germany-besuch+der+alten+dame

She arrives with her fiancé (it is mentioned repeatedly that she has had many more), and after some general festivities on the part of the townspeople she announces the true reason she has come to visit: when she was young she was impregnated by her boyfriend Alfred Ill (Anton Schill in some translations), who, at the paternity suit, denied the charges and bribed two drunks to testify that they had slept with Claire, so that she was shamed out of the town and eventually forced into prostitution. Now that she has become rich, she will give the town half of a billion, and half a billion divided among the citizens, if they kill Alfred Ill, who over the years has become one of Güllen's most popular townspeople. (The specific unit of currency is unmentioned in the original text, one English translation presents the reward in pounds.) The townspeople initially unanimously refuse Claire's offer, but soon they start to buy things on credit, expensive things, even from Ill's own store, as if they expect some new source of income in the future. Ill notices this and becomes troubled. The townspeople's rhetoric of support behind Ill slowly but surely changes, and they ultimately speak of the "justice" Claire seeks. The town schoolteacher holds out against the punishment, long after even the town's mayor, pastor, and police officer speak of justice, but in the end even the schoolteacher turns on Ill and joins the crowd. The town holds a public ceremony in celebration of Claire's endowment, complete with the world press reporting. Though many of the town's prominent citizens speak about the importance of justice, none mention Ill or his soon-to-be execution. Read more [|HERE]. ||
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 * Besuch der alten Dame ||  || We are visiting the theater piece "Besuch der alten Dame" on the 5th of May. Klasses 8 and 9 will be going. Remember to fill out and return your permission slips to either Frau Mann or Frau Funk-Stumpfl. ||
 * The play in general ||  || //**The Visit**// (In German: //Der Besuch der Alten Dame//, literally //The Visit of the Old Lady//) is a 1956 tragicomedy by the Swiss dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt . It is probably the best known of his works in the English-speaking world, particularly due to its frequent study in German A-Level and Higher courses. The play deals with the themes of punishment, greed, revenge, and moral strength . ||
 * About the plot ||  || The play centers on the fictional Central-European town of Güllen - Guellen (Swiss-German for "manure"), (the exact location is deliberately obscured to emphasise Dürrenmatt's point that the events could/would happen anywhere) which was always formerly a humdrum center of culture but has in the past few decades decayed into bankruptcy. When the play opens, the town is preparing a celebration of the arrival of Claire Zachanassian, a former resident who had since attained an incredibly great fortune and is coming back to visit.