Feminist Critique of the Metamorphosis

Emma Scoville

Mr. Conway

English IV

9 June 2015

Feminist Criticism of The Metamorphosis

        Feminist theory is a sociological theory that seeks to understand the status of women and men in society in order to improve the lives of women. This theory attempts to explain the societal differences between men and women, which includes gender differences, gender inequalities, gender oppression, and structural oppression. Feminist theory is commonly applied to literature to understand how the text reinforces the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women. The theory often attempts to expose the inherent misogyny in texts about women written by male authors. Feminist theory in literature has many different approaches, one theory which states that “in every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman is other: she marginalized, defined only by her difference from male norms and values.” Another facet of feminist theory states that “gender issues play a part in every aspect of human production and experience, including the production and experience of literature, whether we are consciously aware of these issues or not.” When approaching a text, feminist theorists typically ask questions such as “how is the relationship between men and women portrayed?” and “how are male and female roles defined?”

        It should be noted that the short story The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka was first published in 1915, a time wherein the roles between men and women varied greatly. In the 1910s, women were the homemakers while men generally were the ones working and making the income. Women were traditionally regarded as milder, softer, less adventurous, less productive, and more fragile than their male counterparts, and these sentiments can be seen in The Metamorphosis. Roles given to the women in this story reinforce the feminist theory that “in every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman is other: she marginalized, defined only by her difference from male norms and values.” The mother of Gregor stays at home and cleans. Grete, the sister of Gregor, also stays at home and is very obedient, indicating submissiveness, a typical trait given to female roles. The maids in the story are also female. Fragility and submissiveness can be seen in the mother while strength and heroism can be seen in the father when the mother reacts to Gregor's new condition and “[falls] into the arms of his father, who [comes] rushing up to her” (18).

        Gregor, a male character, is the primary source of income for the family as a traveling salesman. He initially holds a dominative and active male role when he is fully human. However, once he transforms into a bug, his ability to earn money for his family vanishes, and thus becomes an outsider in his own home, regarded as useless and a huge burden. Through Gregor's metamorphosis, Franz Kafka is trying to express that his value as a male comes only from the fact that he was the provider. The male provider role is taken seriously by the father of Gregor when he takes a job as a bank attendant to make money after Gregor turns into a bug. The father holds and guards his remaining sense of masculinity so closely that he “refuse[s] to take off his official uniform even in the house, as if he were always ready for duty” (41). In this situation, the mother and daughter both take on feminine roles; they clean the increasingly dirty uniform and take care of him by telling him to go to sleep and waking him up for work.