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/lit/ - Literature

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875379 No.875379 [Reply] [Original]

I have a problem

Kafkaesque Characters are essentially powerless, 1-dimensional and unhappy persons constantly subjected to the whim of fate rather in control of their actions.

However, in theatre a character that is self-absorbed, does nothing and constantly wallows in weakness is rightfully criticized as a whiney little bitch that no audience wants to listen to.

Any thoughts on how to overcome this /lit/?

>> No.875383
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875383

>criticizing kafka on /lit/
Inb4 shitstorm

>> No.875390
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875390

>>875383
I'm not trying to knock Kafka, he's one of my favourite authors.

It just seems virtually impossible to write a stageplay which is kafkaesque without either boring the audience or distorting the style. Something which has been driving me crazy

>> No.875391

>>875379
There isn't a way to overcome it.

It's different when the person is right in front of you, I guess.

>> No.875392

> powerless

Yes

>1-dimensional

No

>and unhappy persons

This follows from the first

>self-absorbed

Gregor's only thoughts are how to get back to normal so he can perform his duties for other people (his job, his family)

> self-absorbed, does nothing and constantly wallows in weakness

Hamlet

>> No.875396

try Kafka's Dick, OP

>> No.875403
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875403

>>875390
I think they did make a stage play of The Trial. I wonder how that went

>> No.875405
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875405

>>875392
goddamnit /lit/, I'm looking for some kind of help here. If you want to prove me wrong that bad, SHOW me some ways to work around this

>> No.875407

>>875403
Really well, actually.
My hometown just did a community theatre production of The Trail.
It worked out really well and was very interesting.

>> No.875412
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875412

>>875403
Hmm, that might be the place for me to look. I know they did an adaptation of the metamorphosis that seemingly worked out nicely as well. Had something like five different kafaka puppets on stage in addition to the actor

>> No.875411

>>875405
You just have to go about the depression a different way. Obviously, one doesn't translate well into the other. Give us some of your theories first. We'll build upon that.

>> No.875410

>Kafkaesque Characters are essentially powerless, 1-dimensional and unhappy persons constantly subjected to the whim of fate rather in control of their actions.

Make him angry about his situation, right to the end. Like he genuinely tries to escape (perhaps fully acknowledging that he's a coward), or meet the forces surrounding him as an equal, rather than be passively carried along by them

>> No.875415

>>875405

Give him a real problem, give him a real life that is interrupted by this problem, surround him with characters that aren't like him. Just like all of Kafka's characters and just like Hamlet.

Also reread Kafka because you don't even have a good grasp on the literal events.

>> No.875449
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875449

>>875411
I don't particularly have too much in the way of theories- Basically just that the over-riding philosophy appears to be that the situation controls the protagonist rather than the protagonist the situation.

>>875410
This is a fair start, make the rage internal of course.

>>875415
Yeah, this sounds about right.

>> No.875450

Give the character a huge dong. When a guy has a 13 inch baton do you listen to what he says?

Two possible answers:
>Yes
>all of the above

>> No.875455

>>875392

Hamlet doesn't do nothing... he does a great many things, and they all end badly.

>> No.875463

>>875455

Hamlet does nothing in the same sense that Kafka's characters do nothing, which is to say that he makes a number of abortive and futile attempts to rectify his situation until it all fucks up and he dies.

>> No.875485

>>875449
>make the rage internal of course

Thing is, if he actively voices his frustration, you get to have people around him (friends/family, colleagues, civil servants) wonder why he's being so unreasonable. To their eyes, perhaps, he's just an uptight asshole sometimes, with a habit for procrastinating.

>> No.875496

OP
Have Coen Bros directing it

Both the sheriff in No Country for Old Men and the main character in A Serious Man were of the kind that you describe

>> No.875524

>in theatre a character that is self-absorbed, does nothing and constantly wallows in weakness is rightfully criticized as a whiney little bitch that no audience wants to listen to

Hamlet

>> No.875530
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875530

>>875496
You really think so? I thought he was just old, and world weary.

>> No.875547

>>875449
>Basically just that the over-riding philosophy appears to be that the situation controls the protagonist rather than the protagonist the situation.

But they don't get there by being weak. Kafka's characters are strong, stronger than you or I, but stuck--put there own minds or by a system that conspires against them.

Consider for example, the messenger in "A Message from the Emperor." He is strong, he is swift, he is useless. Or in the hunger artist, where the artist pursues an art that the world no longer cares for and starves himself to death in its pursuit. This is weakness?