Der Besuch der alten Dame

The Visit
Written by	Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Date premiered	1956
Original language	German
Genre	Tragicomedy
Setting	Güllen

The Visit (German: Der Besuch der alten Dame) is a 1956 tragicomic play by Swiss dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt.

An enormously wealthy older woman returns to her former hometown with a dreadful bargain: She wants the townspeople to kill the man who got her pregnant, then jilted her. In exchange, she will provide enough money to revitalize the decrepit town. The townspeople eventually agree.

The story opens with the town of Güllen preparing for the arrival of famed billionaire Claire Zachanassian, who grew up there. Güllen has fallen on hard times, and the townspeople hope that Claire will provide them with much-needed funds. Anton Schill (Alfred Ill in the German language version) is the owner of Güllen’s general store and the most popular man in town. He was Claire’s lover when they were young, and agrees with the mayor that the task of convincing her to make a donation should fall to him. Claire arrives, accompanied by her husband. She begins a flirtatious exchange with Ill, who pretends to find her as delightful as ever, even though they are now both in their sixties and significantly overweight. Claire draws Ill’s attention to her prosthetic leg and artificial hand.

After settling into the hotel, Claire joins the rest of the town, who have gathered outside for a homecoming celebration. Claire takes the opportunity to announce that she will make a huge donation: one billion (presumably Swiss francs), half for the town and half to be shared among the families. The townspeople are overjoyed, but their happiness is dampened when Claire’s butler steps forward to reveal her condition for the donation. The butler was once the Lord Chief Justice of Güllen, and had heard the paternity suit that Claire had brought against Ill in 1910. In the suit, Ill produced two false witnesses (who have since been transformed into Claire’s eunuchs), and the court ruled in his favor. Ill went on to marry Mathilde, who owned the general store. Claire, meanwhile, moved to Hamburg and became a prostitute; her child died after one year. Her donation is conditional on someone killing Ill. The mayor refuses and the town seems aghast, but Claire says that she will wait.

As time passes, Ill becomes increasingly paranoid as he sees everyone purchasing especially costly items on credit in his shop. Ill visits the police officer and the mayor, who have also bought new expensive items, and they dismiss his concerns. He then visits the priest, who attempts to calm him, but finally admits they have been paid off, and advises Ill to flee.

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