Venus in Furs

The development of the contract in this section outlines the critical distinction Deleuze notes regarding sadism and masochism, in which the masochist, unlike the sadist, wants safeguards and conditions in place both to protect themselves and to exert a measure of control over their pleasure (See: Background). This distinction is a crucial element in The Psychological Negotiation of Power and Submission, as Severin eventually foregoes his role in negotiating the balance of power in the contract.

Severin and Wanda’s initial debate over the contract reflects the uneasy negotiation of power and submission in their relationship. Initially, Severin observes, “But all the obligations in the contract are on my side” (46), as he wants to become Wanda’s “slave,” but only upon certain conditions that would limit Wanda’s power over him. To this end, Severin tries to add a condition to the contract that Wanda “will never completely leave [him], and […] that [she] will never give [him] over to the mercies of any of [her] admirers” (46). The fear of being abandoned for another man develops into the fear that Wanda will allow the man she chooses over Severin to add insult to injury by beating Severin with Wanda’s permission. Wanda is offended that Severin is afraid she might overstep the assumed boundaries of the agreement, forcing Severin to back down and forfeit his opportunity to set official boundaries. Severin’s submission cedes total power to Wanda, who will soon enjoy exercising greater and greater unchecked control over him.

Two dreams in this section highlight the shift in Severin and Wanda’s desires in the text, as they continue The Exploration of Sexual Power Dynamics. Severin dreams he is in the arctic and that Wanda glides to him, embraces him, then transforms into a bear tearing his flesh. In this dream, the cold setting represents the emotional cooling in their relationship, in which Wanda is steadily pulling away from “Gregor” or Severin by regarding him with more contempt than she formerly did. Her digging into his flesh as a bear reflects her increasingly sadistic behavior. Though Wanda is not initially sure if she enjoys hurting Severin, she says, after whipping him, “[Y]our eyes half-broken in ecstasy fill me with joy, carry me away. How wonderful your look would be if you were being beaten to death, in the extreme agony” (47). At first, Wanda’s enjoyment of Severin’s “half-broken” eyes is linked to Severin’s “ecstasy,” making it seem as though she is mostly enjoying Severin’s pleasure. Then, transitioning into a fantasy of martyrdom, Wanda fixates on the possible enjoyment she would get out of seeing Severin beaten to death. Critically, Wanda does not specify that she would be the person administering this beating, reinforcing Severin’s fear that Wanda will let another man beat him.

As Wanda’s sadistic intensity increases, she tells Severin that they are no longer playing a game, saying, “You are no longer the man I love, but my slave, at my mercy even unto life and death. You shall know me!” (67). In telling Severin that she no longer loves him, Wanda evokes Severin’s other fear, which is that Wanda will leave him. Her exclamation that Severin will “know” her is in reply to Severin’s continued insistence that Wanda is a good person who would never truly hurt him. In this scene, Wanda is contradicting Severin’s perception of Wanda as an ideal, dominating woman, in which Severin assumes Wanda’s morals would prevent her from killing Severin or doing something that would hurt him without arousing him. This transition provokes Severin’s second dream outside the theater box, in which he “murder[s] Wanda in a violent attack of jealousy,” only to be “condemned to death” (70). When the executioner in Severin’s dream slaps his face, he wakes up to find Wanda slapping him, foreshadowing a violent end to their relationship.

Regarding The Influence of Societal Norms on Sexual Behavior, this section contains a societal influence that attempts to negate Wanda and Severin’s sexual relationship, as well as an intentional subversion of societal norms. When Wanda’s friend visits, she opposes Wanda’s relationship with Severin because Severin is not “masculine” enough; Wanda agrees, telling Severin he “certainly would be a priceless slave, but [she] cannot imagine [him] as a husband” (43). The societal norms of the time, as Severin, Wanda, and the narrator note, is for men to be the “hammer” and women the “anvil,” establishing a strict power dynamic in both public and private heteronormative relationships. Since Severin lacks the demeanor of a “hammer,” he is not sufficiently “masculine” to enter such a relationship. However, Wanda also transgresses social norms by choosing to move to Florence, because she wants to have a “slave” “here in [their] civilized sober, Philistine world” (47), enhancing her pleasure through the subversion of the same norms that make Severin a “priceless slave” in her eyes.