The Visit

In his 1966 essay “Problems of the Theatre,” Friedrich Dürrenmatt cautions against trying to interpret his characters as symbols, explaining, “Misunderstandings creep in, because people desperately search the hen yard of my drama for the egg of explanation which I steadfastly refuse to lay.” This idea is helpful in analyzing the character of Claire, who is both absurd and larger-than-life, but not a symbol representing the devil or capitalism, or the United States’ Marshall Plan for helping to rebuild Europe after World War II. Claire is the richest woman in the world, and at 63 years old, she visits her hometown for the first time in 45 years. She arrives in town with her seventh husband, but her millions came from her first husband, an Armenian oil tycoon. Claire has been quite generous with her millions (or billions, depending on the translation and currency), travelling around and starting foundations and charities. The Mayor and residents of the failing town of Guellen see her visit home (and expected cash infusion) as long overdue, having conveniently forgotten everything about her and the circumstances under which she left. Even Alfred Ill, the only person who remembers her at all, seems to have forgotten that when she was 17, he impregnated her and then paid two men to testify to having had sex with her so he could beat a paternity suit.