Essay On Femininity In Ligeia And Der Sandman

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”

in correlation to its embodiment of immorality and depravity. Due to the sporadic presence of a female doppelgänger in literature, the archetypal composition of the double is primarily constructed based on the semblance of a masculine disposition. The doppelgänger essentially operates as a reflection, displaying the projection of man’s fears and desires, deriving from misconceptions of sexual variances and inconsistencies of the female anatomy, potentially leading to the development of male anxiety manifested in the form of a castration complex. Explanation for the emergent fear associated with the female physique can be attributed to assumptions regarding the laceration of a woman’s genitalia, alluding to impressions of internal disorientation and inadequacy stemming from narcissistic compulsions of the ego.
The conceptualization of uncanny elements within both Der Sandmann and Ligeia have integrated common tropes into the text, particularly the duality of vision and blindness.

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

characteristics.
The preconceived negative connotation and aversion to a woman’s lack of a penis distinguishes the female genitalia to be representative of unheimlich, signifying the return of the repressed. Particularly, Olympia’s existence as an automaton reinforces this contention as the doppelgänger is the paradigm of the uncanny. Though Nathaniel’s obsessive infatuation for Olympia rendered him incapable of possessing a conscious awareness of her mechanical and inanimate condition, he initially reported that “[s]he seemed not to notice me, and indeed there was something lifeless about her eyes, as though they lacked the power of sight... I had a rather uncanny feeling" (Hoffman 97). However, due to Olympia’s humanistic mannerisms, it is difficult to ascertain whether she is indeed animate or inanimate, ensuing widespread confusion and uncertainty.
In Ligeia, the repetition of the motif of the eyes alludes to the notion of vision as deceptive. Though eyes are responsible for portraying the physical and visible realities of the world, they can be selective in what they choose to perceive as perception of an image does not implicate comprehension. Furthermore, a pair of eyes are needed to maximize the given potential of sight in order to increase an individual’s peripheral field of vision, thus emphasizing the significance of the double. The eyes also retain significance in the manipulation of men as absence from her presence and her eyes exponentiated the narrator’s temporary ascension into insanity as he was deprived of what he desired the most, thus leading to his own metaphorical blindness, mystifying the narrator as he “[t]ried in vain to detect the irregularity and to trace home [his] own perception of the strange"(Poe 480). The “strangeness”, of which the narrator is seeking, is concealed in her eyes and is symbolic of the veiled sexuality.
The narrator’s intense quest for the truth is obstructed by the narrator’s trepidations of the magnetism of feminine allure and the descent into nothingness. This is visibly portrayed in Ligeia’s semblance to Medusa, whose beheading is fetishized. According to mythology, anyone whose eyes make contact with Medusa will be immediately turned to stone. However, the crucial detail in the narrative is the irrational desire that stimulated people to glance at the head, despite possessing the competence and cognizance that this would perpetuate them to their deaths. In retrospect, Ligeia is synonymous to Medusa as she offers the fulfillment of pleasure and desire amassed in one’s burgeoning curiosity whilst provoking fear as a result of castration.
Though both Ligeia and Der Sandmann have implemented the femme fatale persona, discrepancies exist in the construction of their character as perceived through the lens of the male narrator and the patriarchal standards of femininity as they are representative of a life that defies and transforms death via sublimation. “Man doth not yield him to the angels, nor unto death
utterly, but only through the weakness of his feeble will" (Poe 482). Evidence of Ligeia’s resilience is demonstrated in her will to contest the certainty of death as a daily procession. Though she experienced death, her soul was adamant in remaining in the real world, intending to haunt the narrator’s subconscious imaginations. Though limited in scope and bound by observation via the male consciousness, Ligeia’s position as a femme fatale challenges the domination of the doppelgänger by the male gender. The castration of Ligeia’s head, parallel to Medusa’s, embodies the narrator’s internalization of his insecurity within his psyche, originating from a state of incompetence that had formerly been repressed.