined to share what his next play call would be.

"The play that we ran tonight was the right play. It's the right play for the American people. It's the one they demand and deserve," Johnson said just off the House floor, using his favorite football metaphors.

"We have two very important objectives right now. Congress has an obligation to fund the government. Congress has an obligation to ensure that our elections are secure, fair and free. This vote tonight could have accomplished both. I'm very disappointed that it didn't pass."

The government is slated to shut down at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 1 unless Republicans and Democrats can reach a deal on short-term funding.

That won’t include the speaker’s plan, which is dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate and faces a veto threat from President Joe Biden.

Instead, the likely next step will be Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., bringing to the floor a clean CR, funding the government past the election into December. That would buy time for bipartisan negotiators to strike a longer-term funding deal during the lame-duck session for fiscal year 2025 — if a short-term bill can pass the House.

"Plan B's always been a clean CR," Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., said of the need to eventually pass a short-term patch.

Schumer called on Johnson to negotiate with Senate Democrats in a statement after the vote. “For weeks, Speaker Johnson pursued a partisan ploy knowing full well it had no chance of passing or averting a shutdown. We now have only a few days left for House Republicans to come to their senses, come to the table, and come together with Democrats to craft a bipartisan agreement," he said.

With the Nov. 5 general election just 48 days away, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is warning that a shutdown would be politically devastating for the GOP.

"One thing you cannot have at the government shutdown would be politically beyond stupid for us to do that right before the election," McConnell said Tuesday, "because certainly we'd get the blame."

House Appropriations Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said after Wednesday's meeting that he had complete faith in Johnson figuring out how to avert a shutdown, noting the speaker reached a funding deal earlier this year with Schumer for the current fiscal year.

"At the end of the day, if he ever wanted to shut down the government, he had a lot of opportunities to do that," Cole said. "Since he's been speaker, he's never let it happen. I don't think he ever will."

Former House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro, now the top Democrat on the panel, said she hopes bipartisan negotiators can now sit down and hammer out a clean funding bill to keep the lights on.

"I think we're going to get to where we need to go because we have to," DeLauro, D-Conn., said. "We need people who have an understanding of what a shutdown means. And I think that [Republicans] will figure out that it is politically devastating."

Scott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.

Syedah Asghar is a Capitol Hill researcher for NBC News and is based in Washington, D.C.

Kyle Stewart is a field producer covering Congress for NBC News.

Brennan Leach is NBC News' Capitol Hill intern. 

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