Franz Kafka, Das Schloss [The Castle]

William J. Dodd (University of Birmingham)
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I>Das Schloss [

The Castle

], Kafka’s third and last novel, is one of his most ambitious, elusive and subtle texts. It resembles many of Kafka’s other third-person narratives, including

Der Prozess

[

The Trial

], in the extent to which the narrative perspective provides intimate but at the same time potentially critical access to the consciousness of the central character, and in the way the surface meaning of the text seems to contain significant names and symbols, metaphors and cultural references which invite us to look for deeper meanings.

The Castle

has neither the broad picaresque canvas of the

America

novel, nor the dramatic urgency of

The Trial

, but instead presents us with a study of character and situation in which the smallest details acquire significance. Kafka began work on…

2262 words

Citation: Dodd, William J.. "Das Schloss". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 April 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11503, accessed 28 March 2024.]

11503 Das Schloss 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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