Role of Music in the Visit

2107 Words9 Pages
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT On The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt RESEARCH QUESTION: “The Role of Music and its Importance in Friedrich Durrenmatt’s play ‘The Visit’.” Reflective Statement The Visit, a translated text originally penned by Friedrich Durrenmatt in German, revolves around the fictional town of Guellen, in Switzerland. Written in 1956, it was a criticism of the foreign policy of the Swiss Government, during the Second World War. This aforementioned theme seems forms the crux of this play. From the discussions held in class, we learned that despite Switzerland’s neutral status in the Second World War, it was forced to aid the Nazi government of Germany, due to its proximity to it. Hence Switzerland’s neutrality was, in Durrenmatt’s opinion, its undoing. Had the Swiss government firmly sided with the allies in the first place, the Nazis could not have coerced it into aiding them. I can observe parallel themes of this idea in the play too, where the Guelleners, not staunch enough in their original stand to side by Alfred Ill and refuse Claire’s offer, slowly become victims of their own need, and eventually decide to sacrifice Alfred Ill. Hence, Guellen (meaning ‘to manure’ in German) is a symbolic representation of Switzerland, in the Second World War. Also discussed, was the ‘rise of feminism’ in Europe, post-World War II. This revolutionary movement too, had found its place in history, as well as Durrenmatt’s The Visit. Claire Zachanassian, perhaps the most important character in the play, is a women, and an extremely powerful one at that. There exists a stark contrasts between the Clara Wascher that was declared persona non grata from Guellen, for his dishonourable sexual exploits, which ultimately resulted in her carrying a child in her womb while still unmarried, and the all-powerful, god-like Claire Zachanassian she returned as. Another important
Open Document