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**"The Visit" Study Question 5**
 * How do Claire, the townspeople, and Ill relate to "the rule of law"? Do they consider themselves "above" the law, or do they submit to its dictates? **

The rule of law is a legal dictum where no one is immune to law. When someone considers himself/herself above the law (//legibus solutu//), he/she goes against it, whereas when someone submits himself/herself to the law, he/she accepts it.

Due to the situation their town is in, Guelleners are forced to submit to the law. But not just any law; in this case it’s Claire’s Zachanassian’s.

Claire Zachanassian agrees to give money to Guellen in exchange for justice (Ill’s death). At first, Guelleners submit to common law; it is wrong to get money in exchange for someone’s murder, therefore they reject the offer.

But what happens from this point on is that Guellen shifts from common law to Claire Zachanassian’s.

We could very well say that Claire Zachanassian considers herself above the law. She declares that justice can be bought because she has the power to do it, literally, with the complicity of the Guelleners, making herself immune to justice.

Guellen is dilapidated and weak. They need money in order to make the town prosper. So they indirectly accept the offer by taking a taste of Claire Zachanassian’s reward; buying better goods on credit, so the debt becomes big enough it can only be repaired with the blood money.

Guelleners are hence forced to submit to Claire Zachanassian’s law. Alfred Ill is the last one to submit; he is terrified about what the town is plotting against him, but he then accepts his fate.

In conclusion, Claire Zachanassian can be identified as a judge who creates her own law and forces everyone around her to accept it.

// Dario Napodano //