46 pages • 1-hour read
Venus in Furs
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Symbols & Motifs
Furs and Whips
Furs and whips are symbols of cruelty and hierarchy in the novella. Wanda and Severin note that rulers, especially women, have been depicted wearing furs throughout history, marking furs as a symbol of superiority and control. Severin also comments on scientific discoveries relating to static electricity, which can be transferred by furs. He claims that this static electricity makes furs exciting, both literally and figuratively.
The furs hold symbolic value within Severin’s life and fantasies as well, compounding their symbolic value of power and hierarchy by often taking on a specifically feminine, malicious, and sexual connotation. Severin’s aunt’s habit of wearing fur while she tied Severin down and whipped him link her to the symbolism of violence and animalistic dominance in the novella. Frequent references later in the novella to lions and lionesses perpetuate this wild, animalistic symbolism, making furs into the ultimate symbol of sadistic sexual behavior.
Whips, like furs, carry a sense of hierarchy, as Severin later notes that the person using the whip has power. Wanda and Severin’s obsession with “slavery” adds a symbolism of oppression and abuse to the whip, emphasizing the power disparity between Wanda and Severin, and, later, Severin and Alexis. Unlike furs, the whip is a direct representation of pain and control, as whips are often used to direct animals and enslaved people to follow the commands of the person using the whip. Though the whip administers the pain Severin seeks, it also inflicts a sense of inferiority and subjugation that enhances his masochistic enjoyment of Wanda’s abuses.
Venus
Venus, or Aphrodite in Greek, is the Greco-Roman goddess of love and sexuality, often depicted in the nude and sometimes referred to as the most terrifying of the Greco-Roman pantheon for the way she can manipulate mortals. Venus often symbolizes fertility and lust in literature, embodying the power of femininity, desire, and sensuality.
In Venus in Furs, Venus takes on the more terrifying aspect of her persona through allusions and her frequent appearance as a statue. Severin often dwells on Venus as “stony” or “cold,” applying these same terms to Wanda. After seeing a marble statue of Venus in Florence, Severin then describes Wanda’s body with similar terms, like white, hard, and cold. In this sense, Venus represents the femininity that Severin cannot comprehend or harness, and which he ultimately comes to fear. For Severin, Venus is the promise of sexuality and mutual love and affection, expressed through malice and abuse that belies a fundamental codependence, all of which he fails to find in Wanda.
The power of Venus as a symbol in the text lies within the juxtaposition of Wanda and Venus as both becoming the “Venus in Furs,” as Wanda places furs on the statue of Venus in the garden at the Carpathian health resort. In both Severin and the narrator’s dreams, Venus appears in furs, but these representations are inherently colored by Severin’s experience with his aunt and the narrator’s exposure to Severin’s painting of Wanda. These experiences tie Severin and the narrator’s perception of Venus, as a symbol for love and sex, to abusive or malicious women. Instead of Venus representing true love or passionate sex, she becomes aligned with the furs and whips of the novella, transforming into an idol of violence and maltreatment.
Dreams
Dreams are often used as a device to enhance characterization, foreshadow events to come, or reveal details about the dynamics of the text without explicitly discussing them. In Venus in Furs, dreams form an important motif that reveals the characters’ true desires and feelings, such as providing insight into Severin’s masochism. Severin dreams, as a child, of the statue of Venus coming to life and beating him; later, he dreams of conversing with Venus about the nature of sexuality, much as the narrator does in the opening of the novella. Severin also dreams both of being mauled by Wanda after she transforms into a bear and of murdering Wanda and being convicted of the crime. In these dreams, Severin’s fears and desires become explicit, even as he struggles to communicate and understand them. Dreaming of Wanda turning into a bear shows his fear of the sadism he may have unlocked in Wanda, while dreaming of murdering her represents a turning point in his devotion to Wanda as his “master.”
The narrator also has a dream of Venus, with his own desire to subvert traditional masculine/feminine and dominant/submissive sexual roles mirroring Severin’s desires. Severin, having ignored the dreams that implied he should be more cautious with Wanda, encourages the narrator to ignore his own dreams of finding a dominant woman. However, if Severin had heeded his dream of Wanda turning into a bear, he may have left his arrangement with Wanda before reaching a breaking point, just as the narrator might enjoy engaging in his fantasies with the correct safety measures in place. Dreams throughout the text thus warrant extra attention, as they frequently invite the reader to draw new, deeper connections between what characters say and what they truly feel.
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