Kafka's monkey

Kafka's Report to an Academy has been turned into a fine play at the Young Vic. Is the ape melancholic? Benjamin derided left wing melancholy as 'tortured stupidity'. Red Peter is not torturedly stupid.  The investigating dog of another Kafka animal story is a more like this; tortured by lack of knowledge-unable to think beyond food. Melancholy is best not seen as a mental state but as a response to unalterable circumstances. Red Peter has some choices and makes one (the stage not the zoo). But this doesn't lead to liberty. Having been wrenched from his jungle home and maltreated he contrives a stage role for himself. This would appear to be a form of liberty but yet is not hence the melancholy. He scoffs at human liberty as 'self controlled movement'. How can The Anatomy of Melancholy help in this case?  On loss of liberty Burton notes 'we are  slaves and servants the best of all'. No help for Red Peter here. For Head Melancholy Burton recommends the right diet referring to Laurentius, Rhasis and Fernelius.