Kafka's Metamorphosis: Performance Analysis and Interpretations

Reception and Interpretation

We have recorded up to 159 performances of the work. The story resists any single, definitive interpretation. There are four significant interpretations, organized around four main groups:

A) Associated with Psychological Interpretations of Kafka's Biography

Many critics view The Metamorphosis as a reflection of Kafka's concept of himself and his position within his family. Kafka began writing The Metamorphosis in 1912, a period marked by business crises and betrayal by Ottla.

The Metamorphosis can be seen as an autocaricature. The transformation into an insect represents:

• A hyperbolic and extreme expression of an abnormal condition.
• The condemnation of incomprehension and rejection by others.
• The marginalization and isolation in which the artist ends up living.
• A conscious or unconscious desire to escape the disease as a means of escaping existence.

The relations within the family serve as a small-scale demonstration of the world in which Kafka perceived slavery, inhumanity, submission, and alignment.

B) Existential Reading: "The Metamorphosis" as a Metaphor for the Alienation of Modern Man

The Metamorphosis reflects a very broad commentary on the alienating conditions of modern life. Modernity has transformed the world into a place so complex that it is often incomprehensible. Gregor's miserable and degraded existence is projected onto his transformation into an insect.

Some critics suggest the transformation can be understood as:

• A rebellion against alienating life, bourgeois society, family, and an anonymous system that degrades humanity.
• A protective mechanism, symbolized by the shell.
• A metaphor for an awakening of consciousness, where the transformation represents an eye-opening to assume a reality that often remains ignored.