The Dürrenmatt courts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21119/anamps.52.357-373Keywords:
Law and Literature, legal imaginary, conceptions of justice, European playwriting.Abstract
This essay presents the pessimistic and skeptical view of justice by the Swiss author and playwright Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990). The analysis is made based on common aspects identified in his masterpiece The Visit (1956), and in another less known play, A Dangerous Game (1956). Firstly, the plays’ plots are described, compared and contrasted. For a methodological approach, seven “points of inflection” were constructed between the texts, exploring: a) the role, in the plot, of the visits; b) whether Dürrenmatt describes justice as it is, or its deviations; c) the importance of the form of the courts for the characters; d) the justice of the accusations; e) the power of the characters; f) the humor of the plays; and, finally, g) the depiction of death. The conclusion is that despite differences in plot, Dürrenmatt’s plays are an important testament to his disheartening view of institutions.Downloads
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