How Kafka Portrays Women in The Trial

I think there are many important examples of women in Kafka’s books, which shows the position of women in this society and the critique that Kafka is making. Frauleine Burstner was the first women in the novel which K was invested in. He was so concerned with speaking to her that night and the debate was whether his interests were for social human contact or sexually need. I found it interesting that K did not have any male friends or even a girl friend or wife at age thirty. Was this the norm for this society or was K a loner? Some thing I guess we will never know. I think that K’s relationship with Frauleine Burstner was based on sex. I also found it very interesting that he saw her or a person that looked like her moments before he was killed. Was this reality or a dream?

I found the character of Leni even more fascinating for two reason, her relationship with K and her relationship or treatment of Block. The lawyer treats Leni as an inferior, but when she got the change to be superior to block she took it. She treated him like a dog and she took pleasure in being superior to someone. Leni is an example of how women were not taken seriously by men nor were they passive, some women like Leni were smart and listen to the information around them and used it as power.

The women who lived in the court also had information that she was willing to give to K and she has a sexual encounter with the clerk who was not her husband. Message about the power of sex and who hold that power is unclear to me but it is obvious that men dominate the law and the government. Women are never part of the government or in a position of authority. So maybe Kafka could be making the comment that the home and the bedroom are dominant by women or women have sexual power over men. Although when we look at the law in place in The Trial it does seem to lack logically sense, to express the inferiority of women in society seems to be a logically explanation for why Kafka chose the women to play these types of roles in his book.  I liked to think that Kafka was being pro women’s rights when he created these characters, but noting is ever as it seems in The Trial. 

What is Justice

When I think of examples of justice, Law and order, the government and the court system I think of books like to kill a Mockingbird and 12 Angry Men. I think of movies like “My Cousin Vinny” and shows like “Law and Order. All of these examples create our ideas of the legal system in this country. By comparing The Trial with others ideas about justice and order I have notices that there is a sense of comfort and security that people who are on the right side of the law have because of the justice system. We are taught to believe that those who do wrong will be receive a trial and be punished fairly. Within the legal system I think that we sacrifice some of our freedoms so we many seek protection.

When we were asked to define justice, I was able to think of classic example that we all know such as shows like Law and Order and classic books like To Kill a Mockingbird. But how can we define justice and words? Some of the definitions include the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause. Rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim or title; justness of ground or reason: to complain with justice. And the moral principle determining just conduct.

But The Trial is different; it is the lack of this social order and the confusion and fear that is causes within society. Where would we be without our system of Justice, would we live in a world like this where Joseph K has found him self on the wrong side of the invisible law? Or would there be mass chaos with out the law? Is some order is better than none? Whether the law is the law of the god’s like in the Oresetia where the gods control the fate of the people or the law of the government system that is in place like in The Trial, there is this external force that can be good or bad, can protect or cause fear. Our biggest fear as a reader is that this could become our reality and that we could lose the sense of security that we have because of our form of justice. 

Show Me the Money

So the other day I was watching Jerry Maguire and I love this movie for a lot of reasons but when were talking about morals, ethics, cheating and money I made the connection between Madame Bovary and Jerry Maguire. I think the connection lies in value of money and lifestyle and Emma desires and the business world that Jerry dedicated his life to. I also think that Jerry represents Emma’s desperation when he is fired from his Job. He so badly want to hold on to his career and does not want to feel like a failure. 

When Dorothy decided to go with him and Rod remains as his only client he holds on what he has left. I think that Jerry’s need to hold on to his success can be related to Emma’s need to hold on to what every type of love she can find. Although her affair with Leon is desperately and her marriage is in shambles she knows desperately tries to hold on. Both Jerry and Dorothy share the lack of a stable or fulfilling relationship before they meet each other and fall in love. Jerry’s fiancé broke up with him and before Dorothy’s husband died their marriage was less than perfect.

When Jerry is managing his only client, Rod Tidwell who is unable to get a contract he tell him that he does not play football with his heart. Rod only cares about the money and his contract. This is where the famous line “Show me the Money Comes from.” Emma and Rod are consumed by money and wealth. Jerry tells Rod that if he wants a contract he should play football for the love of the game, rather than the love of money. Emma should take advise from Jerry about her spending and love for money.

I love this movie because it is the there is two parts of the story, Jerry’s career and his relationship with Dorothy. He wants to be passionate and committed to both like any person. This film shows the raw and real human emotions. Although Jerry and Dorothy do not cheat or go into debt, they do share with Emma Bovary the desire to find happiness and love, which is a natural human desire.

Charles, Charles, Charles

I still cant decided if Emma’s behavior is despite of Charles or because of Charles. Is she having these affairs because she desperately wants to get her husbands attention or because he is such a terrible husband that she is unfulfilled in her marriage? I want to think that she is trying to get his attention, because frankly he is obvious to her world. I find Charles fascinating because he is so in love with Emma that he is blind to her emotional pain, unhappiness and infidelity. He really is the worst husband for a woman who wants so much attention and has such high expectations.

So my questions still remain, is Charles to blame for Emma’s behavior? I would have to say that it is a major reason behind Emma’s actions, but Emma must still be responsible for her choices. I wonder if Charles were a better husband, more attentive and attuned to her needs would Madame Bovary fell the need to have affairs to satisfy her desire. In the case of affairs, I don’t think one person is to blame, Charles was unable to meet Emma’s needs but Emma chose to be unfaithful.

So is Charles a fool for not seeing the reality of his marriage, or is he so wrapped up in love that he is blind and will do any thing to satisfy his immature wife. I think no matter what, Emma will be unsatisfied and this makes both Emma and Charles tragic characters. I have sympathy for Charles where I do not have for Emma. She did many things to ruin her husband; she puts him into debt, is unfaith, and lies. Emma is guilty of so much where as Charles’ only crime is he is blissfully unaware. 

Gustave Flaubert and The Beverly Hillbillies

            Flaubert’s distain and criticism of the new wealth in French society is very clear in this work of Madame Bovary. He critiques their inability to dress and behave property at fancy events. Emma Bovary her self represents the strong desires to be perceived as wealthy and to move up in class. When I was thinking about their wedding and how Flaubert comments on the people that addend and the extravagance of the wedding I was reminded of the Beverly Hillbillies.

My dad used to love this show and I can remember watching the movie with him when I was younger. The show was created in the 60’s and then made into a movie in 1993. It is a story about Jed Clampett who is a hillbilly living in Arkansas, one day when he is hutting his shoots at a rabbit. He misses the rabbit but shoots the ground, which causes an oil to come up from the ground. He has instantly become rich. They decided to move to Beverly Hills. He brings his whole family along, his daughter Elly May, Granny, Nephew Jethro. They all pile into the back of Jed truck and move to the big city. They buy a mansion and live among the rich and famous. The rest of the movie follows their adventures living as Hillbillies in Beverly Hills California.

What makes their story like those Flaubert critics is that they are not accustomed to the lifestyle of Beverly Hills; they have money but still act like they live in the country. After seeing this modern example, I think that Flaubert should be less critical. Today we think that money changes people, but the Beverly hillbillies are unchanged by their wealth. It is funny to see them eat road kill for dinner when they have enough money to own a five star restaurant or to see them not know how to use a bowling ball. But I guess Flaubert did not find the new wealth of his society to be funny. 

Love is Everywhere

        After reading Dante’s Inferno, Petrarch and Goethe I have to admit that I am tired of  love. Well love is fine, but it is the tragic love idolization of love from a male perspective that I am tired of. The theme of lost love has been in all three of the past books that we have read. Dante is lead by his lost love, Beatrice. Not much is know about their relationship or discussed in his work of The Inferno, but it is part of the foundation for the story. Petrarch’s work, Selections for the Carzonere is internally based off of his love affair and obsession with Laura. All of his sonnets are based off of his love for her. He expresses the double-edged sword of love, pain and pleasure, joy and sorrow. When Laura dies, his poems reflect his loss of her love and the emptiness he fells.

Goethe portrays almost the same story in his work, Sorrows of the Young Werther. The woman who Werther is infatuated with is named Lotte and is married to a man named Albert. Werther taken his obsession with love to the next step when he kills himself after Lotte denies him. His love is meaningless and empty without her and sees no point in living.

Why are these men, falling in love with women who they cant have, who are married or taken? Why is suicide the answer to love lost? These are the questions that I have asked by self as I have read these works, which have been so influential in literature. Are these men so self absorbed that they cannot see past their own needs or the limitation of life? Or are they so romantic that they would rather die than not be with their one true love? I personal look forward to hearing a female’s perspective on love and relationships. I have learned that denial is a part of life, but it seems as if these men cannot learn this important life lesson. 

Till Fame Do Us Part

Last week I was watching E! True Hollywood Stories, Celebrity Divorces and began to think about why celebrities have such a high record for divorce. Is it their wealth that divides couples or does fame ruin a marriage? In Dante’s Inferno one of the themes is the idea of Lust and those that committed sins of the flesh and public love. Dante meets Francesca in the Second Circle of Hell and she tells him her story of how her love leads to her eternity in hell. She was married to a man but fell in love with Paolo de Rimini. They read the love story of Lancelot and Guinevere, which is another tale of public life. Francesca’s husband found out about their affair and had both of them killed. In the tale of Lancelot and Guinevere. Guinevere was King Arthur wife and Lancelot was a King Arthur’s noblest knight. Guinevere and Lancelot had a secret love but it was revealed when Lancelot heisted in saving her because it did not want to show favoritism.

The negative effects of public love were also shown in Virgil’s Aeneid between Dido and Aeneas. After they fell in love, Dido revealed her love for Aneneas to the city but it isn’t long before their love is broken and Dido killed herself. She could have been so ashamed that she ended her life. Public love puts pressure on the couple, especially when they are in position of authority or fame. In the Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus, he writes, “when made public love rarely endures”.

 This quote makes me think of the modern example of Jon and Kate Gosselin. I have to admit that I was a fan of the show since the beginning but have stopped watching after all the drama about their divorce. If any one has seen the early shows, Jon and Kate seem like a happy and loving couple that is lucky enough to have twins and sextuples. After they are given a television show, their lives become public and before you know it, they are no longer a happy family, but anther broken story of divorce. I blame it on the fame and fortune; it is not natural to have your life broadcasted around the world. The love of their family and marriage made public ruined what they once had. I think it is a shame, but I don’t know if it is entirely sinful or would qualify for Jon and Kate plus to eight to be sent to the Second Circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno.