Brunon Jasieński’s "Izolda Morgan,s legs", or women and trams

Streszcz. po ang.

This article presents a psychoanalytical reading of Brunon Jasieński’s Izolda Morgan’s Legs. The main character of this micro novel is driven by a fetishistic fascination with the amputated legs of his mistress. Yet his feelings of fear and desire seem to be a reaction to a broader set of circumstances. Mr Berg, an engineer, is deeply upset not only by the progress of women’s emancipation but also the creeping mechanization of everyday life. The latter is connected with the advances of industrialization and the growing dependence of the individual on the products of modern technology. In effect man gets alienated from social life and gradually less able to preserve his sanity.