| This dissertation focuses on the role of sexuality in determining the fate and individualism of the main characters of two novels, Hermann in Vladimir Nabokov's Russian-language Otchaianie (Despair) and K. in Franz Kafka's Das Schloss (The Castle). Hermann's plight, his unrequited sexual obsession with the vagrant Felix, leads him ultimately to murder the object of his affections and thus, in terms of plot, certainly is a by-product of his sexual preference. Yet his whole text is saturated with his attempt to overcome the admission that he has killed off a "wonder," with his self-justifying novel, although eloquent and hilarious, ending in misery and despair. An unscrupulous rake, K. is bent on enjoying what he believes he deserves as the (il)legitimate son of the ostensible local despot, Klamm (hence K.), and uses his great success with young women to that end. In time, one realizes, however, that K. has not only 'insider' status as a returning native to Klamm's domain, but also 'outsider' status as someone who cannot fully understand the world he analyses, like a "Kritiker" (again abbreviated by K.). Texts from Freud and Pushkin are brought in for added depth to the Nabokov section. |
