Venus in Furs

These final sections trace the gradual dissolution of Severin and Wanda’s affair. Severin’s fear of infidelity is exacerbated to the breaking point as his relationship with Wanda breaks down. Wanda rejects his fears, insisting that she has “been absolutely faithful” to Severin and noting, “All that I have done was merely to fulfill your dream and it was done for your sake” (72). Severin notices the way Wanda “doesn’t even find it worth while to torture or maltreat [him] any further” (71), which he regards as a sure sign that her love for him has permanently cooled.

Severin’s rising fears foreshadow the eventual ending of the relationship: As the novella draws to a close, Wanda leaves Severin for Alexis, who reverses the roles Severin established with Wanda. This progression is the conclusion of The Exploration of Sexual Power Dynamics, in which Wanda realizes the fulfillment of her own role in Severin’s desire for suffering, and Severin discovers the limit of that desire for himself. Severin’s greatest fears—that Wanda will leave him or allow another man to beat him—both come to fruition in her affair with Alexis, with Wanda committing the ultimate betrayal by pretending to love Severin to lower his guard and then allowing Alexis to beat him against his will.

Severin feels a distinct awareness of Alexis as a threat early on, noting, “I have a presentiment that this man can enchain her, captivate her, subjugate her, and I feel inferior in contrast with his savage masculinity” (87). Alexis is the perfect enemy for Severin, as the servants note Alexis’s unique combination of “femininity” in appearance and “masculinity” in performance, which mirrors Severin’s attraction to Wanda. Likewise, Severin’s true fear is that Alexis will be the man who can dominate Wanda, taking on the same role with Wanda that Wanda is supposed to perform for Severin. Even in the moment that Alexis takes the whip from Wanda and begins torturing Severin, he admits that his first feeling is one of arousal at the idea of being beaten by the man whom Wanda prefers, though this feeling swiftly fades into sincere agony. Alexis is thus precisely the man Severin fears, while Wanda becomes the woman Severin hates instead of loves.

Wanda’s eventual betrayal and abandonment of Severin also reflects the complications of The Psychological Negotiation of Power and Submission in their relationship. Wanda’s betrayal breaks Severin’s two desired conditions, but they were conditions he ultimately failed to add to the contract. Wanda also correctly points out to Severin that she never lied to him, asking, “Didn’t I love you with all my heart, even passionately, and did I conceal the fact from you, that it was dangerous to give yourself into my power, to abase yourself before me, and that I want to be dominated?” (94, emphasis added). From the beginning of their relationship, Wanda was reluctant to become the Venus in Furs that Severin desired, and she never wavered from her desire to find a strong man to subjugate her. She even warned Severin throughout their journey that he was in danger of being betrayed. As Alexis whips Severin, he looks at the painting of Samson and Delilah as “an eternal parable of passion and lust, of the love of man for woman” (101), but he is not like Samson, nor is Wanda like Delilah. Delilah lied to Samson, acquired his trust through dishonesty, then betrayed him to his total surprise. Wanda warned Severin that she would betray him, told him exactly how their arrangement would end, and followed through on her word.

As the novella returns to the frame narrative, the narrator is confused about the meaning of Severin’s story. In response, Severin explains that he should have beaten Wanda. In discussing The Influence of Societal Norms on Sexual Behavior, Severin regards his experience as reinforcing his ideas about power dynamics within heteronormative relationships, repeating the assertions the narrator says to Venus in his dream. Severin claims, “That woman, as nature has created her and as man is at present educating her, is his enemy. She can only be his slave or his despot, but never his companion” (103, emphasis added). Severin’s assertion aligns with patriarchal norms common in the period, outlining a rigid sexual hierarchy that favors masculine dominance and pleasure, assuming feminine pleasure in submission and abuse. However, these assumptions avoid Severin’s genuine desire for a dominating woman, which is repeated in the narrator’s dream for the same relationship.

The ending line of the novella includes two references, to the “sacred apes of Benares” and “Plato’s rooster.” The “sacred apes” refers to Schopenhauer’s categorizations of women, in which the “sacred apes” are women who possess undo pride and self-importance. “Plato’s rooster” refers to Diogenes the Cynic, who brings a plucked chicken to Plato in response to Plato’s assertion that men are featherless bipeds, with Diogenes claiming the chicken is a man. These references are meant to highlight dominating women and submissive men as objects of ridicule, though Severin notes that both are “the image of God,” meaning that they exist naturally. This conclusion pokes fun at women who desire control over their own sexuality and at men who desire to be dominated, ostensibly favoring the social norm in which men dominate women. However, this ending fails to subvert the bulk of the text, implying that the real damage is done when a masochist’s desire for order in their sexual subjugation is betrayed.