A lot of Kafka’s work is said to be quite similar to his real life. This might also be true with the women in his novels. Throughout The Trial, K has women wanting him, without him needing to do anything. At the beginning of the novel it says that his landlady Frau Grubach, cooks him breakfast every morning. He then later tries to apologize to Fraulein Burstner, for having strangers use her because of him. K. tries to comfort her when she is startled by a shout and ends up kissing her for no apparent reason. Later he is confronted by the women who showed him where the hearing was held. Although she is married, she is clearly attracted to him and offers to help him with his case. A cleaning lady who has met K once is already trying to help him, saying that she might be able to sway the Examining Magistrate. Leni, a nurse to the lawyer was attracted enough to K. to throw and break a plate in hoping that he would come out. She leads him into a room where recognizes pictures of judges, he uses her to find out who those people were. Sitting on his lap they kiss and fool around, she has fallen for him to the point where she gives him a key to the building for him to come whenever. Although all these women just throw themselves at him hoping to be “the one”, it seems that K. is more interested in using them for their knowledge or just as a mistress. These seem to be accurate with Kafka’s real life. Doing some research I found that Kafka had more than a couple affairs with countless women. But all these relations never went anywhere, and were purely for his own satisfaction.
I agree on part of this. I believe every author inputs pieces of their personality into the characters. I am sure Kafka had his share of women, but, in all seriousness, glance at a picture of him. He looks like an average European man- nothing that in my opinion would qualify as a “ladies man.” While K.’s overtures are greeted warmly, I think Kafka may have had a little more struggle in this area. For some reason, I just don’t see him as someone who aggressively courts attractive women. Usually, young men who are clinically depressed are not attracted to vibrant social scenes( where good-looking women are often met). A more viable theory is that K. is someone Kafka longed to be, but could not because of his fragile mental condition.