Andorra (play)

Andorra is a play written by Max Frisch in 1961. The original text came from a prose sketch Frisch had written in his diary titled Der andorranische Jude (The Andorran Jew). The story revolves around a young boy, Andri, the illegitimate child of a travelling gypsy and a local school teacher. To hide the scandal behind the boy's birth, the Teacher raises his son under the assumption that he is an adopted Jew. Andre falls in love with (unbeknownst to him) his sister-in-law Barblin, whom he lives with, and becomes the center of anti-semitism first by his fellow town members and later by invading forces.

Related Topics:
Max Frisch - 1961 - Illegitimate - Gypsy - Jew - Anti-semitism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Andorra in Frisch's play is fictional and not intended to be a representation of the real Andorra located between France and Spain.

Related Topics:
Fictional - Andorra - France - Spain

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The majority of the characters in Andorra are not named, but are instead represented by their occupation: the Teacher, the Priest, the Soldier, etc. At the tail end of many of the scenes, these members of the community come forth to a public confessional and talk about Andri's torture and crucifixion in the past tense, foreshadowing the play's tragic ending. Each townsperson attempts to rationalize their involvement in Andri's death (which they consider in hindsight unwarranted since he wasn't born a Jew). The Soldier's rational, "I was only following orders", comes from the period of denazification when many ex-Nazi soldiers were forced to defend their anti-semitism after the fact. The play—written fifteen years after the end of World War II—is more of a study of cultural prejudice rather than a specific reflection on the war.

Related Topics:
Denazification - World War II

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~