page_title: Up in the Gallery
section_title: Story
hierarchical_section_title: Up in the Gallery / Story
context_page_description: "Up in the Gallery" is a short piece of fiction written by Franz Kafka. It was created between November 1916 and February 1917 and published in the collection Ein Landarzt in 1919. The story offers two versions of a scene in which a young man watches a circus ringmaster and a woman on horseback.
context_section_description: The story features three human characters:
  The Kunstreiterin, a woman performer riding a horse (Pferd) in circles around an arena;
  The Direktor, a circus ringmaster who supervises the woman's progress; and
  The Galeriebesucher, a spectator at the circus who watches from the gallery.
  The story has two paragraphs. The first paragraph describes a possible (subjective) reality, in which the Galeriebesucher witnesses the Kunstreiterin (and her Pferd) suffering because the cruel Direktor forces them to perform. The Galeriebesucher rushes into the arena to intervene. The second paragraph describes "how things are" (objective): the Direktor seems protective of the Kunstreiterin and orchestrates her performance only reluctantly, while the Galeriebesucher absorbs the scenario—and unconsciously weeps.
caption: A materialist reading of the story might focus on concrete exploitation of the Kunstreiterin's labor.
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