The Trial Sex Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph). We used Breon Mitchell's translation.

Quote #7

"What a pretty claw!" Leni watched with a kind of pride as K. opened and closed her two fingers repeatedly in astonishment, until he finally kissed them lightly and released them. (6.3)

The thing that K. doesn't really seem to appreciate is that the women who do throw themselves at him are all associated with the court, and seem to get more attracted to him the closer they are to the court's operations. It seems to make these women more attractive to K. as well, as he views Leni's web-like hand with affection rather than disgust.

Quote #8

"My boy," [the uncle] cried, "how could you do it! You've damaged your case terribly, when it was starting out so well." (6.3)

The uncle's expression of horror at K.'s behavior – that he was making out with the maid while serious discussions about his trial were taking place – is pretty much the reader's reaction. But later on, even Huld seems to accept K.'s erotic adventures with good humor (see Quote #9 below).

Quote #9

The defendants are simply the most attractive. It can't be the guilt that makes them attractive […] it must be the result, then, of the proceedings being brought against them, which somehow adheres to them. (9.7)

Huld merely confirms the running joke in the novel that K. is irresistible to women just by virtue of the fact that he's on trial.