Die Physiker Review

By Jessica Gregory - Published on Thursday 3 August 2023

I'm back after three long months! Unfortunately, taking humanities for A Level subjects does mean a lot of coursework in Year 12 (so if you're considering your subjects, do factor this in), hence I haven't been around in a while.

However, here is my latest post for you, and it's about Die Physiker by Friedrich Dürrenmatt.

I first came across this play whilst looking for a German text to read, and this was actually recommended by the University College, Oxford website.

Here's the link for those interested: https://www.univ.ox.ac.uk/book/die-physiker-the-physicists/

I saw that this was set during the Cold War, which is why I chose to read this text. I have always enjoyed the history side of my A Level course, and therefore, it seemed important to explore this in my supercurricular activities.

When I was reading it, I didn't truly appreciate the historical significance of the play. I have to admit, having had so much to do, I read it over a period of months, and naturally, this made it rather difficult to get into.

However, that didn't make it a boring read.

Dürrenmatt included a variety of unexpected twists, including (SPOILER ALERT) Schwester Monika's love for the play's protagonist Möbius, his murder of Schwester Monika, and the revelation that the two other patients (Einstein and Newton) are actually secret agents.

A full summary of the play can be found here: "The Physicists": A play about extinction and the responsibility of scientists — EA Forum (effectivealtruism.org)

The summary above explains that Einstein and Newton are from the Eastern and Western bloc, respectively. This context makes clear that the competition between these two characters for Möbius' scientific discoveries was important in the Cold War setting, perhaps to the extent that it is a microcosm of wider society.

Möbius' refusal to hand over his scientific discoveries raises yet another interesting question. On Page 74, he explains:

"Unsere Wissenschaft ist schrecklich geworden, unsere Forschung gefährlich, unsere Erkenntnis tödlich ... Wir müssen unser Wissen zurücknehmen"

This conveys the idea of recognising the limits of scientific discoveries. It's for this reason - in order to protect humanity - that Möbius refuses to hand over his knowledge, as neither Eisler nor Kilton could guarantee that it would be in safe hands with their governments.

This opened an incredibly interesting but also relevant debate for the time period.

In the 21 Punkte zu den >Physikern< that follow the play, Dürrenmatt writes:

"Sie ist paradox."

This is the 11th point (and therefore halfway through the list), and it's here that we see a clear change in the statements. Initially, this had begun with elements of a play, such as how a character will always encounter chance and coincidence.

However, after this point, there is a focus on a wider societal perspective. This is epitomised by the final point, which explains:

"Die Dramatik kann den Zuschauer überlisten, sich der Wirklichkeit auszusetzen, aber nicht zwingen, ihr standzuhalten, oder sie gar zu bewältigen."

This point explains that we can trick the audience into seeing reality, but we cannot force them to withstand it. (See the above summary for an exact translation.)

Since I have read this play, this has stood out prominently in my mind, as I think it is a very interesting statement that can be applied to not only Die Physiker but also a wide range of other literature and media.

In terms of the general reading of the play, I noticed some unusual grammar structures that I have encountered before. One of these was a structure that I found in the 2021 MLAT, which can be seen below:

Those interested in accessing the whole paper can view it here: Microsoft Word - MLAT 2021_v.2 (ox.ac.uk)

When I first encountered this structure, I had to ask what this meant, and so when it came up in Die Physiker, I was able to recognise it fairly quickly. On Page 71, it states (SPOILER ALERT):

"Er mag der wichtigste Mann der Welt sein, seine Manuskripte sind wichtiger."

As you can see, these too example are slightly different, although the recognition of it will certainly be useful, should it come up in the MLAT again.

Secondly, I noticed the use of the subjunctive. Although this is a more common structure that I know is used regularly in German, it was useful to be able to recognise this within literature.

Naturally, my vocab expanded whilst reading this play, as I would search up words that came up repeatedly so that I could gain a deeper understanding of the plot.

I would advise anyone to read this in a short time frame so that they can have a clear understanding of what is happening. And also, don't be afraid to search up any unknown words, in order to get a better understanding of the text.

Overall, I did like reading Die Physiker, although I would say that the 21 points helped to further my enjoyment of it. The historical context in which is was set clearly played a prominent role, and this is something I hope I can explore more through other supercurricular activities and in my course at university.

For those interested in the Die Physiker, the edition I have been referencing is linked here: Die Physiker: Eine Komödie in zwei Akten. Neufassung 1980: Amazon.co.uk: Durrenmatt: 9783257230475: Books