The Visit
by Friedrich Dürrenmatt

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Humanism and Dehumanization Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
Justice, Morality, and Money Theme Icon
Irony and Artifice Theme Icon
Love and Prostitution Theme Icon
Humanism and Dehumanization Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Visit, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humanism and Dehumanization Theme Icon
Humanism and Dehumanization Theme Icon

Güllen sees itself as a humanist town—a place with a value system that rejects selfishness and emphasizes the human capacity for compassion, mutual understanding, and respect. Claire’s attempt to bribe the town into killing its most popular citizen for revenge, however, is anti-humanist: it is selfish, cruel, and it disregards the moral and legal imperatives that the town claims to value. As the townspeople struggle to balance greed with idealism and personal profit with their compassion for Ill, their humanist values are shown to be empty ideals that are easily discarded in favor of money and selfishness, even at the cost of murdering someone they love.

Dürrenmatt often uses references to humanist disciplines, such as music and literature, to invoke Güllen’s humanist ideals. For example, townspeople comment several times on the fact that the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the composer Johannes Brahms have visited Güllen. Dürrenmatt also explicitly aligns Güllen’s values with those of Europe and humanism, as the Mayor offers the following retort to Claire’s ultimatum: "We are still in Europe. We're not savages yet. In the name of the town of Güllen I reject your offer. In the name of humanity. We would rather be poor than have blood on our hands." These emphatic statements of the town’s humanist values, however, are quickly shown to be hollow as the townspeople fall under the influence of Claire.

Claire is the play’s embodiment of anti-humanism, since she easily disregards the integrity and personhood of others and believes that money, rather than humanist ideals, is most important. This is clear in her willingness to put a price on Ill’s head, and in the dehumanizing way that she treats her husbands and the members of her entourage. Claire’s primary source of power is financial; she buys her associates out of both legal trouble and respectable careers, for example, and then pays them handsomely enough to allow her to change their names to ridiculous rhyming nicknames. This emphasizes her disregard for their individuality, and also her ability to commodify people with ease. Claire turns Ill into a commodity by putting a price on his head, and the other characters turn themselves into commodities by putting prices on themselves. This is a direct subversion of humanist ideals, as Claire openly admits when she says, “Human kindness, gentlemen, is made for the purses of millionaires.”

The ease with which the humanist Gülleners fall into Claire’s anti-humanist influence is a commentary on the Second World War, which ended about a decade before The Visit was written. WWII was seen by many as the utter collapse of European humanism, as stable democracies fell to fascism and ideals of equality, tolerance, and justice failed to stop millions of Jewish citizens from being harassed, incarcerated, tortured, and murdered. Furthermore, The Visit was written (and presumably takes place) in Switzerland, which remained neutral in WWII, refusing to align itself with either the Axis or the Allies. While Switzerland tried to frame this as a humanist decision, Dürrenmatt was enraged by what he saw as Swiss cowardice and hypocrisy in the face of evil. Rather than standing up to the Nazis, Dürrenmatt believed that the Swiss used their neutrality as a veil for their subtle collaboration with the Nazis: the Swiss sold arms to Germany, refused Jewish refugees, and allowed Germans to store stolen wealth in their banks. In this context, the Mayor’s statement that the town would refuse Claire’s offer because “We are still in Europe. We’re not savages yet” is clearly ironic—for Dürrenmatt, European values were, at best, on shaky ground.

While the beginning of the play is littered with inspiring references to Goethe and Brahms, Dürrenmatt’s references at the end of the play—once Ill has accepted that the town will kill him—are notably darker. On a final car ride with his family, Ill and his family point out local landmarks: the “Bockmann chimneys” evoke the smokestacks of the concentration camps, and Ill’s son’s comment that everyone has a Messerschmidt car references a company that turned to automobiles after having manufactured Nazi airplanes. Most significantly, Ill points out the “cranes of the Wagner Works,” a reference to Richard Wagner, the German composer whose music Hitler held up as proof of German superiority. This reference complicates the notion that humanism is moral and uncorrupt: just as Hitler used Wagner to justify genocide, the town turns their ideal of “justice” into a rationale for murdering Ill. For Dürrenmatt, then, humanism is a set of empty values that fail to stand against evil, since they can so easily be twisted to justify heinous acts.

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Humanism and Dehumanization ThemeTracker

The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Humanism and Dehumanization appears in each act of The Visit. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Humanism and Dehumanization Quotes in The Visit

Below you will find the important quotes in The Visit related to the theme of Humanism and Dehumanization.

Act 1 Quotes

Two 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. The sedan chair comes from the Louvre, a gift from the French president. A nice gentleman. Looks just like he does in the papers. Carry me into town, Roby and Toby.

Related Characters: Claire Zachanassian (speaker), Roby and Toby
Page Number and Citation: 17-18
Explanation and Analysis:
This passage, from the beginning of the play, explains the origin of two of Claire’s servants, Roby and Toby, who were convicted criminals before Claire bought their way out of a death sentence. This is the first inkling in The Visit of Claire’s penchant for buying justice. To most people, a justice system with any integrity would not allow a billionaire to buy two convicts out of serving their sentence, but here Claire flippantly states that she has done just that. This not only foreshadows her buying “justice” in Güllen by paying for the murder of Alfred Ill, but it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error.

You have remained unforgettable. Truly. Your academic achievements are still held up as an example by our educators, especially the interest you showed in the most important subject, botany and zoology, thus expressing your sympathy with every living being, indeed with all creatures in need of protection. Even then, your love of justice and your charitable nature were widely admired.

Related Characters: Mayor (speaker), Claire Zachanassian
Page Number and Citation: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
This passage is part of the Mayor’s speech to Claire and the townspeople upon Claire’s arrival in Güllen. As the speech is meant to flatter Claire into giving money, the Mayor deliberately distorts the details of Claire’s undistinguished youth in order to make her seem different than she was. This section of the speech has thematic resonance with many events to come. In The Visit, education and love of learning are associated with humanism (which means valuing the human capacity for mutual understanding and selflessness), but the Mayor previously conceded that Claire was never a good student. Thus, the Mayor Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus vol

CLAIRE ZACHANASSIAN: I will tell you the condition. I will give you a billion, and with that billion I will buy myself justice.

MAYOR: What exactly do you mean by that, Madam?

CLAIRE ZACHANASSIAN: I mean what I said.

MAYOR: But justice can’t be bought!

CLAIRE ZACHANASSIAN: Everything can be bought.

Related Characters: Claire Zachanassian (speaker), Mayor (speaker)
Page Number and Citation: 31
Explanation and Analysis:
This conversation comes after the dramatic moment in which Claire reveals that she will give a billion dollars to Güllen, but only on one condition. Though she has not yet revealed the condition, in this passage she clearly states her motivations for the bargain: she is buying justice. In humanist societies, justice is a sacred principle that ensures fairness and accountability. Justice is supposed to be disinterested—that is to say, it is supposed to treat everyone equally, regardless of their circumstances—and it is supposed to be separated from personal desires, biases, and wealth. For a democracy, justice is considered a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetu

Correct. Chief Justice Hofer. Forty-five years ago I was Chief Justice of Güllen and then moved on to the Court of Appeal in Kaffigen, until twenty-five years ago Mrs. Zachanassian offered me the opportunity to enter her service as her butler. I accepted. A peculiar career for a man of learning, perhaps, but the salary was so fantastic—

Related Characters: Butler (speaker), Claire Zachanassian
Page Number and Citation: 31
Explanation and Analysis:
While Claire is explaining to the townspeople that her donation will come on one condition, she takes a detour to explain that she will be buying herself justice, and that justice—despite being a principle considered to be above money—can, in fact, be bought. Part of her proof is the story of her butler, who was once the Chief Justice of Güllen. Just as Claire bought Roby and Toby out of their death sentences in New York, Claire bought justice with her butler—she literally bought a respected judge out of the court system and into being a personal servant (a job Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. M

Mrs. Zachanassian, we are still in Europe; we’re not savages yet. In the name of the town of Güllen I reject your offer. In the name of humanity. We would rather be poor than have blood on our hands.

Related Characters: Mayor (speaker), Claire Zachanassian
Page Number and Citation: 35
Explanation and Analysis:
Once Claire has laid out the terms of her donation to the town, the Mayor reacts with outrage. Citing their values, he says that the town cannot kill Alfred Ill in order to obtain a much-needed financial contribution, and he seems offended that Claire would even suggest it. This, of course, turns out to be hollow idealism, as all the townspeople—including the Mayor—eventually betray their principles and give in to Claire’s demands. In light of this reversal, this quote takes on a deep cynicism—even cherished principles, Dürrenmatt suggests, are up for negotiation, particularly when money is on the table. This Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti sol

Act 2 Quotes

Zachanassian’s favorite piece. He always wanted to hear it. Every morning. He had class, all right, that old tycoon with his tremendous fleet of oil tankers and his racing stables, and billions in the bank. A marriage like that was still worthwhile. A great teacher, a great dancer, a master of all sorts of devilry. I learned all his tricks.

Related Characters: Claire Zachanassian (speaker)
Page Number and Citation: 39
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Claire is speaking of her first husband, the oil tycoon Zachanassian, who essentially bought her out of prostitution by marrying her and then left her his fortune when he died. Claire is referring at the beginning of the quote to an Armenian folk tune that Zachanassian loved, which associates Zachanassian with the humanist love of music and the arts (much like Güllen is associated with humanism through its connection to Brahms and Goethe). However, Claire’s subsequent description of Zachanassian’s “tricks” and “devilry” undercuts the possibility of equating humanist pastimes (such as music) with morality and principle. In Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a de

ILL: You’ve got new shoes. New yellow shoes.

SECOND MAN: So?

ILL: You, too, Hofbauer. You, too, are wearing new shoes. (He looks at the women, walks over to them slowly, horrified.) You too. New yellow shoes. New yellow shoes.

Related Characters: Alfred Ill (speaker), First–Fourth Men
Related Symbols: Yellow Shoes
Page Number and Citation: 43
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Ill is slowly realizing that all of the Gülleners are living above their means, which is visually apparent in the expensive yellow shoes they are suddenly wearing. Claire has offered the town a billion dollars in exchange for Ill’s life (and half of that will be divided among the individual townspeople), so Ill knows that the more debt the townspeople take on by buying luxuries, the more likely they will be to give in to Claire’s offer in order to relieve themselves of their debt. Thus, the yellow shoes are a way for the audience (and for Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostr

ILL: The customers I’ve had this morning. Usually there’s no one for the longest time, and now, for the past few days, they’re coming in droves.

FIRST MAN: It’s because we stand by you. We stick by our Ill. Firm as a rock.

Related Characters: First–Fourth Men (speaker), Alfred Ill (speaker)
Page Number and Citation: 41
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Ill is uneasily remarking that business is booming in his store. Since Güllen is in a prolonged economic depression that has not yet lifted, the townspeople’s new spending habits are alarming to Ill—the more debt they take on, the more likely they will be to accept Claire’s offer to kill him for money. Here, Ill obliquely raises this concern with a customer who is spending more money than normal, but this customer claims to still have the same humanist principles of loyalty and compassion as always. Despite the fact that this customer’s extra spending is directly connected Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusam

MAYOR: You forget that you’re in Güllen. A town with a humanist tradition. Goethe slept here. Brahms composed a quartet. These values impose an obligation.

A man enters, left, with a typewriter.

MAN: The new typewriter, Your Honor. A Remington.

Related Characters: Mayor (speaker), Alfred Ill
Page Number and Citation: 52-53
Explanation and Analysis:
In this scene, Ill has gone to the Mayor to express his concern that the town is going to betray him. As the Mayor is telling Ill that his concerns are misplaced and that Gülleners would never betray him because of their obligation to their humanist principles, a man brings the mayor a new, expensive typewriter. Since the townspeople taking on unpayable debts is the principal signal to Ill that they intend to betray him for money, this scene appears to catch the Mayor in a lie. City Hall is making extravagant purchases, despite the Mayor’s insistence that everyone is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Molliti

Act 3 Quotes

Human kindness, gentlemen, is made for the purses of millionaires. With financial power like mine, you can afford yourself a new world order. The world made a whore of me, now I’ll make a whorehouse of the world. Pay up or get off the dance floor. You want to join the dance? Only paying customers merit respect. And believe me, I’ll pay. Güllen for a murder, boom times for a corpse.

Related Characters: Claire Zachanassian (speaker)
Page Number and Citation: 72
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Claire has just revealed to the townspeople that she owns all the industry in Güllen and she has caused the town’s economic downturn in order to create the conditions under which the townspeople would murder Ill. The teacher has just urged Claire to be kind and abandon her desire for revenge, but Claire responds that kindness—a humanist value—is actually based on money and self interest. This is yet another example of Dürrenmatt sowing doubt about the value of humanism in the face of greed. In addition, Claire states in this passage a primary motivation for her bargain Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Ac

If he tries to expose Clara by claiming she put a price on his head or something like that, when actually it was just an expression of unspeakable suffering, we’ll just have to take action.

Related Characters: First–Fourth Men (speaker), Claire Zachanassian
Page Number and Citation: 75
Explanation and Analysis:
With journalists sniffing around Güllen, the townspeople (who have now decided to kill Ill) are worried that the press will get wind of their cruel bargain. The language they use to try to keep everyone quiet in front of the press is revealing of their values. Instead of owning up to the fact that they plan to kill a community member for money—something that they had previously found unthinkably immoral—they have now twisted their idea of justice to fit their new plan. Here, a townsperson rejects the idea that Claire has put a price on Ill’s head (which she explicitly Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium e

The temptation is too great and our poverty is too wretched. But I know something else. I too will take part in it. I can feel myself slowly turning into a murderer. My faith in humanity is powerless. And because I know this, I have turned into a drunk. I am scared, Ill, just as you have been scared. I still know that some day an old lady will visit us too, and that then what is happening to you now will happen to us, but soon, maybe in a few hours, I will no longer know it.

Related Characters: Teacher (speaker), Alfred Ill, Claire Zachanassian
Page Number and Citation: 85
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, the Teacher (who has been the play’s most steadfast defender of sparing Ill’s life and keeping to humanist values) has finally relented to the fact that he will participate in murdering Ill. This passage is chilling because the Teacher knows that what he’s doing is wrong, but he also knows that he and the rest of the town cannot resist doing it. It shakes his faith in humanity, as he says, and terrifies him, because it shows him that his humanist worldview is wrong—the world is much more selfish and dark than he has ever admitted. This Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corpori

Your Honor! I’ve been through hell. I saw you all going into debt, and with every sign of prosperity I felt death creeping closer. If you had spared me that anguish, that horrible fear, it would have all been different, we could speak on different terms, I would take the rifle. For all of your sake. But then I shut myself in, conquered my fear. Alone. It was hard; now it’s done. There is no turning back. Now you must be my judges. I will submit to your decision, whatever it turns out to be. For me it will be justice; I don’t know what it will be for you. May God help you live with your judgment. You can kill me, I won’t complain, I won’t protest, I won’t defend myself, but your action is yours, and I can’t relieve you of it.

Related Characters: Alfred Ill (speaker), Mayor
Page Number and Citation: 90
Explanation and Analysis:
This passage is Ill’s speech in response to the Mayor’s request that Ill kill himself so that the townspeople don’t have to have Ill’s murder on their conscience. As Ill subtly points out, the request is absurd—pressuring Ill to kill himself so that the townspeople can profit is not, at this point, morally different from killing him. Ill notes that if the townspeople hadn’t already decided to kill him (and then lied to him about it while he was left alone to fear for his life), then he might be able to have an honest and compassionate conversation with the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserun

ILL: The town’s holding a meeting this evening. They’ll sentence me to death and one of them will kill me. I don’t know who he will be or where it will happen, I only know that I’m ending a meaningless life.

CLAIRE ZACHANASSIAN: I loved you. You betrayed me. But the dream of life, of love, of trust—this dream that was a reality once—I haven’t forgotten that. I want to rebuild it with my billions, I will change the past, by destroying you.

Related Characters: Alfred Ill (speaker), Claire Zachanassian (speaker)
Page Number and Citation: 98
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, Claire and Ill have met in the forest for the last time. Ill has accepted his fate, and his statement that his life was meaningless seems to indicate his resignation to the fact that the higher principles for which he thought he had lived were false. The happiest time in Ill’s life was when he was in love with Claire, but he himself destroyed that and he has, unknowingly, lived with the consequences. His selfishness has meant that the life he lived was empty of love and morally corrupt, and now its end seems to lack gravitas Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possim

MAYOR: The Claire Zachanassian Endowment has been accepted. Unanimously. Not for the sake of the money—

THE COMMUNITY: Not for the sake of the money—

MAYOR: But for the sake of justice—

THE COMMUNITY: But for the sake of justice—

MAYOR: And to allay our conscience.

THE COMMUNITY: And to allay our conscience.

MAYOR: For we cannot live if we sanction a crime in our midst—

THE COMMUNITY: For we cannot live if we sanction a crime in our midst—

Related Characters: Mayor (speaker), Alfred Ill, Claire Zachanassian
Page Number and Citation: 104-105
Explanation and Analysis:
This passage is the moment in which the town officially commits to killing Ill in exchange for Claire’s donation. Significantly, the language with which they accept the deal is similar to the language they had once used to protest it: previously, they said they believed in justice over money and that they could not permit Ill to be killed because they did not want blood on their hands. Here, they have reversed themselves. Instead of believing it would be unjust to kill Ill, they seem now to have made themselves believe that it would be unjust not to kill him, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et