"Flesh and the Devil" presents a world imagined by men. The title stakes out that world. Need anyone ask whose flesh. The male leads may be damn glamorous but no not theirs and certainly not that of that hard baked parson, Mr. Christian himself. No, flesh when affixed to evil, means female and female means sex. Felicitas is a temptress in league with the devil, and the tempted, more fortunate, are in league with the ruling gender.
The homoerotic "relationship" is not an act of befriending. What it is is male affiliation at the expense of, and through the exclusion of, women. It may or may not be sexual in nature, but it is binding. Unlike befriending it does not expand male identity but narrows it, making it more, not less, reliant on force.
In "Flesh and the Devil" we see its naked action. Male passion is based in ownership both in its means and as an end. It is "love" based in fantasy. It assigns to its object, in this case Felicitas, erotic fascination. The husbands and lover eroticize her. Which makes her own passion little more than an act of accommodation to a male world. Her reality then is not much more than being a inflamer of sinful passion. Mainly she submits to this identity, but when she acts on her own behalf, she's viewed as carnal, both in the mind of the parson, and ultimately of the husbands/lover, a grouping which constitutes her social masters.
Leo and Ulrich assert masculine superiority, not friendship, via their blood bonds. Their actions toward Felicitas are their chief means of certifying both their bond and their male identity. The impress they make on Felicitas is secondary to that which they make on each other. And their exceptionalism of class, as impressive as it is, is no match for their exceptionalism of gender. They are upright and masculine, sanctioned to act from their birthright. This is the source of their immemorial attraction to each other.
If Felicitas is deadly and then dead, they are hallowed. If her version of passion is of the body and sinful, theirs is superior and sanctified. If her abject self-repudiation cannot save her life, they can glibly embrace in mystical union.
In other words, Felicitas is the ground of their unity. She must be sacrificed to resolve the tension and incipient violence between her two "lovers." She will lose no more husbands in duals, even if she alone must absorb the cost of male cruelty and vengeance. For this is a male world with a male outcome. Mythic masculinity is achieved while she is drowning in ice.
The homoerotic "relationship" is not an act of befriending. What it is is male affiliation at the expense of, and through the exclusion of, women. It may or may not be sexual in nature, but it is binding. Unlike befriending it does not expand male identity but narrows it, making it more, not less, reliant on force.
In "Flesh and the Devil" we see its naked action. Male passion is based in ownership both in its means and as an end. It is "love" based in fantasy. It assigns to its object, in this case Felicitas, erotic fascination. The husbands and lover eroticize her. Which makes her own passion little more than an act of accommodation to a male world. Her reality then is not much more than being a inflamer of sinful passion. Mainly she submits to this identity, but when she acts on her own behalf, she's viewed as carnal, both in the mind of the parson, and ultimately of the husbands/lover, a grouping which constitutes her social masters.
Leo and Ulrich assert masculine superiority, not friendship, via their blood bonds. Their actions toward Felicitas are their chief means of certifying both their bond and their male identity. The impress they make on Felicitas is secondary to that which they make on each other. And their exceptionalism of class, as impressive as it is, is no match for their exceptionalism of gender. They are upright and masculine, sanctioned to act from their birthright. This is the source of their immemorial attraction to each other.
If Felicitas is deadly and then dead, they are hallowed. If her version of passion is of the body and sinful, theirs is superior and sanctified. If her abject self-repudiation cannot save her life, they can glibly embrace in mystical union.
In other words, Felicitas is the ground of their unity. She must be sacrificed to resolve the tension and incipient violence between her two "lovers." She will lose no more husbands in duals, even if she alone must absorb the cost of male cruelty and vengeance. For this is a male world with a male outcome. Mythic masculinity is achieved while she is drowning in ice.