The Physicists (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Friedrich Dürrenmatt
- First Published: 1962
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Play of ideas
- Time of Work: The second half of the twentieth century
- Setting: Switzerland
- Genres: Drama, Problem play, Parody, Mystery and detective drama, Tragicomedy
- Subjects: Twentieth century, Science or scientists, Truth, Ethics, Progress, Psychiatry or psychiatrists, Switzerland or Swiss people, Impostors or imposture
- Locales: Switzerland
Characters Discussed
Fraülein Doktor Mathilde von Zahnd (mah-TIHL-deh fon tsahnt), the founder and psychiatrist of a Swiss sanatorium. Dr. von Zahnd, about fifty-five years old, is the last member of a prestigious family that boasted powerful figures in finance, politics, and the military. Her own love of power, masked initially by the appearance of compassion and philanthropy, emerges as the dominant force in the play. Dr. von Zahnd is “an old hunchbacked spinster” who masterminds the entrapment of a genius physicist and the exploitation of his knowledge. She heads a huge...
[The entire page is 736 words long]
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