Demetriades 1

Abigail Demetriades

Mr. Lamb

AP/IB English Lit and Comp

29 November 2018

Justice For a Price

The desire for justice or revenge is often seen as sinful and wrong, however has there

been anyone in history who has never felt the desire to seek any type of justice? In Friedrich

Durrenmatt’s The Visit Claire Zachanassian is seen as a philanthropist with a kind personality by

the world, which hides her vision of justice and her indifference towards others in order to

achieve whatever she wishes.

There are many instances where Claire hastily spends her money in order to achieve what

she wants, but because she is so rich Claire thinks of it as a small investment towards her goal,

and others think of it as philanthropy. For instance, Claire pays the train supervisor when she

abruptly stops the train at an unmarked stop saying, “[g]ive him a thousand Boby…[a]nd three

thousand for the Railway Widows’ Relief Fund” (11). The train supervisor is upset because they

have a very strict schedule to keep. Claire makes up for this by paying him the $4,000, believing

this will set things right. In addition the billionairess boasts about saving Roby and Toby by

buying them out of jail and saving them from the electric chair to work for her; Claire thinks of

this as a charitable deed she has done as she describes the “[t]wo gangsters from Manhattan,

sentenced to die in the electric chair at Sing Sing. Released at my request to carry my sedan

chair. One million dollars per petition is what it cost me” (17). These two acts of spending are
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seen as philanthropy because they benefit another person in some way. However, Claire also

uses her wealth in selfish ways. The town is bankrupt because the major businesses of the town

seem to just be shut down and run down. Claire explains this when she says that “[t]he factories,

Puckenried Valley, Peterson’s barn, the town, street by street, house by house. I had my agents

buy the whole mess and shut every business down” (71). This spending is reckless and only

benefits Claire in the sense that she is running the town dry for her ultimate plan. Claire’s

“philanthropy” seems more giving and less selfish towards the beginning of the play with her

spending, but as the play develops we see the true reason behind her spending.

Claire also uses forged kindness as an illusion to gain the trust of others. As Claire first

arrives in Gullen the town and Mayor are greeting her. As she is talking to the mayor and he is

giving her a welcome speech, Claire responds by saying “[t]hank you Mayor, for your beautiful

speech” (12). Claire is being kind on purpose as a false front to gain the trust and friendship of

others. This is also shown at Claire’s welcome party after the children perform for her as she

says, “[t]hey blow their instruments very well indeed, and the Gymnast’s club made a beautiful

pyramid before” (27). Claire is kind to the town throughout the play, though her kindness is not

true. While Claire and the townspeople are talking about her offer, the teacher is trying to reason

with Claire and Alfred walks in holding a rifle. Claire defends the town when she yells “Alfred!

Why are you bothering those poor people?” (61) Claire may seem to be sticking up for the town,

however she is only acting this way to trick them into believing Alfred Ill is crazy and acting

irrational, while she is remaining calm and kind to the town. In being kind to the town the

citizens are more willing to bend to Claire’s ways, especially with her generous offer on the

table.
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Claire’s true self shows through as she is showing indifference towards others and the

outcomes of her actions. This is evident when Claire gives the town the offer of “[f]ive hundred

million to the town and five hundred million divided among all the families” (30), which shows

complete disregard for the outcome of Alfred Ill and what she is putting the townspeople

through. By offering this payment to a penniless town she is really giving them no other choice.

Claire shows complete disregard to what action they are going to have to take and feel guilty

about forever if they want her reward. The most evident case of indifference towards others in

Claire is her constant change of husbands. When Claire first comes to the town she is here with

her seventh husband, whom she later reveals she is divorcing simply because she wants to and

has found someone else. The mayor is in shock to hear Claire is getting a divorce, especially

when she says “Moby will be surprised too. I’m marrying a German film star” (28). Divorcing

her seventh husband and not telling him shows complete disregard and a lack of caring that

would baffle anyone with decency. These instances start to show Claire’s true self and her inner

evil. Overall, Claire lacks any sympathy for anyone and ultimately has no regard for the

outcomes of her actions or the effects those actions have on others.

Since the traumatic events when she was young with Alfred Ill happened, Claire has been

working her whole life to get justice for herself; Claire’s definition of justice is very different

than most. The first step Claire takes is becoming a womanizer. Claire has had seven different

husbands by the time she arrives in Gullen again. The original reason for these husbands is that

Claire is marrying rich to accumulate her own riches to be able to carry out her plan. Her

marriages to wealthy and well known men also built up to her becoming a well known and

respected woman around the world, as well as accumulating her riches. Claire also starts

searching for her servants such as Boby, Roby, Toby, and especially Koby and Loby. Koby and
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Loby were two witnesses in Claire’s court trial with Alfred, and they lied because Alfred bribed

them into lying about what happened with Claire. Her next step towards justice was hunting

these two down; Claire looked all over the world. Koby and Loby recall these events by telling

the town “[t]he lady tracked us down, the lady tracked us down…[c]astrated and blinded us,

castrated and blinded us” (34). These events that occur before Claire made her visit to Gullen

lead up to Claire monopolizing the town, explaining that “[t]he factories, Puckenried Valley,

Peterson’s barn, the town, street by street, house by house. I had my agents buy the whole mess

and shut every business down” (71). Claire accomplishes this before even visiting Gullen. She

has been planning this event and carefully thinking how to ruin the town of Gullen and leaving

them no other choice. Upon arriving to the town, Claire makes a bold move and announces

“[o]ne billion for Gullen, if someone kills Alfred Ill” (35). Claire makes this offer because she

knows she has the upper hand and is control of the situation, because she knows the town has no

other option if they wish to be thriving and successful again. By accomplishing these tasks Claire

is one step closer to justice for herself, and now has to simply wait for the town to bend in her

direction.

Claire Zachanassian, a headstrong woman who is determined to obtain justice, has done

just that. However, Claire’s version of justice is immoral. Claire uses her ability to seem kind

and charitable to hide the fact that she has complete indifference and disregard for others. Her

false front hides her true inner desire for justice and violence from those who respect her and do

not know these thoughts exists in her mind.

Durrenmatt, Friedrich. The Visit. N.p.: PGW, 2010. Print.