Essay On Femininity In Ligeia And Der Sandman

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Recommended: Gender in 20th century literature

The construct of a fictional doppelgänger lacks restraints of a definitive denotation, as it has often been familiarized and integrated into literature as a condition limited to the male gender, fortified by the demarcation of a gendered identity. Through the manipulation of the male lens, the feminine personality is subjugated to a classification of sheer obligation and domestication to man. Within doppelgänger narratives, such as Ligeia and Der Sandmann, the incorporation of the uncanny often institutes thematic elements concerning the anonymity of identity and the ambiguity of reality. Though the juxtaposition of the uncanny and the fallibility of vision, relative to the castration complex, denunciates femininity as the absence of the male standard, consequential of a phallocentric society, the doppelgänger’s influence as a femme fatale has revolutionized and transcended societal perceptions of femininity and womanhood. Governed under the principles of male supremacy and superiority, it is comprehensible as to why female sexuality has been coined a “dangerous mechanism” …show more content…

In Der Sandmann, anxiety stemming from the contingency of the conception of blindness is merely interpreted as a substitute for the fear of castration. Correspondingly, Nathaniel’s fear of the Sandman removing his eyes is analogous to the removal of a definitive trait that causes irreparable damage to one’s self-image and character. Therefore, this parallel concerning castration emphasizes the significance of male sexual characteristics as indicators of power, authority, and identity. Contrary to the prior contention, this parallel also comparatively elucidates to the indignity and inferiority women are burdened to bear within society as a consequence of natural, biological developments of primary sexual

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