# Pepi — The Castle character guide

> Pepi in The Castle by Franz Kafka.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Pepi

**First appearance:** 0021-xvi

## Snapshot

A young barmaid at the Herrenhof who steps into Frieda's old place behind the bar and measures herself endlessly against the woman she replaced.

## Who they are

Pepi takes over Frieda's serving duties at the Herrenhof and inherits both the work and the shadow of her predecessor, whom the guests and the landlord still remember fondly. She is proud, touchy, and eager to prove that she is not merely a stopgap, which makes her alternately confiding and bristling with K. Her scenes dramatize how positions in the village are never truly vacant — they are always occupied by comparison, resentment, and the memory of whoever came before.

## Relationships

### [K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se/characters/k)

_romantic_

Pepi, a barmaid, briefly becomes K.'s lover after Frieda leaves him, but their relationship is shallow and opportunistic.

### [K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se/characters/k)

_romantic_

Pepi, a barmaid, briefly becomes K.'s lover after Frieda leaves him, but their relationship is shallow and opportunistic.

### [K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se/characters/k)

_romantic_

Pepi, a barmaid, briefly becomes K.'s lover after Frieda leaves him, but their relationship is shallow and opportunistic.

## In the story

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se/chapters/viii)

Frieda's successor as barmaid; young, plump, with reddish golden hair; speaks to K. about Frieda and her own position.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se/chapters/ix)

Serves at the bar, observes the proceedings with curiosity and self-importance.

### [Additional Note](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se/chapters/additional-note)

Referenced in a deleted passage where K. considers whether he would have sought to possess her mystery if he had met her instead of Frieda.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se/characters/pepi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_castle_se/characters