The Judgment - Context

Context

Franz Kafka wrote "The Judgment" ("Das Urteil") at age 29. At this point in his life, Kafka had finished his studies of law at the Karl-Ferdinands-Universität of Prague five years earlier and had worked various jobs, including working for an insurance company and starting an asbestos factory with his brother-in-law, Karl Hermann.

Kafka wrote "The Judgment" in a single sitting on September 22, 1912. In later writings, he described the creative outburst of "The Judgment" as “the total opening of body and soul,” as well as saying that “the story evolved as a true birth, covered with filth and slime.” Kafka viewed the work as “one of his most successful and perfect literary creations” which he was able to write in a “semi-unconscious state of mind.” Kafka was incredibly enthusiastic after the work, and talked to his good friend, Max Brod, who edited and published much of his work. "The Judgment" was published in 1913 in the literary yearbook Arkadia. The story was dedicated "to Miss Felice Bauer" whom he met just before writing it, and in subsequent editions simply "for F.". Brod noted in his biography that the name of the main character, Georg Bendemann, alludes to Kafka (Franz has as many letters as Georg, Bende sounds similar to Kafka), and the name of the fiancée mentioned to Felice: Frieda Brandenfeld has the same initials, Frieda as many letters as Felice, "Branden" may refer to Brandenburg around Berlin where Felice lived, "feld" (field) is related to "Bauer" (farmer).

The work has several key inspirations that can be traced to events around the time it was created. While Kafka was running his business, he was troubled because the time required for this job limited his literary creativity. This conflict inspired the character Georg Bendemann, the protagonist of "The Judgment".