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"THE VISIT" (FRIEDRICH DUERRENMATT) & "THE MAN WITH THE FLOWER IN HIS MOUTH" (LUIGI PIRANDELLO).   Term Paper ID:26697 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines two plays' allegorical treatment of death.... More...

5 Pages / 1125 Words 2 sources, 12 Citations, MLA Format $20.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Examines two plays' allegorical treatment of death. Paper Introduction: Friedrich Duerrenmatt's The Visit and Luigi Pirandello's The Man with the Flower in His Mouth are allegorical plays in which certain characters confront death. The human, allegorical figure of death is, in both plays, a female character. In Pirandello's short piece she is the wife of a terminally ill man who follows him everywhere, but does not speak. In The Visit death comes in the form of Claire Zachanassian, the multimillionaire who returns to her hometown looking for revenge--or justice--for the sufferings she went through as a girl. In this play death takes a very active role. Zachanassian identifies her victim and seduces the town into killing him by corrupting them with promises of badly needed money. She even manages to persuade her victim to accept his death rather than fleeing it. In Pirandello's play, however, the victim is suffering from a Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. In this idea of waiting for death at home, with time "measured by theticking of the big clock in the dining room," is the notion that deathshould become part of life, which is symbolized by the clock and thepassing of time (6). In a similarway Schill expresses a desire to go "to the Konradswell Forest" and to seethe town where he has always lived (887). She follows him "around day and night, like this, always at adistance" and she even attempts to catch his disease, claiming that shewants to die with him (6). And, as herentourage shows, she has complete control over her subjects. The Man acknowledges that his death is coming andequates it with random chance and a connection with nature. Heaccepts his fate and goes home--precisely the opposite of Pirandello'sMan's refusal to sit at home and wait for death. But money has been shownto be equivalent with life. As he watches people engaged in everyday tasks heimagines their lives. If people do not die life cannot go on. At the opening of theplay he is as happy as he ever will be. In Pirandello's short piece she is the wife of aterminally ill man who follows him everywhere, but does not speak. Every barrier falls in front of her. They have, inother words, begun to accept the idea of Schill's death--just as the livingalways adjust to the fact of death. InThe Visit, on the other hand, Schill eventually accepts the inevitabilityof death. The same can be said of the rest of the people in the town who,like Schill, are intent on looking to the future when the play opens. In the brief scene in Pirandello's play, however, Man (standing forall of humanity) runs off at the end, still intent on evading death. The peoplewho work for her are the dead and she owns them because they have enteredher realm. But he sees them as twocompletely separate things. The Man with the Flower in His Mouth. Death is not the culmination of life but aterrible interruption that has nothing to do with living. He isdestined to die from natural causes and Pirandello's version of deathmerely stalks him relentlessly. Schill remembers that once a tramp was arrested "and she threwstones at the policeman [because] she hated injustice passionately" but hergenerosity was exemplified, as he remembers, by having stolen a bag ofpotatoes "to give to a poor widow" (849). In the end, of course, Pirandello's Man is still running away fromhis wife/death, struggling to hold onto life, while Schill accepts the factthat life will close over his head and his "name will never be mentionedagain in this town," as the Teacher says (885). Although they take very differentapproaches both plays deal with the problem of death as something thathuman beings have great difficulty in confronting. In fact it is the revelation ofthe full extent of her ownership of the land, resources, and industriesaround Güllen that finally convinces the people that there is no escapingher influence. The audience atDuerrenmatt's play will be far more uncomfortable than those atPirandello's piece. At the end of Pirandello's play the Man asks that the Commuter,when he arrives in the country--where his family is living, please pick a"tuft of grass" and count the blades--which will be the number of days hehas left to live (7). Like Pirandello's Man, he resists the idea that he has to die. And thetwo blinded men also say, "we belong to the lady," and go only by thenonsense names she has given them (855). In Pirandello's play, however, the victim is suffering from a disease--symbolized by the deadly growth, the "flower," near his mouth. ButZachanassian herself dismisses Schill's memories of her hatred of injusticeand her generosity by telling the truth about those incidents. Works CitedDuerrenmatt, Friedrich. Clearly,therefore, the corruption of the townspeople is also meant as an acceptanceof death as a fact of life. When Schill tries to leave the town however--in the dark comedy ofthe scene where he is afraid to get on the train because he is sure thegreedy townspeople will push him onto the track--he becomes convinced ofthe hopelessness of trying to escape. Schill, however, continues to resistit. In Duerrenmatt's play Schill's reaction to the possibility of deathis very similar--at first. In viewing it as an allegory about death iteven works to see Schill's fate as somewhat unfair. But, just as happenswhen someone dies, life gradually returns to normal and people resume theirlives. As she says of the two huge bodyguards, "I bought them inAmerica [when] they were in jail, condemned to the chair" (855). In both plays, despite their big differences, the characters who facedeath eventually begin to turn to nature--placing death in its naturalframework. In TheVisit death comes in the form of Claire Zachanassian, the multimillionairewho returns to her hometown looking for revenge--or justice--for thesufferings she went through as a girl. He refuses to even think about death and tries to replacethe thought with the experiences of others. Pirandello's Man starts up a conversation with a Commuter in arailway station and explains to him how he likes to sit and watch the lifegoing on around him. Zachanassian's power, and its unlimited reach, also help to defineher as death. In this play death takes a veryactive role. Zachanassian identifies her victim and seduces the town intokilling him by corrupting them with promises of badly needed money. But The Visit's audiencewill identify with the Teacher, the voice of reason and intellect, who isthe last to resist the dramatic idea of killing Schill which symbolizesbeing the last to admit death will eventually win out. The Visit.Pirandello, Luigi. Zachanassian has control over all the thingsthat are necessary for life and without what she has in her power(resources, industry, cash) the town will continue to die. He is set up, therefore, as a personwho is moving happily through life, not thinking about the inevitability ofdeath. She was part of the town, moved among them,and was known to them--but they cannot really comprehend her. To Schill and, perhaps, to the audience or reader of the play, thepeople of Güllen seem to be corrupted by money. The play can also be seen as a parable aboutjustice but when looked at as a study in the problem of death the questionof Schill's guilt, Zachanassian's justification, or the town of Güllen'scorruption are less important. These claims are comic in thecontext of the town's attempt to beg money from a woman they barelyremember and, as it turns out later, had also treated very badly. Sheeven manages to persuade her victim to accept his death rather than fleeingit. Friedrich Duerrenmatt's The Visit and Luigi Pirandello's The Man withthe Flower in His Mouth are allegorical plays in which certain charactersconfront death. The evidence of the long reach ofZachanassian's power has been mounting and Schill, convinced that he cannotescape her, retires to his home to await the moment of his death. The human, allegorical figure of death is, in both plays,a female character. Pirandello's unnamedMan and Duerrenmatt's Anton Schill are both horrified by the thought ofdeath. He is told that he will be thenext Burgomaster and he has high hopes that Zachanassian's return will meana return of prosperity to the town. The latter group will see their own attitudes of fearreflected in the man's attempts to resist death. If the idea of being executed for the things he did to Clara Wächserseems unfair to him, this is no different from the way any kind of death--especially for someone relatively young, healthy, and successful--seems toits victim. She completely ignoresanyone's objections to whatever she wants to do and assumes that money, thesource of her power, will accomplish whatever she wants. But, like the Man who cannot goto the country where the Commuter's family (symbol of life's continuation)are living, Schill's family will not associate with him. As for Claire Zachanassian, formerly Clara Wächser, her claim torepresent justice is questioned in the very beginning of the play whenSchill remembers her as the town leaders try to assemble a speech ofwelcome. What she wants him to do, which he calls an"absurdity," is "to stay at home" and he claims to be disgusted by the ideathat he should while away the end of his life in the silence of his ownhouse (6). As his wife says,she does not "think that will look very nice for any of us" (887). In a similar way--that is grotesquely funny--the people of Güllenbegin to spend the money they hope to get from Zachanassian. Schill, whose death is desired by Zachanassian for the terriblewrongs he did to her, is at first horrified by the proposal that he shouldbe killed. Usually shebarely even acknowledges that something is a problem. And the people around him also protest. But his wife, "dressed inblack and wear[ing] an old hat with drooping feathers," will not let himforget (5). His wife, or death, is attempting to get him tointegrate death with the rest of his experience. When the Commuter comments on how this must bepleasant for him, the Man becomes angry and explains that his imaginationclings to these people, and to life, "like a vine around the bars of aniron gate" (3). It becomesclearer as the play progresses that this person they attempt to define inthe beginning of the play, this allegorical figure of death, is actuallybeyond their understanding. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.