CONTROL INTERNO (CI)

The subject of much debate at the Fin de siècle, it is not surprising that Ôapek-Chod treats the themes of prostitution and the 'fallen woman'. That he returns to the themes throughout his career indicates the metaphorical and philosophical possibilities which the character of the fallen woman suggested to him. The depictions of fallen woman, that is, one who violates social conventions by her sexual behaviour, have aspects in common; they also, however, cover the spectrum of Capek-Chod's conceptions of female nature.

The fate of women like Pepiôka ('Na valech') , a village girl who returns pregnant after working as a maidservant in Vienna, was a familiar contemporaneous c o n c e r n . the depiction of

PepiCka, however, the author diverges from conventional perceptions of the fallen woman as a victim or as the bane on society. The character of PepiCka constitutes a miniature of the prototypical Ôapek-Chod woman: practical, energetic, cunning but not malicious. PepiCka's physical appearance is not given in detail, but from the first description of her one has the

iM^bid., p. 284. i^Ibid., pp. 297-98. i^^bid., p. 297.

i^Compare, for example, the depiction of the fallen maidservant in: Bo2ena Benesova, 'Pamatka', Tiché divky, Prague, n.d. [1922, story written in 1900], pp. 5-75; Tèver, 'Samota', Duse nezakotvene, pp. 193-224; Vikovâ-Kunëtickâ, Co bylo, Prague,

impression of a robust and sensual woman. The tailor Josef, who had lost his legs in the Austro-Prussian War, on seeing the smoke rise from her cottage, imagines Pepidka lighting the fire:

'pfedobfe vidi dvë jiskry v Cernych oôlch, pod nimi% dmou se rumëné tvâfe a Û2i se rozkosné, horlivë do ohnë dmychajici rtiky jako do prsténku z pouti'.^* The introduction of Pepiôka contrasts her with Josef; while she is vigorously engaged in a domestic chore, Josef sits motionless at his window dreaming of her. Throughout the short story, Pepiëka's mobility is contrasted with Josef's 'stationariness'. While PepiCka hurries back and forth between her cottage and Josef's window, Josef moves perceptibly only twice, if one discounts his use of a needle and scissors: when he shifts back from the window to reveal to PepiCka his crippled state; and when he wipes away his tears with the sleeve of the narrator's coat. Just as Josef's immobility is emblematic of his dreamy, passive character, Pepiëka's mobility indicates her active and shrewd n a t u r e . T h a t her attentions to Josef are calculated and self-serving is indicated by her immediate flight from him when she learns thcLt he is crippled.^*

PepiCka's rejection of Josef prefigures Elvira's disdain for the invalid Bures. That ëapek-Chod does not identify contempt for weakness with female nature, however, is indicated by the portrayal of the housekeeper Mary (V tifetlm dvoi^e) , who attains social respectability through her marriage to the senile and crippled retired officer. Indeed, the depictions of Pepiëka and Elvira comment, with varying degrees of irony, on male fear that woman judges a man according to his physique (that is, as man appears to judge woman). This is expressed by Ond?ej Andrÿsek Junior, in 'Nedonoseny ...', after he has been conscripted:

KdyB jednou zastavil syna dutkou, Be je sama holka a sama cigareta, kam to povede, odpovëdël Ondfej, aB

i^^apek-Chod, 'Na valech', Povidky, pp. 10-11.

i^The fact that they have the same name may suggest that they are male and female prototypes.

^^®One might, however, claim that sexual potential is in the end more important to Pepiëka than money, as Josef has an army pension.

p?ijde domù bez nohy, potom 2e ho dëvdata chtlt nebudou, a kdyby tarn mël vùbec zùstat, 2e by teprve nevykou?il retku u2 ani jedinou.^^^

Male fear of impotence and of female self-sufficiency is also treated in the theme of uncertain paternity in 'Na valech' and 'Nedonosenÿ Anna's predicament ('Nedonoseny . ..') resembles Pepiëka's; seduced and impregnated by her employer, Anna pursues her former suitor Andrÿsek as a husband. The narrator indicates that Anna has no desire for Andrÿsek and accepts his proposal for practical reasons. Anna is conventionally pretty, while Andrÿsek is toothless and twice her age.*^^ For Capek-Chod, this does not constitute a barrier to desire; in 'Ûvodnik', Plecitÿ attracts a woman who is younger than his s o n . H o w e v e r , when Andrÿsek tells Anna that he knows of an honourable man who would like to make her acquaintance, she replies, 'Je-li ten fâdnÿ a poctivÿ mu2 taky hezkÿ a mladÿ, ale hodnë . .. ' . Anna's playful, but also cunning, nature is indicated in the description of her eyes: 'naklonila hlavinku a selmovskÿm pohledem, jen2 nëkdy dovedl bÿti i selmi, zdola pohlédla na Andrÿska, a hned je zase sklopila'.^^ The account of her 'trapping' Andrÿsek indicates guilelessness in combination with assertiveness. Dismissed from the laundry, she asks Andrÿsek to carry her belongings to her new lodgings. When he asks where these lodgings are, she gives him the address of his recently acquired l a u n d r y . I n both short stories, the role of the prospective husband is that of provider rather than progenitor. In neither case does the narrator condemn the 'immoral' behaviour

129

i^^apek-Chod, 'Nedonosenÿ ...', Ad h o d , p. 136.

i^^apek-Chod treats the theme most extensively in Jindrové. i^^apek-Chod, 'Nedonosenÿ ...', pp. Ill, 113.

i^^apek-Chod, 'Ûvodnik', pp. 170, 175-6. i^Capek-Chod, 'Nedonosenÿ ...', p. 116.

i^^bid., p. 119. A similar word-play occurs in Jindrové, p.

of the female. That her 'fall' is not represented suggests, first, the view that no moral value can be attached to the act of sexual intercourse in itself; and second, that the woman is sexually sufficient unto h e r s e l f . T h e deception practised by the female characters is represented as necessary, if hurtful. Indeed, Anna is most selfish and cruel when she reveals her deception to A n d r ÿ s e k . Her confession, with which she attempts to atone for her earlier behaviour, precipitates Andÿsek's suicide.

Capek-Chod treats prostitution briefly in 'Berane burc'. The poor prostitute DodliCka is a minor character whose one petticoat, hanging out to dry at night, is attacked by the protagonist, a he-goat. In the depiction of DodliCka, the narrator satirizes the idealistic notion of free love:

'mrkava DodliCka', ani% by byla Cetla anglicky, v 2ivot uvâdëla nejkrajnëjsi zâsady nejmodernëjsiho hnutl emancipaëniho o 2enë, jako2to svobodné zakladatelce rodiny a svobodné volitelce pfedmëtu své lâsky. A2 dosud volila nejménë sedmkrâte, a sedm 2ivoucich dokladù [...] bylo dokladem feëenÿch jejich

zàsad.^7

The character of the fallen woman is treated in greater depth in Kaspar Lén mstitel and 'Experiment'. The depiction of the prostitute in the former is both true to life in detail and unconventional. Perhaps the one conventional aspect of the depiction is the account of her 'fall'; she is a victim in that she is raped by the entrepreneur Konopik. He demands that she have sexual intercourse with him in exchange for the freedom of

^*^See Auerbach, Woman and the Demon, p. 180. i^Capek-Chod, 'Nedonosenÿ ...', pp. 154-55.

i^Tbid., pp. 157-8. In his description of Anna's almost joyful reaction to the news of her son's death, Capek-Chod's narrator may be exploring the relations between the mother and the illegitimate child who made marriage necessary. Ibid., p. 150. See also Capek-Chod, 'Vitëzstvi dobyté', Silàci a slabosi, p. 26.

i^Capek-Chod, 'Berane burc!'. Bar svatého Floriana a Zvifatka a Petrovsti, pp. 208-09. The narrator states that men mistake DodliCka's tic (she winks constantly) for an amorous proposition.

her father, who had been caught stealing from Konopik's stockroom.^* Once driven to prostitution, Mafka accepts her lot; the narrator comments: 'o Mafce bylo jisto, 2e je "râda proto 2e je râda” '.^^^ That she is not resigned, however, is evident in her escape from the second brothel in which she is being held. The description of her preparations for escape present her plight in realistic, unsentimental detail. Because this is only her second place of employment, she is not greatly in debt to the madame; thus, she is not closely g u a r d e d . B e c a u s e the prostitutes have been deprived of street clothes, so that they can be easily recognized should they try to flee, Mafka must steal a shawl and hide a skirt under her b o d i c e . S h e steals a bonnet from a girl who is beaten when first brought to the b r o t h e l . o n running away, Mafka hears the whistle of the pimp, who has influence with the p o l i c e . The narrator depicts the

full extent of the misery of her predicament; he cannot resist, however, describing her flight in gently ironic terms: the plump Mafka runs away on tip-toe, 'mys nemohla se ztracet tiseji'.^*

Although she is a victim of Konopik, Mafka does not remain a victim; she gains her own power, which is comically portrayed in her first encounter with Lén after his return from military service. Her 'fall' is represented by her prostration before Lén. She grips his feet so tightly, however, that his balance is threatened; when he tries to escape from her, she knocks him

i^^apek-Chod, Kaspar Lén mstitel, pp. 239-41. 'M^bid., p. 181.

^^°Prostitutes were tied to the brothel on account of the high prices they had to pay for board and the rent of clothing. See Linda Mahood, The Magdalenes. Prostitution in the Nineteenth Century, 1990, p. 43. On the role of the pimp, see ibid., p. 44. On Mafka's plans for escape, see Kaspar Lén mstitel, pp. 181-7.

i^Ibid., p. 183. i^^bid., p. 182. '^Ibid., p. 187. i^^bid.

over. She is ashamed when he finds her at the brothel;^* after his arrest for murder, however, this shame vanishes because she considers they are now e q u a l . T h u s her shame derives from her sense of inferiority to him, rather than from any abhorrence of prostitution. She expresses desire for Lén, attempting to lure him up to her room 'jen na jedno polibeni'.^* She exhibits the tendency to self-dramatization which one associates with Capek- Chod's intellectual or artistic characters, like Antonin Vondrejc or KaCenka in Vëtrnik. In the narrator's description of Matka's sentiments during Len's trial, he ironizes this tendency, as well as the sentimentalizing language of journalism:

I zatouBila Mafka vasnivou zavrati ztracencù, opovr2encù, kteti v sensaci, do jaké uvrhnou nejsirsi vefejnost, jimi opovrhujici a je zatracujici, vidl svou rehabilitaci, aby se mohla postaviti tam napfed po boku 'hlavnimu reku dnesniho pfeliCeni', i aby se na ni ukazalo jako na spoluvinnici ...^^

Mafka's self-dramatization is a product of her youth. That she is both a child and a woman is repeatedly stated. She has 'dëtskâ odka'.^o The narrator describes her at the witness box: 'Tfasla se jako male dëvëe pfed panem uëitelem a take jeji vzlykot byl plâëem ditëte, dopadeného pfi poklesku, pro kterÿ se boji vÿprasku. ' Her podginess may indicate that she has not yet lost her 'baby fat'. That her hair is naturally of two colours, blond at the ends and red at the roots, may suggest the child/woman duality within her.^*^ Despite her childishness, however, Mafka hardly requires Lén as a protector; that she is able to defend herself is demonstrated by the slap she gives him

i^Ibid., pp. 34-5. '^Tbid., p. 35. ^^Ibid., pp. 196-97 '^Ibid., p. 87. '^Ibid., p. 202. '^ibid., p. 33. i^ibid., p. 238. iM^bid., p. 28.

when he first finds her soliciting for 'business' by the brothel.

Mafka is a victim of her material nature. This is represented by her hysterical fits, brought on by moments of distress.1*4 The changes to her face during these fits recall the author's descriptions of female sexual arousal, for example, that of Cecilie in 'Mendelssohnùv koncert': 'celâ tvaf jeji nabyla a ztuhnula nâvalem krve, jako kdyby ji nëkdo rdousil, a2 do oônich dùlkù stoupla zâplava a rty vzdutim se rozepialy'.^^ The pattern of imagery employed at the conclusion to the novel suggests that the convulsion which distorts Mafka passes from her to Lén: foam pours from her red face, as if her mouth had been stuffed with it.i*** When Lén stands to give his last statement, blood gushes from his white face; the hand with which he covers his mouth is stained as if he had crushed a handful of cherries.i*^ Death is represented as moving through Mafka to Lén. The narrator thus ironically indent if ies enslavement to desire with mortality. The narrator also suggests that while woman is slave to the body, man is slave to woman.

In his portrayal of the hysterical prostitute, the author also ironizes the theories of social scientists who linked the 'female' crime of prostitution with certain forms of mental and physical degeneration.^*

i^ibid., p. 26.

i^Ibid., pp. 38, 243.

i^Ôapek-Chod, 'Mendelssohnùv koncert', p. 131. Compare with the description of Mafka's fit: '"Më to udusi, udusi, udusi!" sténala hlubokÿm, nepf irozenÿm, nikdy neslysenym hlasem, tisknouc hlavu, celou jaksi nahle opuchlou, mezi ramena, tak2e zjev jeji nabyl vzezfeni mrtvë nadutelého. Oëi zfejmë vystupovaly pod zavfenÿmi viëky'. Capek-Chod, Kaspar Lén mstitel, p. 38.

iM^bid., p. 243. '^Ibid., p. 246.

188i

*Krafft-Ebing comments: 'In the hysterical the sexual sphere is often abnormally excited [...] Shameless prostitution, even in married women, may result.' Krafft-Ebing, Psychopathia Sexualis, p. 468. He defends the association of epilepsy with abnormal manifestations of the sexual instinct. Ibid., pp. 453-

In descriptions of Mafka's fits, attention is focused on her throat: '"Je2isi Kriste, Je2isi!” chrdela hrdlem do siroka rozestouplym';^* 'Lénovi pfipadalo, 2e se nest'astnici jinak uleviti nemù2e, leda vyhfeznutim dasti ûtrob ûsty, jak se zdâlo, do hrdla se ji t l a C i c i c h ' ' B y l o podivani na Mafku, zrudla ve tvafi, hrdlo jeji div se nerozstoupilo, z kulatosti jeho vypnuly se kolmé svaly a na nich ukazaly se 2ily jako brky'.^** In 'Experiment', mastery of Julie, who is 'fallen' although still a virgin, is represented in terms of control over her throat, or v o i c e . T h i s is conveyed in the description of her suicide, when her character is first introduced to the reader. After she takes the mercury tablet, her would-be protector. Dr Slaba, grabs her throat to prevent her from swallowing it; the customers in the café in which the action is set assume that Slaba is trying to choke her and release her from h i m . T h e narrator comments:

'osvobozené jeji hrdlo s vltëznou urputnosti provedlo sve'. Julie asserts her independence in dying; her death may thus suggest the 'transforming power' of the fall.^*^

That the conflict between Julie and Slaba manifests the letter's crisis of sexual identity is also suggested in this scene; the man who pushes Slaba off Julie represents his sexual

61. Lombroso identifies the 'born criminal' with the epileptic.