Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of one of the late works by Franz Kafka: The Married Couple (Das Ehepaar), written in 1921–22. The world presented in the short story refers to earlier, more famous texts, such as The Judgement, The Metamorphosis or A Country Doctor, some constituent elements and constellations between the characters have the features of games for dominance typical for Kafka. Also here, there are characters of the small middle-class family: however apart from the figures of sons and the figure of a father, this is the first such presentation of the character of a wife and a mother, inconspicuous, busy and fragile Mrs. K who caused the unexpected twist in the plot.