The Married Couple
- 1933 (1933) London, Martin Secker
- 1946 (1946) New York, Schocken Books
"The Married Couple" (German: "Das Ehepaar") is a 1922 short story by Franz Kafka. It was published posthumously in Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer (Berlin, 1931). The first English translation by Willa and Edwin Muir was published by Martin Secker in London in 1933. It appeared in The Great Wall of China. Stories and Reflections (New York City: Schocken Books, 1946).[1]
Plot
The story is about a businessman who is desolate. He becomes bored in his day-to-day affairs at the office and decides to contact some of his customers personally. One of them, N., is an old man with whom he has had previous personal and business contact. He meets N at his house, and notices how frail he's become. N is old and sick, but still mentally as sharp as ever, and is not as receptive to the business proposal as the narrator had hoped. Moreover, while N's wife is aged, she is alert, vivacious, and protective of her husband. At one point it seems the old man has died, but he is actually asleep. The alarm expressed by the narrator only amplifies his own weaknesses, and he is patronized by the wife as he leaves alone.[2]
Analysis
Although Kafka is sometimes noted by scholars as portraying women as seductive, destructive forces, this story characterizes the wife as a loyal and protective force. Moreover, the woman is completely absorbed in the marriage, both an advantage and a hindrance to the husband's life.[3]
References
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- The Trial
- The Castle
- Amerika
collections
- Contemplation
- A Country Doctor
- A Hunger Artist
- The Great Wall of China
- The Complete Stories
- The Sons
- The Penal Colony
- Parables and Paradoxes
- Dearest Father
- Description of a Struggle
notebooks
and essays
- Ottla Kafka (sister)
- Franz Kafka and Judaism
- Richard and Samuel
- Franz Kafka Museum
- Franz Kafka Society
- Kafka Project
- Head of Franz Kafka statue
- Statue of Franz Kafka
- Kafka's Dick (1986 play)
- The Loves of Kafka (1988 film)
- Kafka (1991 film)
- Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life (1993 film)
- Category
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