The Physicists- Mistragicometire

The Physicists by Friedrich Dürrenmatt possesses beauty in that it is so difficult to quantify. As we have seen so far throughout the semester, texts often contain elements of many different “genres” of literature and drama, namely Comedy, Tragedy, Satire and Mystery. In the case of The Beaver Coat, some would say that particularly comic elements are difficult to detect, and while it’s obvious to see the mystery qualities (the stolen wood, illegal sale of the deer carcass, and of course the missing coat), the argument can be made that at least those two elements are present (for comedy, the juxtaposition of the seemingly innocent woman being over-polite in cover-up of her deeds). In Lysistrata, the elements Comedy (the difference in accents) and Satire (the presentation of the war between Athens and Sparta as being less important than the reunification of families) make a really strong showing, but not much can be seen of Mystery and Tragedy. With these works, it’s usually not a difficult affair to uncover the largely agreed upon main categorization, and then later, the underlying, secondary one. For example, in  Lysistrata one might say the main point is comedy with a strong satirical agenda present, and masked by the comedy.

The Physicists is so difficult to quantify in that all four of the above traits exist in the work, making it incredibly difficult if not impossible to categorize the play, and especially to determine what the main content is. Even more interesting is the generally agreed-upon name “tragicomedy” being used to describe the play. Why not mistragicometire? For the purposes of illustration and ease of presentation, some justifications of all four elements are listed below.

·         Comedy

o    Sister Boll saying “Please, Inspector” in repetition (at the beginning of both acts)

o   Sheer ridiculousness of three loonies thinking they’re all world-renowned physicists

o   Uselessness of the inspector

o   Oddness of Einstein playing his fiddle in the middle of an investigation

·         Mystery/Whodunnit

o   “murder” as a crime opening the play

o   Seemingly sane presentation of the murder of Monika

o   Sister Boll forcing the Inspector to correct the terms “murder” and “murderer,” while seeming to obstruct justice by refusing to allow the Inspector access to the “assailant” presents a mysterious covering-up, and raises suspicion.

o   The interrogation and presence of an Inspector in the first place

·         Tragedy

o   Monika murder-scene, complete with emotional appeal to the audience

o   The ending of the play ending in the final reveal of the “evil” force in the play, and its eventual victory in “taking over the world”

o   Failure of the Inspector to solve the crimes

o   Presence of dramatic irony for those in the audience who are suspicious of the Fräuleine Doktor

·         Satire

o   Criticism of insane asylum practices, investigation proceedings, or perhaps morality vs. logic

o   Political presence in the “two opposing sides” (As the play was originally published during the Cold War, and features two secret agents who have more in common than it would seem.)

               With the sheer volume of material for arguments one way or another, it would be really hard to determine what the strongest presence is among the four. Of course, to me, this only adds to the intrigue of what became the supreme of all the texts we’ve read so far this semester, both for its complexity and diversity in interpretation. I feel this is one play that I would be able to see three or four times and be see something differently every time, which is the making of a truly unique and classic work.