Act 2

• Engels
• Further Education (Key Stage 5)

Lesson objectives 

Comparative grade 

Concepts and conceptual questions 

Considering the stage directions in Act two 

Investigating symbols and some of the thematic ideas in the play 

Reading Act 2 and investigating 

EOYT paper 2 

• EOYT will be a paper 2 style exam - as you just did - with an introduction, 2 BPs and a conclusion. 
  
• Can be on any two works you have investigated this year.
  
• Can also be on one poem or one short story from Katherine Mansfield 
  
• Start to think of which three you can prepare to thematically link together. 

Comparative feedback 

1. Read your paper again 
   
2. Read your notes and WWW and EBI 
   
3. Read common areas where students lose points in P2 
   
4. Give yourself marks for each of the criteria 
   
5. Fill out your targets and feedback required 
   
6. Get your grades back 
   

AWL

Concepts HL Literature 

Some concepts addressed in this text:

justice, revenge, corruption, greed and moral compromise

Conceptual questions 

What effect do revenge and greed have on justice? 

What is the relationship between morality and revenge? 

What is the role of morality in justice? 

What is the difference between revenge and moral 

corruptibility ? 

The small town – just a bare indication of it. In the background the exterior of the Golden Apostle Hotel. Dilapidated art nouveau facade. Balcony. On the right a sign: ALFRED ILL, GENERAL STORE. Beneath it a dirty counter, behind that a shelf with old merchandise. Whenever someone enters through the imaginary door, a bell tinkles. On the left a sign: POLICE. Beneath it a wooden table with a telephone. Two chairs. It is morning. Roby and Toby enter, left, chewing gum, and cross the stage toward the back and into the hotel. Ill watches them through the window. His DAUGHTER is sweeping the floor on her knees. His SON puts a cigaret in his mouth

ACT TWO Stage direction/ stage setting

Discuss the implications of the stage setting at the beginning of Act two.

Golden Apostle Hotel 

Apostle = One of the 12 disciples of Christ; a messenger of God; an ardent supporter of a specific idea or policy (a champion for a cause)

Where is Claire positioned  for most of this Act?

Not naming any of the other characters, but giving them labels (allegorical) 

Allegory: A literary mode that attempts to convert abstract concepts, values, beliefs, or historical events into characters or other tangible elements in a narrative. (OWL.purdue.edu)

Mayor, Policeman, the teacher and pastor representatives of the State, the Law, state education and the Church

Ill will visit some of these allegorical figures during Act 2. 

Act 2 

The Black Panther:

pg 13 "I called you my black panther"

Claire brings a caged panther to 

Güllen. Note what happens to him and 

when it is referred to. 

If Claire referred to Ill as a black panther

how are the two symbolically related?  

Symbols - what abstract ideas do these objects represent in the world of the play? 

Panther evokes the loss of humanity among the townspeople

who abandon their principles and allow themselves to be made

into tools to be manipulated by Claire.

The empty coffin: 

pg 18 "But first to Petersen's barn, and 

then to the woods of Konradsweil. 

I want to visit our old trysting 

places with Alfred. In the meantime, 

take the luggage and the coffin to 

the Golden Apostle." 

pg 36:

ILL: "Wreaths" 

SON: "Every morning they bring them from the station." 

ILL: "For the empty coffin in the Golden Apostle." 

Symbols - what abstract ideas do these objects represent in the world of the play? 

The coffin, becomes a symbol of the

inevitable, of the fate into which Ill is literally boxed.

Yellow shoes 

pg 43 

ILL: You've got new shoes. New yellow 

shoes." 

SECOND MAN: "So?" 

ILL: (looking at the First Man's feet) 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." 

Symbols - what abstract ideas do these objects represent in the world of the play? 

The coffin, becomes a symbol of the

inevitable, of the fate into which Ill is literally boxed.

Artificial limbs: 

pg 25 

CLAIRE: "That hurts. You hit one of the 

hinges on my artificial leg." 

pg 26

CLAIRE: "You're wrong. Another

prosthesis. Ivory." 

ILL: "(dropping her hand, horrified) 

Clara, is everything about you 

artificial?" 

Symbols - what abstract ideas do these objects represent in the world of the play? 

Trains: 

pg 9

TRAIN SUPERVISOR: Madam, you 

pulled the emergency brake." 

CLAIRE: "I always pull the emergency 

brake." 

pg 20 

TEACHER: [...] "I learned the true

meaning of horrow. Seeing that old 

lady stepping out of the train in her black robes made my hair stand on end." 

Symbols - what abstract ideas do these objects represent in the world of the play? 

Claire believes Justice and Revenge are the same. For her, it is a reflection of her sense of entitlement.

For Ill, justice calls for accountability of his actions. As the play progresses, he retreats inwards and accepts his inevitable death.

The play explores the question of what it means to be human and humane

Who is more human: Claire, with her artificial limbs or the townsfolk with their hypocritical ‘support’ of Ill?

All characters have questionable morals in this play: Ill bribed his witnesses in the past, now Claire is bribing the whole town to get her revenge.

Concepts justice, morality and humanism 

Alfred Ill 

Son 

Daughter 

Claire Zachanassian 

First Man 

The Pair - Koby & Loby 

First Woman 

Second Woman 

Second Man 

Husband VIII

Policeman

Mayor 

Pastor 

Reading pages 36 - 59  

Lesson objectives 

Homework check & supporting quotations 

End of Act Two 

Reading for 11th June - end of the play 

AWL

1. When Ill goes to visit the policeman, what does he ask? What is the policeman’s response?
   
2. How does the Mayor speak to Ill? How has his tone changed since his proclamation of support in Act 1?
   
3. What is the pastor’s opinion of Ill’s problems when he goes to see him? 
   
4. How is the pastor’s response similar or different to the other people of the town?
   
5. How does Act 2 illustrate the theme of Denial & Evasion of Responsibility in an effective way?
   
6. Throughout this scene, Claire speaks about her previous husbands. What do you find out about them? Is there a recurring theme in the way she talks about her past marriages?
   

Discussion questions Act TWO to page 58

1. "I demand the arrest of Claire Zachanassian" p. 45  "not sufficient grounds for the police to take action", "this proposal cannot be meant seriously" p.46
2.  "We don't deserve your ingratitude. If you're unable to place any trust in our community, I pity you"  p. 53 "You don't have the moral right to demand the arrest of this lady"p.53 , "The blueprint proves it! Proves it!"p.55  Resentment, feigns outrage, rationalisation. "I reject your offer. In the name of humanity. We would rather be poor than have blood on our hands." p. 35 
3.  "We should not fear people, but God, not the death of the body, but of the soul." p.57 "You judge others by your own actions. [...] The source of our anxiety is in our hearts, in our sin.", "You should worry about the immortality of your soul" p.58

quotes for  questions Act TWO to page 58

When Ill goes to visit the policeman, what does he ask? What is the policeman’s response?

How does the Mayor speak to Ill? How has his tone changed since his proclamation of support in Act 1?

What is the pastor’s opinion of Ill’s problems when he goes to see him? 

How is the pastor’s response similar or different to the other people of the town?

How does Act 2 illustrate the theme of Denial & Evasion of Responsibility in an effective way?

Throughout this scene, Claire speaks about her previous husbands. What do you find out about them? Is there a recurring theme in the way she talks about her past marriages?

• 5. Denial = "My life is at stake.", "Your eternal life", It's all positive, only positive, what you're going through" p. 57
  
• Evasion of responsibility= ""We can speak of incitement to murder only if the proposal to murder you is meant seriously. That's only logical." p. 46 
  
• 6. Zachanassian (I) = "tycoon, [...]oil tankers and racing stables, [...] billions in the bank" "teacher", "dancer", "devilry" "I learned all his tricks." p.39 
  
• Count Holk (III) = "Foreign Minister", "painting", "hideous" p. 39
  
• Moby (VII) = fishing, "Brazil" "Cohibas" (cigar brand) p.40
  
• Husband VIII = "Hoby", "movie star" p.42
  
• Husband V = "dress designer" p.49 "surgeon" p.50 
  
• Husband VI = "owner of Western Railways." p. 50 
  
• Husband IV = "Lord Ishmael", "Seduced in Buckingham Palace", "Lord Ishmael", "castle in Yorkshire" p.50
  
• Husband II = "Met him in Cairo. We kissed beneath the Sphinx" p.50
  

quotes for  questions Act TWO to page 58

When Ill goes to visit the policeman, what does he ask? What is the policeman’s response?

How does the Mayor speak to Ill? How has his tone changed since his proclamation of support in Act 1?

What is the pastor’s opinion of Ill’s problems when he goes to see him? 

How is the pastor’s response similar or different to the other people of the town?

How does Act 2 illustrate the theme of Denial & Evasion of Responsibility in an effective way?

Throughout this scene, Claire speaks about her previous husbands. What do you find out about them? Is there a recurring theme in the way she talks about her past marriages?

Several members of the town, including the policeman, Mayor and pastor, are armed with rifles and revolvers. 

Ill's conversation of mayor, who already has spoken for the town in rejecting Claire's offer, shows the continued progress of the town towards killing Ill. Like everyone else, the mayor has upgraded his standard of living and, also like everyone else, he dismisses that it has any significance when Ill expresses his concern about it. The dismissal of Ill's anxiety, however, progresses into resentment. He is outraged, or at least feigns outrage, that Ill would suggest that the people of his own hometown would conspire against him in such a wicked way. The next step is rationalization: The mayor starts to see that Claire has a point perhaps, and what Ill did to her was terrible. He does not yet assert that Ill is deserving of death on that account, but it is clear that his thoughts are beginning to tend in that direction. The exterior actions of the townspeople also mirror the ambivalence of their thoughts. Many carry around guns, ostensibly to defend themselves from the panther, but, as Ill points out, their reaction is excessive. They probably do not yet mean to kill Ill, but they do seem to want deadly weapons on hand. Even the priest, the representation of European religion, succumbs to this ambivalence, and carries with him a rifle.

Discussion questions Act TWO to page 58

Ill's conversation of mayor, who already has spoken for the town in rejecting Claire's offer, shows the Ill's thwarted attempt to leave Guellen is a perfect illustration of the kind of psychological division the people of Guellen are undergoing. While physically preventing Ill from leaving, they vocally deny that they stand in his way. They refuse to see the reality for what it is and they reinforce their absurd refusal by loudly asserting it. One can imagine that this mirrors quite well their interior evolution. As their minds subconsciously move closer and closer to wanting to kill Ill for the money, their conscious selves stay busy reassuring them that they would never do such thing, which is in such contradiction of their noble, Western principles. If their success in preventing Ill from leaving is any indication, the subconscious desire will be victorious.

Discussion questions Act TWO to page 58

Read from pg 59 till the end of Act 2 on pg 67 in your pairs or groups. 

As you read, pause and add annotations (for stage directions, techniques, themes…)

Discuss why you feel Ill does not get on the train at the end of this Act

End of Act Two 

Güllen and symbolism 

Do you agree that it is reasonable to think that the city of Güllen and its inhabitants are meant to represent Europe, or perhaps all of humanity? 

The city of Güllen is fictional and very little specific information is given about it; all Dürrenmatt says himself is that it is somewhere in central Europe. If Güllen, then, is not a specific city, it is very easy for the reader to think of it as any city. The less that is specified about it, the easier it is to imagine as any town or city. Likewise, with the exception of the two man characters—Alfred Ill and Claire Zachanassian—all of the townspeople are referred to only or primarily by their profession, leading the reader once again to think of the characters as representations of general types of people, rather than concrete individuals. 

adapted source: Book rags