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GRETA WEGENER’S CONTRIBUTION TO LILI ELBE’S TRANSITION IN DAVID EBERSHOFF’S THE DANISH GIRL AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By Anoxia Festyarini Arumsari Student Number 144214037
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2018 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
GRETA WEGENER’S CONTRIBUTION TO LILI ELBE’S TRANSITION IN DAVID EBERSHOFF’S THE DANISH GIRL AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By Anoxia Festyarini Arumsari Student Number 144214037
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2018
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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
IT ALWAYS SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL IT’S DONE
– NELSON MANDELLA
EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY IS FREEDOM, BUT EQUALITY
OF OUTCOME IS REPRESSION
– DICK FEAGLER
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For those who believe in humanity and equal rights
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Throughout the completion process of my thesis, I could not thank enough my advisor, Elisabeth Arti Wulandari Ph.D. for the wonderful guidance and advices. I would also like to thank my co-advisor Dr. Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji,
M. Hum for the valuable critics and suggestions.
I believe, my study could not be completed without the endless support from my family as well. I am grateful to have all the genuine prayers that enabled me to finally finish my study. I also would like to give my deepest gratitude to the people who made me believe more in friendship and its power whose names I could not mention altogether ;Clara, Vincent, Ayu, Dinda, and other 13 great members of Kelas B Kenyil. Your presence and kind gestures made my college life totally memorable. I am going to miss all of you once we are apart. I would also thank Christo for the encouragements, lovely wishes, and silly puns. The boredom would be unbearable without you. I would like to thank my EDS Sanata
Dharma family for the unconditional love, wise words, and unforgettable college experiences. I cannot imagine college without sharing laughter, sadness and joy, with Kak Tjia, Kak Tyas, Kak Kezia, Moore, Rea, Rara, Grace and the juniors. I could say joining the EDS might be the best decision I had made during the four years of my study. For that, I genuinely wish you all nothing but the best.
Anoxia Festyarini A
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ...... ii APPROVAL PAGE ...... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...... iv STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...... v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ...... vi MOTTO PAGE ...... vii DEDICATION PAGE ...... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... x ABSTRACT ...... xii ABSTRAK ...... xiii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Problem Formulations ...... 4 C. Objectives of the Study ...... 4 D. Definition of Terms ...... 5
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 7 A. Review of Related Studies ...... 7 B. Review of Related Theories ... ………………………………………. 11 1. Theory on Character and Characterization ...... ………………. 11 a. Character ...... 11 b. Characterization ...... 12 2. Theory of Moral Development ...... 15 3. Theory of Love ...... 16 a. Brotherly Love ...... 17 b. Motherly Love ...... 17 c. Erotic Love ...... 19 d. Self-Love ...... 20 e. Love of God ...... 21 4. Altruism Motive ...... 21 5. The Theory of Transsexualism …………………………...... 23
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C. Theoretical Framework ...... 26
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...... 27 A. Object of the Study ...... 27 B. Approach of the Study ...... 29 C. Method of the Study ...... 30
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ...... 32 A. Lili Without Grea ...... 35 1. Lili does not Have Courage and Flexibility to be Her True Self . 36 a. Lili’s Past………….……………………………………..... 40 b. Lili’s Characteristics………………………………………. 40 i. Self-Conscious………………………………………... 40 ii. Immature and Dependent………………………...... 44 2. Lili Sees her True Identity as only a Role Play ……………….. 46 B. Greta’s Contribution in Lili’s Transition...... 49 1. Greta Encourages Lili to Explore her Desire...... 49 2. Greta Treats Lili like a Woman...... 55 3. Greta Totally Supports Lili...... 58 C. Reasons Behind Greta’s Contribution to Lili’s Transition...... 62 1. Greta’s Personality……………………………………………... 68 a. Loyal..……………………………………………………... 68 b. Understanding……………………………………………... 69 c. Patient……………………………………………………... 71 2. Greta’s Love towards Lili...... 72
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 79
REFERENCES ...... 82
APPENDIX ...... 84
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ABSTRACT
ARUMSARI, ANOXIA FESTYARINI. (2018). Greta Wegener’s Contribution to Lili Elbe’s Transition in David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Nowadays, a topic about transsexualism is more openly discussed in public. Taking a form of literary work, the discourse about transsexuality can be seen in David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl. The Danish Girl recites Lili Elbe’s story by telling her struggle in transitioning into woman. Lili Elbe who was then Einar Wegener by name, was married to Greta Wegener for ten years before deciding to have the transition. The existence of Greta Wegener is actually the key of Lili’s transition process for Lili is only able to alter her gender after she is married to Greta. Although putting her marriage at stake, Greta always gives endless support and help so that the process can be successful. With that being said, Greta gives such huge contributions toward Lili’s transition process. Her journey then becomes very much captivating to be analyzed for her inspirational role as Lili’s supporting system. There are three research questions formulated in this study. There are (1) “How is Lili without Greta related to her transition?”, (2) “In what ways does Greta contribute to Lili’s transition?”, and (3) “What makes Greta contribute to Lili’s transition?” The study mainly aims to explain Greta’s contributions in Lili’s transition process. To attain those objects, library research is used to collect the secondary and primary data from books and websites. Afterwards, the researcher conducts a thorough reading to gather the data then applies theory of character and characterization, moral development, love, altruism motives and transsexualism to make critical analysis. To examine Greta’s significance, the researcher uses psychological approach to understand her ways in helping Lili including her motivations. Finally, the researcher draws the conclusion on the analysis. After analyzing the novel, the researcher concludes that Lili’s past, personalities and her false perspective about her identity are the reason why she is incapable to transition into a woman. Greta then changes Lili condition by providing help such as encouraging Lili to explore her desire, treating Lili like a woman and supporting Lili psychologically and financially. Lastly, the reasons behind Greta’s willingness to help Lili are her altruistic motives rooted rom her personalities and her great love for Lili that is categorized as motherly love.
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ABSTRAK
ARUMSARI, ANOXIA FESTYARINI. (2018). Greta Wegener’s Contribution to Lili Elbe’s Transition in David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma. Akhir-akhir ini diskusi tentang transeksualisme semakin banyak dibicarakan secara terbuka. Salah satu diskusi tentang transeksualisme dapat ditemui dalam novel David Ebershoff yang berjudul The Danish Girl, yang menceritakan kisah tentang Lili Elbe dan perjuangannya dalam bertransisi menjadi perempuan. Lili Elbe, yang dulunya bernama Einar Wegener, sebelumnya menikah selama sepuluh tahun dengan Greta Wegener sebelum memutuskan untuk bertransisi. Kehadiran Greta inilah yang menjadi kunci bagaimana transisi tersebut dapat terjadi. Tanpa Greta, Lili sendiri tidak dapat melalui proses tersebut. Dengan rela mengorbankan pernikahannya, Greta memberikan segala macam dukungan dan bantuan demi keberhasilan transisinya. Melihat hal tersebut, Greta merupakan orang yang berkontribusi besar dalam proses perubahan Lili, perjuangan Greta dalam menolong Lili-pun menjadi sesuatu yang sangat menarik untuk diteliti. Terdapat tiga pertanyaan yang dibahas dalam studi ini, yaitu (1) “Bagaimanakah Lili sebelum kehadiran Greta”, (2) Kontribusi apa yang diberikan Greta dalam transisi Lili”, (3) Apakah yang mendorong Greta untuk menolong Lili?”. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kontribusi Greta dalam proses transisi Lili menjadi wanita. Untuk menjawab pertanyaan tersebut, peneliti menggunakan metode studi pustaka untuk mengambil data primer dan sekunder. Setelah itu dilakukan analisa data secara kritis dengan menggunakan teori karakter dan karakterisasi, perkembangan moral, kasih sayang, altruistik dan transseksual. Agar kontribusi dan motivasi Greta dalam menolong Lili dapat terlihat, penulis menggunakan pendekatan psikologis. Pada akhir studi, peneliti menarik kesimpulan dari hasil analisis. Berdasarkan hasil analisa, peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa masa lalu Lili, kepribadian, dan kesalahan perspektif tentang identitas dirinya merupakan faktor yang membuat Lili tidak dapat bertransisi. Kehadiran Greta lalu mengubah kondisinya sebab ia berhasil meyakinkan Lili untuk mengeksplorasi hasratnya untuk menjadi wanita, selain itu Greta juga memperlakukan Lili layaknya perempuan, serta memberikan bantuan psikologis dan finansial. Hal yang mendorong Greta untuk menolong Lili adalah motif altruistik Greta yang didasari oleh kepribadiannya dan cinta keibuannya yang besar terhadap Lili.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of Study
For decades, humans categorize genders into men and woman and only acknowledge heterosexual as the normal sexuality. Non heterosexual people are deemed immoral, abnormal, and even dangerous. However, as time goes by many individuals start to raise their voices, fighting against the harmful unfair belief that humans are only created as man and woman. Individuals who dare to challenge the norm also argue heterosexuality is not the only sexuality that exists. They believe that genders and sexuality are merely social constructions; there is no such thing as normativity, like how Hans Bertens (2008) says;
there is no ‘natural’ sexuality; a status that traditionally accorded to heterosexuality, and there is no stable relationship between biological sexuality (which determines whether someone is male or female, to mention only most frequent categories), gender, and sexual desire (p.184). Afterwards the word queer is introduced to call people that do not fall under the category of heterosexual and or do not want to be defined as only male or female.
Louis Tyson (2012) describes queer as “a word used positively as a broad, inclusive category that acknowledged the shared political and social experience of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and all people who consider, for whatever reasons, not heterosexual”(p.98). Since then, many movements have been made to give back the rights of the discriminated queer people. The movements are now called queer or
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LGBTQ movements for sometimes they associate themselves with LGBT community.
LGBTQ movement itself gains its momentum in 2017 when a trans celebrity,
Caitlyn Jenner, wins Glamour’s woman of the year award for her courage of transitioning from a man to a woman publicly. Despite of its controversy, the award still becomes inspirational particularly for trans community. It also marks how far the
LGBTQ movement has moved forward. For Caitlyn Jenner, the award has made her famous as the icon of the trans movement. Not many know, however, that long before
Jenner there is Lili Elbe that helps to create the more comfortable path for trans people by becoming the pioneer of the gender affirmation surgery. Lili Elbe is the first ever identified trans person to be able to transition from male to female medically in public. Her story then inspires an American writer, David Ebershoff to write a fiction novel titled The Danish Girl (2002) retelling her struggle to transition alongside her former lover Greta Wegener. Despite of the fact that her marriage is at stake, Greta stays faithful and continues so support Lili emotionally and financially.
Lili Elbe’s transition battle is of course important to be discussed to add more discourses regarding trans-people’s rights. However, without Greta’s existence in
Lili’s life, it might be possible that Lili would not be able to change into the woman that she wants to be at that time. Greta whose characters’ are the opposite of Lili becomes the role model for her as well as the mother figure that Lili does not have growing up as an orphan. In other words, Greta plays a big part in Lili’s transition.
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It is said that literary works “mirror” human’s everyday life, as shown by M.H
Abrams (1985) in his statement, “Literature is an imitation, or reflection, or representation of the world and human life (p.86).” It means that by analyzing literatures, readers can also understand what kind of society and problems that they are living with right now. When talking about literature characters, it is safe to say that they are the depiction of humans in daily basis. Their ways of thinking and behaviors mimic the ways humans think and act regarding certain things. Therefore, characters in literature can be one of the means in understanding people in general.
The argument then is important to be used in discussing The Danish Girl, most essentially Greta as the character who plays a significant part in Lili’s life during her transition process. Studying Greta’s contribution in Lili’s transition can help readers understand her mind in facing situations such as hers. Through Greta, readers can sympathize and directly see how she solves problems and how she deals with different circumstances especially regarding transsexual issues. Without facing the problem itself, the readers can at least broaden the understanding of transsexualism, human nature and human condition trough her experiences.
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B. Problem Formulation
Based on the background of the study, the researcher formulates three questions to be analyzed in the research:
1. How is Lili without Greta related to her transition?
2. In what ways does Greta contribute to Lili’s transition?
3. What makes Greta contribute to Lili’s transition?
C. Objectives of the Study
In order to understand Greta’s contribution in Lili’s transition, the first thing that the researcher does is to analyse Lili’s life before Greta is introduced. The analysis can give the reason why Lili might not be able to have the gender transition before Greta is present, which later can give ideas how significant Greta is to her transition. After that Greta’s contributions are explained and validated by describing
Greta’s influences in Lili’s transition by looking at the ways Greta try to solve Lili’s problems. Finally, the researcher explains the causes of Greta helping Lili to have the transition. By providing the three explanations, the research then can conclude the answers of the research questions.
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D. Definition of Terms
This section contains the descriptions about the key terms frequently used in this research. It contains not only the definitions but also the contextual concepts explained by some experts. Thus, any misinterpretations can be avoided.
1. Transsexuals
The people that believe they belong to another sex. Based on Benjamin’s theory of sexualism (1999), “for them, their primary as well their secondary sex organs are disgusting deformities that must be changed by the surgeon’s knife
(p.11).”
2. Transition
Crystal Raypole (2016) in her article titled “What does it mean for a
Transgender person to transition”, defines transition as “the process by which an individual begins to live as a member of another gender”. (para.3)” In other words, transition is the process where someone changes their gender into the opposite gender. For instance, a man changes his gender into a woman and the process is called transitioning. Raypole (2016) adds that the process can include surgery and legal documentations.
3. Gender identity
According to Michael Ryan (2012), gender identity is “the term scholars use to distinguish the cultural norms and ideals regarding masculinity and femininity
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from biological sexuality (p.90).” In other words, gender identity is constructed by the society to differentiate the role of woman and man which eventually becomes norms.
4. Sexual orientation
Alina Bradford (2016) states that: “sexual orientation is a person’s physical, emotional or romantic attraction to another person. (para.5)” What makes sexual orientation different from gender identity is that gender is about one’s own sense of self. Transgender people may be straight, lesbian, gay or bisexual.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The second chapter contains reviews of previous studies and relevant theories used as the foundation for the research. By relating the theories and the data obtained, the answers to the problems above can be inferred. This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is the review of related studies, the second one is the review of related theories and the last one is theoretical framework. Reviewing related studies is necessary for the researcher in order to get more information related to the study conducted. In addition, it also helps to show the researcher’s stance about the topic and how her study is different than the previous one. Review of related theories analyzes the theories that are applicable in this study, while theoretical framework explains the connections between the theories and the contribution of each theory in answering the research problems.
A. Review of Related Studies
To create a better understanding about the topic and the primary data used in the study, the researcher reviewed three studies which are related to Greta’s contribution in Lili Elbe’s transition in David Ebershoff’s The Danish Girl. Not many writers focus on The Danish Girl novel as their main object to study, therefore, it is quite difficult for the researcher to find studies discussing it. However, in the end the researcher finds two studies that discuss The Danish Girl, the first study belongs to
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Sanata Dharma’s student, Natalia Sisca Dessensia from English Letters Study
Program batch 2012, and the second one belongs to a journalist named Annalena
Lorenz (2016). The last study reviewed, which belongs to Catur Utami Dewi from
English Letters Study Program batch 1993, does not talk about The Danish Girl, however it discusses a similar topic with the researcher’s thesis.
The first study, which belongs to Natalia Sisca Dessensia, is an undergraduate thesis titled “Gender and Sexual Dilemma as Seen through the Character of Einar
Wegener in David Ebershoff’s the Danish Girl”. In her thesis, she characterizes the main male character named Einar Wegener which is the husband of Greta Wegener, as a feminine man. After characterizing Einar, she begins to use the characterizations as the basis of how the internal conflicts within Einar are created. Because Einar is a feminine man, Natalia argues that it makes him feel shy in dressing up as man, it also makes him develop feelings for his male colleague and lastly it makes him feel confused about his identity. In the end of her analysis, she believes that Einar solves his internal conflict by doing genital surgery to affirm his true identity as a feminine woman.
Although Dessensia’s research analyzes the same novel, it differs in the focus of analysis. Dessensia’s study focuses more on the main male character, Einar
Wegener, which is Lili Elbe before transitioning, while this study focuses more on the main female character, Greta Wegener. However, the researcher believes that
Einar’s character’s establishment contributes quite a lot toward the contrbution of
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Greta Wegener which becomes the topic of this study. Therefore, it is important to find more information regarding Einar’s characterizations. In this case, Dessensia’s study helps the researcher to understand Einar’s personality deeper.
The second study related to the topic of discussion is an article about the
Danish Girl taken from an online journal titled Inquiries Journal; Social Sciences,
Arts & Humanities. The article, however, discusses the movie version of the novel titled “The Danish Girl (2015) and the De/Construction of Gender Identity” by
Annalena Lorenz. Annalena Lorenz’s article analyses the movie version of The
Danish Girl by focusing on two sequences of the film. She removes the dialogues and solely concentrates on the bodily performance of Einar Wegener as the gender troubled person. In her analysis, she draws the conclusion that the depictions of Einar
Wegener in the film actually reinforces the idea of gender ideals instead of dismantle it. All his gestures are the depictions of women’s stereotypes and are heavily emphasized throughout the movie. Einar is portrayed as a heightened version of what so called femininity, hence, gender ideals and stereotypes are sadly enforced. While
Lorenz actually discusses the movie version of The Danish Girl, the researcher still counts her article as contributive for it explains about Einar’s characteritics. Identical to Dessensia’s study, Lorenz article serves as a guidance to understand Lili deeper.
The last study reviewed is Catur’s undergraduate thesis titled “Parent’s Role,
Its contribution in Kim’s Identifying self in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim”, examines the role of parents in shaping one’s self identity. The character analyzed is the main
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character, Kim. Kim is an Irish boy living in India who becomes orphaned since he was little. Kim’s father is an ex Irish soldier, therefore after some years living in
India, Kim is taken by his father’s regimental chaplain to study in Britain. This alteration of culture then confuses Kim in finding his identity, whether he belongs as an Indian or as a British. In terms of heredity, he is a British, yet he does not feel like he is fully British. It is because he spends most of his childhood in India where he socializes and interacts with Indian people on daily basis. Looking at the problem,
Catur draws the conclusion that the problem occurs because Kim is not raised by his real parents. She argues that it is only his parents that can plant that sense of belonging of a culture. Other people, even if they are still family members, cannot replace that specific parenting role. Catur reasons that it happens because parents have the role of an educator, a facilitator, an instructor, an advisor, a supervisor, and a role model. Kim has none of them, hence the confusion of identity.
In her thesis, Catur mainly uses psychological approach to make the analysis.
For that cause, the researcher then uses her thesis as one of the guidance to the answer the research questions because the researcher also uses psychological approach to examine Greta’s contribution in Lili’s transition. In addition, her analysis also has similar atmosphere in a sense that she examines the influences of certain actors to the development of the main characters. Though this study and Catur’s are almost similar in terms of approach and analysis, the conclusions drawn from both of studies will be
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totally different as the two researchers were studying two completely different characters and literatures.
B. Review of Related Theories
This section presents some relevant theories that are used as means to answer the problems formulated in the beginning. The theories are presented in the form of brief explanations which lead to the ideas discussed in this study. The theories used the theory of character and characterizations, the theory of moral development, the theory of altruism motives, the theory of love and the theory of transsexualism.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
The theory of character and characterization is used to analyze Gerta and
Lili’s characteristics. This theory helped the researcher in analyzing Greta’s role by studying Lili before and after Greta’s presence, also to detect Greta’s personalities that influence Lili to undergo gender transition. In the end, by using this theory the researcher is able to see her significant role in Lili’s transition.
a. Character
The researcher believes that knowing the meaning of character is important to start the analysis within this study. Therefore some definitions from experts are cited to strengthen the basic understanding of character itself. According to X.J Kennedy and D. Gioia (2010) character is an imagined person who inhabits a story (p.77).
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Another expert, D.L.K. Wheeler, states that character is any representation of an individual which is presented in a dramatic or narrative work through extended dramatic or verbal representation (p.1). Lastly, there is M.H Abrams (1985) who considers character as the person presented in dramatic or narrative work who is interpreted by the readers as being endowed with moral, dispositional and emotional qualities expressed in both what they say and do (p.23). A character is similar to a real human in terms of having some motivations as whatever they say or do in the story.
b. Characterization
According to M.J Murphy (1972) there are nine ways that can be used to reveal the characters and personalities of the people that authors write within their literary works. Since this study aims to expose the significance of Greta to Lili’s transition, knowing the characters and personalities of Lili and Greta is important to know whether their personalities are compatible and dependent to each other. The ways used are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reaction, direct comment, thought and mannerism (pp. 161 –
173).
First, personal Description is the method where the author explains directly how a character looks like through their appearances and clothes. Meanwhile, in the method of character as seen by another, the author of a book does not tell the readers
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directly how a character is but instead use another character to describe them through their comments and opinions. Basically, a character is seen through the eyes of other characters rather than the author. In speech method, character’s characteristic is observed through their speech. Through their comments and conversations with other characters, readers can have insights of how a character is.
The next method is the past life. This method uses the character’s past life to give clues about their personality. It is important to learn their past life since it gives traces to the events that have helped to shape a person’s character. An author shares their knowledge through their direct comments, the character’s thoughts, the conversation of the characters, and other characters’ thought on the characters. On the other hand, conversational method is a way to understand character’s personality through character’s conversations with others that talk about the character. Through their conversations readers can have perceptions of what type of a character he/she is.
Another way to understand one’s characteristic is by observing their reactions.
Their personal traits can be seen through how they react toward various situations and events. Their reactions are the author’s hints to describe their characters. Another way the author tells a character’s characteristic is by directly telling the readers about them on his/her works. The authors describe and comment about a character to introduce what characters they have. Thoughts of characters can be used as well to have clues about how a character is. Knowing their thoughts on something can actually reveal
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their personality. Authors use this method by sharing and describing a character’s views that are impossible to be done in real life. Lastly, the method used by authors to reveal a character’s characteristics is by describing their manners. The way a character behaves, their habits and idiosyncrasies can actually show what kind of character he/she is.
2. Theory of Moral Development
The theory of moral development is used to understand Lili’s fear of transitioning before she meets Greta. By knowing the reason of Lili’s fear, the researcher can then examine Greta’s contribution in erasing the fears including her ways in erasing them. In the end, Greta’s role in Lili’s transition can be seen.
According to Stephen Worchel and Wayne Shebilske (1989) moral development refers to “principles of right and wrong” (p.339). Societies have rules about the rightness and wrongness of behaviors, and various authorities enforce a society’s rules through rewards and punishments. They then explain about moral reasoning based on the experiment by Jean Piget (1932) and Lawrence Kohlberg
(1963, 1978), and conclude three levels in the development of moral reasoning, with two stages in each level. The theory can be explained through the table 1;
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Table 1. Stages and Levels of Theory of Moral Development
Aims of Morality in Each Levels Name of Levels and Stages Stage (Something Is Moral if it Serves to:) Level I Preconventional morality Avoid punishment Stage 1 Obedience and punishment orientation Gain concrete rewards Stage 2 Naïve hedonistic and instrumental orientation Level II Conventional level: Morality of Gain approval/avoid conventional rules and conformity dissaproval Stage 3 “Good boy/Good girl” morality Avoid dishonor and guilt Stage 4 Authority and social order morality Level III Postconventional level: Morality of Uphold widely agreed self-accepted moral principles upon rights and responsibilities Stage 5 Morality of contract, individual Uphold own ethical rights, and democratically accepted principles law Stage 6 Morality of individual principles and conscience
Preconventional level is characterized by the influence of possible punishment in making the decision of right and wrong. While the possibility of being liked and disliked influences the decision in the conventional level. Lastly, the postconventional level is characterized by the influence of abstract principles in making the decision of right and wrong. Further explanation can be seen through a test ran by Lawrence Kohlberg (1963, 1978). In a test given by Kohlberg, he made a story about a man who stole drugs in order to save his wife’s life. He later asked if the man’s behavior could be justified. The typical answers of people in preconventional level were; “the man was wrong because he could be sent to jail for
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stealing”, or “the man was right because he would get in trouble for letting his wife die.” People in conventional, meanwhile, would answer with; “The man was wrong because people don’t like thieves.” Or it might be, “the man was right because his friends wouldn’t like him if he let his wife die.” On the last group, which is the postconventional level, people tend to answer with; “The man was wrong according to social law, but he was right according to divine law, which holds that human life is sacred.”
3. The Theory of Love
The theory of love is used to reveal the causes behind Greta’s contribution to
Lili’s transition. In other words it will explain the reason behind Greta’s willingness in helping Lili. By using the theory of love, Greta’s significance in Lili’s transition can be understood. The theory used by the researcher is theory of love by Erich
Fromm. Love is not primarily a relationship to a specifi perso; it is an attitude, an orientation of character which determines the relatedness of a person to the world as a whole, not toward one “object of love (Erich Fromm, p.46)
According to Erich Fromm (1956), the types of love can be divided according to its object. There are five types of love, brotherly love, motherly love, erotic love, self-love, and love of God.
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a. Brotherly Love
The first type of love that Erich Fromm describes is brotherly love. In the brotherly love type, characteristics such as talents, intelligence, and knowledge do not limit someone to love others. Love is the one that unite all humans regardless of the differences that one has, just like what is quoted from Fromm’s theory;
The most fundamental kind of love, which underlines all types of love, is brotherly love. By this I mean the sense of responsibility, care, respect, knowledge of any other human being, the wish to further his life. This is the kind of love the bible speaks when it says : love thy neighbor as thyself. Brotherly love is the love for all human beings; it is characterized by its very lack of exclusiveness. In brotherly love there the experience of union with all men, of human solidarity, of human atonement. (p.47)
Fromm explains that brotherly love is all about loving strangers and the poor;
“Significantly, in the old testament, the central object of man’s love is the poor, the stranger, the widow and the orphan. (p.48)” By having compassion for the helpless one, man begins to develop love for his brother, and in his love for himself he also loves the one who is in need of help, the frail, the insecure human being.
b. Motherly Love
The second type of love according to Fromm is the motherly love. According to Fromm, motherly love is “unconditional affirmation of the child’s life and his needs.(p.49)” He later adds that motherly love is the love that finds satisfaction through their children. Fromm characterizes motherly love as one of the purest love,
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meaning to say that the love does not really require a feedback. It is for the altruistic, unselfish character. The real achievement of motherly love lies in a mother’s love for the growing child. The care is so pure even they find fulfillment in their child’s smile or the expression of satisfaction on the children’s face. Based on Fromm’s motherly love theory, the attitude of love is partly rooted in an instinctive equipment to be found in animals as well as the human female. However, motherly love can also exist because of some psychological factors. They are narcissistic elements and a mother’s wish for power or possession. The narcissistic element happens because their children are considered as part of themselves. Meanwhile the second motivation happens because of mother’s wish for power, possession. The child being helpless and completely subject to her will, is a natural object of satisfaction for a domineering and possessive woman. Even though those two motives are frequent, according to Fromm they are less important and less universal than one which can be called as the need for transcendence. The need for transcendence is one of the most basic needs of man, rooted in the fact of his self awareness, in the fact that he is not satisfied with the role of creator, that he cannot accept himself as dice thrown out of the cup. He needs to feel as the creator, as one transcending the passive role of being created. There are many ways of achieving this satisfaction of creation; the most natural one also the easiest one to achieve is the mother’s care and love for her creation. She transcends herself in the infant, her love for it gives meaning and significance. (In the very inability of the male to satisfy his need to transcendence by bearing children, lies his urge to transcend himself by the creation of man-made things and of ideas.) However,
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the child must grow, and the core value of motherly love is actually the child’s growth. Motherly love believes that the child can only grow when they are independent from their mothers. The peak of Motherly love is when the mother finds contentment if their children are able to support their own selves; as quoted from
Fromm’s book;
The very essence of motherly love is to care for the child’s growth, and that
means to want the child’s separation from herself. The mother must not only
tolerate, she must wish and support the child’s separation. (p.51)
According to Fromm, a lot of mothers fail at this stage because the narcissistic, the domineering possessive woman can succeed in being a “loving” mother as long as the child is small. Motherly love is the love that wants nothing for oneself.
c. Erotic Love
Unlike motherly love that has separateness as its essence, erotic love is the exact opposite way. It is about overcoming the separateness and making two individuals into one union.
erotic love: the craving for complete fusion, for union with one other person. For erotic love, intimacy is established primarily through sexual contact. Since they experience separateness of the other person primarily as physical separateness, physical union means overcoming separateness. (p.54).
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In erotic love, sexual contact is the thing that unites one person with another.
Aloneness can stimulate sexual desire, therefore individual who experience erotic love will try to find partner to eliminate the aloneness. In erotic love, two individuals will fuse into one and exclude themselves from the rest of mankind. Therefore, the sense of union when they try to overcome their separateness is actually an illusion because they still alienate themselves. However, erotic love excludes the love for others only in the sense of erotic fusion, full commitment in all aspect of life – but not in the sense of deep brotherly love.
d. Self Love
Based on Freud’s theory, self love is the same with selfishness. It is the same as narcissism, the turning of libido toward oneself. It is because Freud assumes that love is the manifestation of libido, and that libido is either turned toward others – love; or toward oneself -- self love. Therefore self love and love toward others are not mutually exclusive. However, Fromm argues that it is a logical fallacy. Fromm believes that “the love for one own self is inseparably connected with the love for any other being. (p.59)” According to Fromm, our own selves are also the object of our feelings and attitudes.
my own self must be as much an object of love as another person. The affirmation of one’s own life, happiness, growth, freedom is rooted in one’s capacity to love, i.e., in care, respect, responsibility, and knowledge. If an individual is able to love productively, he loves himself too; if he can love only others, he cannot love at all. (p.60).
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He later adds that selfishness and self love are different, they are totally
opposites. The selfish person hates himself. Fromm suggests that “this lack of
fondness and care for himself, which is only one expression of his lack of
productiveness, leaves him empty and frustrated. He seems to care too much for
himself, but actually only makes unsuccessful attempt to cover up and compensate
for his failure to care for his real self.(p.61)”
e. Love of God
Based on Fromm’s theory, Love of God is about overcoming the anxiety of separateness by the experience of union with God. In the love of God, God stands for the highest value, the most desirable good. Thus, the specific meaning of God depends on what is the most desirable good for a person.
4. Altruism Motives
Altruistic motives theory is used to understand the motivation behind Greta’s contribution to Lili’s transition. By using the theory, the researcher can reveal why
Greta is so willing to help Lili while she has to sacrifice several things, one of them is losing the love of her life.
According to Auguste Comte (1875), as cited from a journal by Daniel Bartal
(1985), altruism is a behavior that describes a concern for other welfare as a consequence of overcoming self-interest. Bartal (1985) suggests that the definition of altruism has to follow two conditions; first, it has to reflect the high moral quality of helping behavior, and second, it has to be identifiable. Bartal (1985) then adds that in
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social psychology, there are many different definition of altruism. Among them, two main approaches can be found. The first approach focuses on the behavior’s outcomes: the rewards of the recipient and the helper’s cost. Example of this approach are : “Altruism is defined as social behavior carried out to achieve positive outcomes for another rather that for the self” (Rushton, 1980, p.8).
“…a subcategory of aiding, referring to helpful actions which incur some cost to individual but bring either very little or nothing by way of gain, relative to the magnitude of the investment” (Midiarsky, 1968, p.229).
These definitions disregard the motivation behind the helping act. From the explanation, it can be understood that there can be a wide range of helping behaviors in which help incur cost, and which the recipient benefit. But they can be performed unintentionally, involuntarily, or as consequence of different motives such as desire, indebtedness, expectation of future rewards, etc. Under the behavioral approach, all of these helping acts would be considered as altruistic. It seems that any evaluation of an act as being moral cannot ignore the reasons which guided the helper’s behavior. It is the motivation behind the behavior which gives the moral nature to the helping act.
The second approach goes beyond the mere behavior or its outcomes and focuses on how and why helping behavior is performed. With few exceptions, most of those who emphasize the motivational aspect of altruism agree that altruistic behavior;
a. must benefit another person
b. must be performed voluntarily,
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c. must be performed intentionally,
d. the benefit must be the goal by itself and
e. must be performed without expecting any external reward
The above definition limits altruistic behavior by presenting a number of necessary conditions. First, the helper must intend to benefit the other person. Such acts should be judged as beneficial by the recipient. It is implied, therefore the helper must be able to asses correctly the needs of potential recipient. Second, altruistic acts should be performed voluntarily and not as a result of threat or compliance. Third, a helping act cannot be considered as altruistic, if it is done for a pro quo or other purpose: it must be done for its own sake. Finally the altruistic act is performed without expectations of possible future external rewards. It should be pointed out that this definition allows an expectation of internal awards such as self-satisfaction or raised self-esteem. As cited from Bartal’s journal (1985), there are several factors that can mediate altruistic behavior, among them are empathy (Hoffman, 1981), need from justice (Lerner, 1977), equity motive, (Walster, Walster, & Berscheid, 1978), and moral judgement (Bartal, Korenfeld, & Raviv, 1985).
5. The Theory of Transsexualism
The theory of transsexualism is used to strengthen the argument that Lili is inded a transsexual, even from the beginning, long before she meets Greta. By
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confirming that argument using this theory, Greta’s role in Lili’s transition can be highlighted.
Nowadays, people define one’s sex through the existence of the genital sex.
The visible sex organs provide the simplest way to differentiate a male and female.
However according to Harry Benjamin (1998), sometimes people make mistake because hermaphroditic or pseudohermaphroditic deformities may have escaped their examination. In other words, the observer can be misled to divine if one is a male or a female (p.8). He later divides gonadal sex or into two kinds;germinal sex and the endocrine (hormonal) sex. The germinal sex serves procreation only. The normal testis produces sperm and where there is the sperm, there is maleness. The normal ovary produces eggs and when they are found, there is femaleness. But later
Benjamin argues that male or female-ness does not mean masculinity or femininity.
Yet he also conceit to the fact that to some large extents they are also a product of endocrine sex. A good amount of androgen in a male would tend to make him more virile , a ‘he-man’, and the rich production of estrogen would make a woman to be soft and has lovely femininity like a typical woman” (p.8).
Benjamin (1989) concludes that transsexuals are not happy with the assigned anatomical genitals that they have on their body. They channel their desire to be the opposite sex by wearing the opposite sex’s clothing.
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The transsexual is physically normal (although occasionally underdeveloped). These person can somewhat appease their unhappiness by dressing in clothes of the opposite sex (p.11).
Nevertheless, Benjamin adds that the clothes are only for temporary satisfaction, transsexuals root for a deeper interest.
“Dressing” is only incidental and not more than a partial or temporary help to the transsexual. True transsexuals feel that they belong to the other sex, they want to be and function as members of the opposite sex, not to only appear as such. For them, their sex organs, the primary (testes) as well as the secondary (penis and others) are disgusting deformities that must be changed by the surgeon’s knife (p.11)
In other words, transsexuals have a strong desire to alter themselves into the opposite sex. They always feel like they are trapped in a wrong body. The argument is strengthened by another Benjamin’s statement;
The transsexual feels himself (“trapped in a man’s body”) and is attracted to men. This makes him homosexuals provided his sex is diagnosed from the state of his body. But he, diagnosing himself in accordance with his psychological sex, considers his sexual desire for a man to be heterosexual, that is, normal (p.14).
Other researchers also conclude the characteristics of transsexuals. David
J.Luts, Howard B.Roback, and Maureen Hart in their article Feminin Gender Identity and Psychological Adjustment of Male Transsexuals and Male homosexuals characterize transsexuals as follows;
a. Transsexuals (especially male transsexuals) do not feel themselves to be homosexuals and are marked by a persistent femininity. b. Transsexuals were significantly more likely to prefer girls’ games over boys’ games.
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c. Transsexuals reported they wished they had been born as girls instead of boys. d. Transsexuals put on women’s underwear and clothing. e. Transsexuals reported that their appearance was quite feminine significantly. (1984: 356-358)
All the characteristics above support Benjamin’s idea of transsexuals. Both of them agree that transsexuals have strong desire to be the opposite sex.
C. Theoretical Framework
There are five theories applied in the study. The first theory used is the theory of transsexualism. It is applied to identify Lili’s transsexuality. The Theory of character and characterization is used to identify Lili’s characteristics, while the theory of moral development is used to understand Lili’s moral background. The two of them are important to comprehend the reasons why Lili needed Greta in the very first place, which becomes the first problem formulation. To answer the second problem formulation, the researcher uses the theory of character and characterizations to recognize Greta’s contribution through her contrasting personality with Lili.
Lastly, the researcher applies the theory of altruistic motivation and the theory of love to answer the third problem formulation. The two theories can help to identify the motivations behind Greta’s act of help.
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CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the methodology practiced in conducting this study.
This chapter consists of three parts; the object of study, the approach of study and lastly the method of study. The object of study section gives a brief description about the Danish Girl. The approach of study section explains the critical approach used to analyze the novel. In the end, the method of study section presents the procedures done in conducting the study to answer the formulated questions.
A. Object of the Study
The object of the study is a novel titled The Danish Girl written by an
American author, David Ebershoff. The novel was first published in 2000 by
Weldenfeld & Nicolson but the edition used as the research source was published in
2015 by the same publisher. The Danish Girl contains 293 pages with 4 chapters, each titled with cities names; Copenhagen, Paris, Dresden, Copenhagen. Copenhagen,
Paris and Dresden are the name of the places where Greta and Einar Wegener live.
The novel received a Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of
Arts and Letters and the Lambda Literary Award. It also became the nominee of other prestigious awards including Tiptree Award, the New York Public Library's Young
Lions Award, and an American Library Association Award.
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The Danish Girl is a fictionalized life account of Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Before transitioning to a woman, Lili
Elbe is married to an American widow named Greta. They are both painters living in
Copenhagen, Denmark with Lili focusing more in drawing landscapes while Greta in famous people’s portraits. One day, Greta asks Lili to replace her painting model by wearing women clothes while she is still a man, because Greta needs to finish her painting quickly. It turns out, wearing woman’s clothing sparks Lili’s repressed desire to be a woman. Since then, he begins dressing and going out like a woman.
Not long after that, Lili develops a relationship with a man he meets at a party called
Henrik. However the relationship ends shortly, for Lili fears she is only hurting him.
In the meantime, Lili falls ill. Her condition forces her to receive some treatments from some doctors. The doctors apparently also pay attention to Lili’s “abnormal” habit of behaving like a woman. They diagnose Lili to have a mental problem that requires her to undergo surgery so she can be “normal”. Instead of believing the doctors, the situations convinces Lili more that she is in fact a woman who’s just falsely trapped inside a man’s body. She wishes to be altered as a woman completely.
At first Greta is against Lili’s wish. However, in the end of the story, Greta finally agrees and helps her throughout the process. Meanwhile Greta starts to have feelings for Einar’s longtime friend. Hans and move to Pasadena together. Lili on the other hand reunites back with Henrik and undergoes the sex reassignment surgery.
Unfortunately, the second part of the operation which enables her to get pregnant fails and causes Lili an infection. It is not clear whether or not Lili survives.
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B. The Approach of Study
In theory, psychological approach according to Rohrberger and Woods
(1971), deals with human personality which involves the analysis of human’s words, thoughts, and actions. Psychological approach according to Louis Tyson (2000) shows how life events that occur when people grow up can shape their psychological development and how they tend to play out in people’s adult lives. Louis Tyson listed three basic concepts of psychological approach; the family, repression and the unconscious and the defenses. In the concept of family, Louis Tyson concludes that family is the most important source of characters’ early emotional experiences. In repression concept, characters might not know their problems, even know if they have one, because they repress the most distressing experiences and push them into the unconscious. Lastly, he summarizes that defenses are the means by which the characters keep themselves from becoming conscious of the experiences they have repressed. Psychological approach is used to detect the sign of the psychological problems of a character from time to time, identify, and then understand them. In addition, David Daiches ( 1981 ) states that through the knowledge of psychological problems and situations, people can interpret a work of literature because the characters’ behaviors can be seen.
Psychological approach is appropriate to be used in study because it can help in describing Greta Wegener’s contribution as well as the factors behind the changes that occurred. It is strengthen by statement of Kenedy and Gioia (2010) that claim the psychological approach brings insight into human behaviors and the things
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influencing fictional characterization into the study of how fictional characters act
(p.690). In addition, Rohrbreger and Woods (1971) also state that the approach helps to explore human’s mind in their book;
The psychological approach leads to the exploration of the unconscious of the human mind, which leads to the conclusion that it is the area that is wellspring of man rich imagination, his capacity for creation and the complexity of his thought, behavior, and the content of his region of the mind find expression in symbolic words, thoughts, action (as cited in Guarin, Labor, Morgan, Reesman, and Willingham, 2015, p.13).
For those reasons, psychological approach is the best fit to understand the mind of the literature characters in The Danish Girl especially Greta and Lili. By using psychological approach, Greta’s contribution to Lili’s transition can be seen.
C. The Method of Study
In conducting the study, the researcher uses library study which means gathering and analyzing the data from reading books. The source of this study is primary from the novel titled The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff, while the secondary ones are taken from the theories of literatures which include the theory of character and characterization, the theory of personality development, the theory of moral development, the theory of motivation, the theory of trans-sexism, the theory of psychological approach and several online sources.
There are several steps conducted in doing the research. Firstly, the researcher read the novel several times thoroughly to understand the storyline and find the
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information needed to be analyzed and to support the study. Next, the researcher answers the formulated questions by using the data gathered by reading books and searching online. In this phase, the literature theories are also applied to reveal the how is Lili before the existence of Greta, as well Greta’s significance and the reasons behind it. The theories are also used to legitimize the researcher arguments in the study. Lastly, researcher draws the conclusion of the study conducted to summarize the study.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the writer answers the questions in the problem formulation.
The theories and method mentioned previously are used in the chapter. In order to configure Greta’s contribution to Lili’s transition, the analysis is divided into three parts. The first part is finding out how Lili is before Greta comes in into her life, the second part is revealing Greta’s contribution to Lili’s transition and the last part is discovering the reasons why Greta wants to contribute to Lili’s transition.
In order to prove that Greta has an important impact in Lili’s life regarding her decision to transform from male to female, first the researcher has to confirm the inherent desire of Lili; whether or not she has the interest of becoming the opposite sex from beginning and be who she really is. Later, after it is proved the researcher can finally explain Greta’s contribution in realizing her desire. To verify this argument, the researcher examines the dialogue of the characters within the novel as well as applying the theory of transsexualism to strengthen the researcher’s points.
Lili’s desire of becoming the opposite sex can actually be seen from her early childhood, which means that she is actually quite aware of her interest from the beginning. The first sign that the novel describes is her interest to wear woman’s clothes when she is still Einar Wegener. As stated by the theory of transexualism by
Benjamin (1989) earlier, that transsexuals are more likely to dress as the opposite sex
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as a way to channel their unhappiness, that is exactly what Lili does. Lili’s mother dies when she was born therefore she only lives with her sick father and grandmother in a small farmhouse in Bluetooth. When her father goes to their neighbor’s house,
Lili will wear her late mother’s necklaces and scarf pretending like it is her long beautiful hair. As stated in the novel, “…he found Einar , small at age seven, in the drawers, the amber beads twisted around his throat, a yellow deck scarf on his head like long, beautiful hair (p.33).” It is proved that Lili is there since the beginning, even before Greta exists. This desire even continues until Lili is an adult. As seen from the dialogue between Lili and Greta when Greta asks her to wear woman’s clothes for the first time, “’But I can’t wear Anna’s shoes’.Einar said. Looking at them, Einar imagined that the shoes might in fact fit his feet. He imagined the wrinkled roll of stocking gliding over the white bone of ankle.(p.9)” From the dialogue, it is clear that Lili actually feels thrilled to wear feminine shoes and stockings but she hides it from Greta. So it can be inferred, Lili has always been interested in wearing woman’s clothes, way before Greta introduces them.
The second sign that can be grasped from the novel, still in her childhood life, is the fact that she develops feeling for a man. Lili falls for her childhood friend,
Hans. As seen by the details provided in the book when she really pays attentions to
Hans; “He was the type of boy who at night would fall asleep instantly, exhausted and happy, suddenly quieter than the bog. Einar knew this because whenever he slept at the villa he would lie awake till dawn, too excited ever to seal his eyes. (p.34)” In
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other statement, Lili is seen to find Han’s touch to be thrilling; “..Hans would say, his pressed-together fingers touching Einar’s arm, causing the little black hairs to stand alert, their bases pimpled and hard (p.35)” Even the fact that Lili always thinks of
Hans years and year after they are separated, shows that she has a great interest towards Hans, especially when Hans is Lili’s first kiss. However, one probably still can argue that Lili feeling may also occur as an only friendly one, however it can be debunked by the fact that Hans always appear first when she later develops feelings toward another man. She uses Hans as a comparison to choose for a romantic ideal partner, meaning to say that Hans used to be her ideal partner. The second sign that appears in the novel fulfills another argument about a transsexual person, which is having an attraction toward man as stated by Benjamin (1998 : 14). Thus from that point, Lili can be concluded as a transsexual.
Another detail that proves the idea that Lili indeed has a desire to transition from the beginning, and also probably the most legitimate reason why she feels like she is trapped in a wrong body; is because of the fact that she has an underdeveloped ovaries. It can be seen from the dialogue between Greta and Professor Bolk; “’In his abdomen’, Bolk continued, ‘I found something’.Professor Bolk folded his hands together and cracked his knuckles. ‘I found a pair of ovaries. Underdeveloped, of course. Small, of course. But they were there’ (p.213)” As explained by the theory of transsexualism by Harry Benjamin before, that even though female-ness and male- ness does not mean masculinity or femininity, to a large extent hormones produced
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by body organs can affect men to be more virile and women to be softer and has lovely femininity like a typical woman” (p.8). This then can explain as why Lili likes to wear women clothes and develop feelings for men, because she is actually a woman inside, just underdeveloped. This can also strengthen the researcher’s argument that inherently Lili is transsexual.
Based on the three points above, it is now safe to say that Greta is there only as the catalyst for Lili to finally realize that she is a woman and in the end she also helps her in deciding whether she wants to transition. After proving that Greta is only the helper, the researcher can then explain how Lili is before Greta exists. By knowing how Lili is, the researcher can give the contrast of Lili’s life before and after
Greta. The contrasts afterwards can be used to show Greta’s contribution in Lili’s life especially regarding her transition.
A. Lili Without Greta
This section discusses the life of Lili without Greta’s influences regarding her transition. What the researcher means of Lili without Greta is the time when Lili is still a male up until Lili realizes that she has to change. In this section, the researcher uses the theory of characters and characterization and the theory of moral development. This section is important to give ideas of what kind of problems that
Lili has to deal with before she meets Greta. Lili’s problems must be known first in order to emphasize Greta’s contribution to her transition. The first thing that the
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researcher finds in her analysis about Lili before Greta exists is that she does not have any courage and flexibility to try and explore her desire. Second, Lili only thinks that her woman side is only a role-play and not who she is, which hamper her realization of desire.
1. Lili does not have any courage and flexibility to be her true self
The reason why Greta can be so significant in Lili’s life is because of the fact that she helps Lili to be her true self through her transition, which becomes the main premise of this research. The researcher finds out, the first reason as why Lili has not been able to be herself before meeting Greta is because she does not have any courage and flexibility to be her true self. The possible causes for that are two; it is
Lili’s past that shapes her, and second inherently it is her personalities that do not allow her to be herself to begin with.
a. Lili’s Past
It is stated before that Lili has her mother died when she was giving birth, therefore she only lives with her grandmother and father in a small farmhouse in
Bluetooth. In the novel, Lili is never told to play with other people personally besides playing with Hans.However, Hands is separated from her two years after they meet each other, meaning to say that her father and grandmother have the greatest influence in shaping Lili as a person, including in shaping her fear to come out as a transsexual. The reason behind it can be elaborated by using the theory of moral
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development. In the Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, explained in Worchel and Shebilske’s book, there are three stages of development. The first stage which occurs during childhood, is the preconventional level where the morality is shaped through the outcome of an activity, whether it can gain rewards or give punishment.In this case, Lili’s fear to come out is induced by her Father since her early childhood time. It can be seen through the dialogue between Lili and her father in page 33 of
The Danish Girl;
One day when when he returned from an hour of chat at the neighbor’s kitchen table, he found Einar, small at age seven, in the drawers, the amber bead twisted around his throat, a yellow deck scarf on his head like long beautiful hair. His father’s face turned red, and his eyes seemed to sink into his skull, Einar could hear the angry rattle of his father’s breath in his throat.’You can’t do that!’ His father said.’Little boys can’t do that!’ Based on the dialogue above it is pretty clear that according to her father’s concept of right and wrong, a boy dressing in a woman’s clothes is wrong. And as a reminder, moral development according to Worchel and Shebilske “refers to principles of right and wrong.(p.339)” It means that since her early days, Lili is always taught that dressing as a woman when he is a boy will only give her punishment. While dressing as a boy when he is a boy will give her reward. The reward is as simple as having her father not being angry at him. The absence of Lili’s
Grandmother’s involvement in that accident already gives signs that her grandmother upholds the same principle of morality as Lili’s father. She does not try to change how Lili’s father treat Lili, she does not try to stop her father from getting angry at
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Lili for dressing up in her mother’s dress, she does not try to calm Lili down from getting upset by her father’s behavior. In other words, Lili’s grandmother would have done the same thing to as Lili’s father if she was there, and give the exact way of reward and punishment. When little Lili relies her standard of right and wrong mainly on these two people, automatically she will have the same way of principle when it comes to choosing what is right and wrong. Moreover, there is a very minimum influence from the society told in the novel, making it clear that Lili’s father and grandmother becoming the only agents for Lili to look up to. In the end, Lili’s mind is induced with the thought that dressing as a woman is wrong, and if she does that she will only get punishment. In result, the fear hampers her to realize her desire to be the opposite gender. Up until she grows up, she has no courage to pursue her true self because the fear is already internalized in her mind.
When Lili is a teenager, she also experiences another accident that shapes her fear to be a transsexual. It is when Hans kisses Lili out of the blue, but unfortunately when it happens, her father is there causing him to get slapped by her father; “….his leg long and swift, his spiralled hair swaying at the tips, the handsome slap of his foot on the cobble eerily similar to the flat punch of Einar’s father’s hand to his cheek when he discovered Einar in his grandmother’s apron as Han’s lips pressed towards his neck. (p.57)” According to Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, teenagers develop their sense of right and wrong according to the outcome; whether it gains approval or gains disapproval. This time, it is clear that it gains a strong disapproval
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by Lili’s father. Later it also shapes Lili’s moral principle of right and wrong, especially when it is her father, a person that she always looks up to as a guidance of the right and wrong principle. By knowing that being close to a guy gains a strong disapproval it gives the idea to Lili that it is something wrong to do therefore she should have not done that. In the end it also hampers her to explore her truly self, because she already shuts her desire down, deeming it as inappropriate. When the person that she trusts already considers it as wrong, it reflects how society would think about the behavior as well, thus because of her past she is never be able to explore her truly self.
When talking about Lili’s past, it is also important to talk about the place where she grows up in. As was talked before, Lili grows up in a small village in
Bluetooth. Living in a small village gives what consider as an advantage by Worchel and Shebilske especially when it comes to an identity crisis. According to Worchel and Shebilske, “identity is an understanding of one’s uniqueness and an appreciation of what has in common in others. (p.342)” Worchel and Shebilske argue that living in a small village has its perks because usually villagers already have a fixed traditional value about one’s identity, therefore it is not so difficult to seek for one. For example, male children are generally expected to adopt the occupation of their fathers, and females “naturally” get married, raise family and keep a house. In contrast, people living in a more modern area are characterized by great deal of trying out and testing of different roles as adolescents struggles to find themselves. At some point, Worchel
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and Shebilske’s argument is true, however in some cases it would be a total disadvantage specifically for people that are trying to breakout from the norm, and
Lili is one of the instances. Lili’s father and grandmother’s treatments to Lili sort of reflect the values which people uphold in Bluetooth, both still uphold the traditional values. It means that Lili is also expected to carry on the traditional standards, and once she does not fulfill what are expected, punishments or dislikes from society would follow, just like what mentioned above. In other words, Lili does not have any flexibility to look for any other identities that suit her. In the end, she fails to recognize her true desire to be a transsexual.
b. Lili’s Characteristic
Lili’s characteristics are also one of the reasons why her transition process cannot happen before Greta. In order to identify Lili’s characteristics, the researcher uses the theory of character and characteristics. Based on the research, the researcher found three types of characteristics that inherently limit her flexibility to have the transition. The inherent characters are; self-conscious, immature, and dependent.
i. Self-Conscious
According to Murphy (1972) there are nine ways that can be used to reveal the characters and personalities of the people that authors write within their literary works. to The ways used are personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reaction, direct comment, thought and
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mannerism (pp. 161 – 173). By applying the theory, the researcher finds out that Lili is always self-conscious. Based on the theory of self-consciousness found in a journal, “self-consciousness is conceptualized as consistent attention directed at the self”(Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975). “Concern for one’s behaviour, acute awareness of the self as a social object, knowledge of internal and external attributes of the self, and introspection all characterize self-consciousness in adults”
(Fenigstein et al., 1975) It really applies to Lili because by analyzing her, the researcher finds traits that are directly in line with the theory of self consciousness.
The trait can be seen through her conversation with Greta when Greta asks him to put on woman shoes so that Lili can model for Greta’s painting when she is still a male.
Lili asks Greta to really keep it as a secret, she should not tell it to anyone that she tries on woman shoes;
We’ll keep this our secret, Greta?’ Einar whispered. ‘You won’t tell anyone, will you?’He was both frightened and excited, and the child’s fist of heart was beating in his throat. ‘Who would I tell?’. ‘Anna’. Anna doen’s need to know.’Greta said.(p.10).
Through that dialogue, it can be seen that Lili is very conscious that someone would ever know about her trying out woman shoes. It means that she is truly concerned about the consequences if people later know that she just wore woman’s clothes that directly impact how people perceive her. It might be justified for her to be conscious since she still lives in a traditional society where men are expected to be masculine, and wearing woman’s clothes can result in mockery, alienation or even
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disgust. However, the scene actually takes place in her house where no one is present, only Greta and there is actually a solid reason to why she should wear woman’s shoes. With that in mind, Lili should not have had any fear that people may know about the occurrence, yet still she does care. With her gesture, it is clear that she really takes her image very seriously. She does not want to make people see her in a strange way, that sometimes she prefers to be in Greta’s shadow and not being seen by other people. It also results in her being very reserved. She rarely confesses about her feeling, including her problems, even to Greta. Only at times when Greta insists on asking that Lili is willing to talk. For instance, when Greta asks if she wants to go to the ball. “She asked because she guessed it was what Einar wanted. He would never confess such desire; he rarely confessed anything to her unless she prodded.
(p.27)”
Another example of Lili being self conscious is when Greta asks Lili to go to the ball with her. In a note that Lili sticks on Greta’s wardrobe, Lili writes her hesitancy to go to the ball. She asks Greta if she is pretty enough to go as Lili. From that, it is also clear that she calculates a lot of how other people might see her.
According to a journal by Hope and Heimber (1998), it is stated that “Self- conscious adults tend to report greater anxiety, more loneliness and depression, and lower self-worth than adults who are not self-conscious.” The two things the researcher wants to focus in this case are the problem of anxiety and lower self
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worth.Because of being self conscious, Lili also experience anxiety and lower self worth. The result of anxiety and self worth then affects her flexibility and choice in making the transition process to be a woman, before Greta comes and finally helps her. Being anxious means that Lili is always in constant fear of something bad that might happen, in other words she always worries about everything. Being worried about something may be good in some extent, because then people will carefully make decision to solve problems. However, when it is mixed with low self worth, they are just plain afraid of everything. When a problem occurs, despite being in desperate need of change, they can feel like they are powerless and do nothing instead. It is exactly the thing that happens to Lili. Lili is so self-conscious that she is confused of what to do despite of having the desire to be a woman. She is also sellf conscious that she does not want to try and explore her desire even though she feels it from the beginning. When she also takes what other thinks very seriously, she has the excessive fear that people would judge her for being different. In this case people would judge her for wanting to be a woman. It is what then hampers her to realize her dream, and something that Greta later would successfully eliminate later. With the low self worth as well, Lili cannot be her true self even though she wants to. It is because she does not think that she is actually capable to do anything about it. She feels like she is trapped and has no capability to change everything. In the end, before
Greta gives some influence toward her life, Lili does not have the courage to actually have the transition.
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ii. Immature and Dependent.
Another trait that the researcher found from Lili is the fact that she is quite immature and dependent. It is in a sense that she always rely on other people to fulfill her needs of both physically and emotionally. These traits of Lili are not quite seen on her childhood, but are pretty much seen when she is with Greta on their early marriage, meaning to say that Lili has always been immature and dependent from the beginning and the characteristics are extended even when they are married. These characteristics are also the reason why Lili needs Greta.
According to Justin Pikunas (1969), “the criteria of adult maturity include differential responsiveness, participative activity, sensitivity to the needs of others, a unifying philosophy of life and willingness to assume adult responsibilities. A mature person is one who has acquired a personal identity and has made progress in integrating his or her total personality into a smoothly functioning system.(p.295)”
Lili’s characteristics of being immature and dependent are actually mentioned several times by Lili herself. For example Lili always feels like she is smaller than
Greta and that she is way more mature than Lili. In result she always seeks for comfort, protection and guidance from Greta. In other occasion, she also looks at
Greta as someone that she can admire. “Next to her, Einar feels small, as if he were her son, looking up beyond her chin to her eyes, reaching for a hanging hand (p.13)”.
From this particular line it can already be seen that Lili feels like Greta is someone that she can trust and hang on too, as if she needs a motherly figure to help her to
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survive. When she is basically reaching for a “hanging hand”, it means that she is somehow clueless of her adult responsibilities, that she does not know what to do and she needs someone to show her the way. In addition, she also does not realize her power in making choices. Because she is immature, she needs approvals from someone to say that something is right or wrong to do. Based on the previous explanation, it can be understood that Lili’s moral compass is only her father and grandmother, and wanting to be a woman is clearly wrong on their eyes. In some ways it also shapes Lili’s way of thinking. However, just like how Pikuna explains the characteristic of a mature adult, “that they have differential responsiveness, have acquired personal identity and have made progress in integrating his or her total personality into smoothly functioning system.(p.295)”, it means that adults have capability in making their individual choices based on their judgment on their current condition. And it is a trait that Lili does not possess. She is not able to react accordingly to her condition, though actually there is a minimum influence from her parents because they are all have died. In the novel it is also not told that her grandmother still reaches out to her. Therefore she actually has all the freedom that she needs, but she does not use it and instead stays in her old place not making further move.
This characteristics of Lili then makes her very dependent to people as well.
And through Greta, she can find the person that she can depend on. Actually this characteristic is almost related to the previous characteristic where Lili sometimes
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thinks that she does not have the capability to do anything regarding her problem.
Because she is dependent toward other people, she can turn into a somehow passive character. She stays in a comfort zone where it is other people that try to move her forward or to solve her problem. For example, in the case where she gets sick. Lili gets nosebleed which occurs often, that Greta starts to worry about her. In the end the one that calls the doctor is Greta to know what is wrong with Lili’s body. Being
Immature and dependent are also Lili’s characteristic that keep her away from realizing her dream of becoming a woman. These characteristics do not allow her to even think that there might be something wrong with her body even though she does feel different. It is the passiveness that stops her for thinking further and seeks for a treatment or the problem solution. When she is immature and dependent for the same time, she absolutely needs someone to steps further in life.
2. Lili sees her true identity as only a role play
Apart from her past and characteristic, one factor that makes her unable to realize her desire is because she only sees “Lili” as a game and somehow she is just acting “Lili” out. Just like the previous analysis where it technically does not happen exactly before Greta comes, but instead it happens in the process of their marriage, this explanation elaborates on Lili’s weakness that makes her fails to undergo transition before Greta actually influences her. The elaboration is still relevant to answer the previous problem formulation because it can reveal the reasons why Greta
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is significant and contributive in her transition which becomes the premise of the research.
Moving on to the analysis, how Lili only sees her true identity as only a role play can be analyzed through her speech, her thoughts, and even through Lili’s reference toward her-self. When Lili is still Einar, she mentions Lili as if she is a different person and referring her as an independent entity. Only a role play here means that she thinks Lili is just another side of her that she wants to perform in public. One of the examples is when she goes out at one night with Henrik Sandahl, a man who she has been seeing for sometimes. The scene happens before Lili undergoes transition surgery, and it is Lili’s first time to be involved romantically with man while dressing up as a woman. She feels joyful to be with Henrik but inside her mind, she thinks that it is justified for her to be happy because it is just a game;
“His head seemed like a puppet’s, bobbing happily; it was round and cranial, with a touch of Mongol in the forehead. And this was why, perhaps, Einar felt free to grip
Henrik’s moist fist and follow; it was a game, a part of the game of Lili, and games counted nearly for nothing.(p.55)” From this line, it can be seen that Lili does not take herself very seriously. She feels easy with her condition now because it is just the way it is, it is just an act that she enjoys to play. In her mind, one day she can be
Lili and on the other day she can take it off and be Einar, the male version of him.
When it comes to her transition, seeing her truly self as only a role play can be dangerous, it is not helping her in finding the ultimate satisfaction by being her truly
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self, but instead it is the other way around. There are some reasons why it can be harmful to Lili, first it can create the delusion that her current condition is already enough, that she does not need to make any effort more. While at the same time she knows she actually thrives for more. At first, she only dares to imagine dressing up as a woman, next she visions of being touched by a man, afterwards she dreams of being in love with a man. It shows that Lili has needs that continue to evolve and by only dressing up as a woman cannot cover all of them. Even it is said several times that when she is still Einar, she always thinks about Lili, but when she is Lili, she never thinks about Einar. The statement suggests that Lili wants to actually be Lili, her truly self. However, the delusion traps her in the thoughts that this should be enough and
Lili should feel enough because she already feels happy. In the end it limits her chance to try the transition.
Secondly, the narrative that Lili is only a role play is bad because it gives the sense that the Lili is the fake one, while Einar or her male side is the true one. By having that kind of mindset, it is planted in Lili’s mind that Lili is never real and she should always go back to the real one which is Einar. This perspective is bad because then she sets her own standard of normal. Being Einar is normal, but being Lili is abnormal. When she sees Einar as the normal one while actually thriving for more as
Lili, she would not be able to realize her “Lili” dream because it is considered abnormal. In the end she would not be aware of her true self believing it is only a fake
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one, she also does not make further effort to be her truly self, hence her transition cannot be realized.
B. Greta’s Contribution in Lili’s Transition
This section contains answers for the second problem formulation which discusses about Greta’s contribution in helping Lili to have the transition. Lili’s overall weaknesses are explained beforehand in order to give ideas about what sort of things that Greta have to deal with, that later needed to be fixed. The ways Greta can complement Lili especially regarding her transition process are elaborated by applying the theory of character and characteristics. To begin the analysis, it is highlighted by Benjamin (1996) in his theory of transsexualism that “transsexuals often lack understanding, sympathy, and most of all empathy” (p.12). Being the only person that Lili can look up to and live with, Greta performs great understanding, sympathy and empathy toward Lili that takes form in her contributions to Lili transition.
1. Greta Encourages Lili to explore her desire
The first thing that can be noticed from Greta regarding Lili’s transition is the fact that it is Greta who tries to encourage Lili initially. She does not explicitly say that Lili has a desire to be a woman that she needs to have genital corrective surgery.
The process actually flows in a subtle way. It begins with Greta asking Lili to try out
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woman’s clothes for the very first time after years, which also the part where the story of The Danish Girl all started;
“’You sure you won’t mind stopping for a bit to help me out?’ she said, her hair pulled back. ‘I wouldn’t have asked if it weren’t important. It’s just that Anna’s cancelled again. So would you mind trying on her stockings?’ Greta asked. ‘And her shoes?’ (p.8)” From those lines, Greta is seen to ask Lili, that is still Einar at that time to put on woman’s stocking and shoes because Anna, the one who is supposed to model for her paintings cancelled her appointment. Actually, before there are lines explaining what Greta wants, the novel states that Greta knows about something. The book opens with; “His wife knew first.’Do me a small favor?’ Greta called from the bedroom that first afternoon. ‘Just help me with something for a little bit.’(p.8)” The statement is written before Greta asks Lili to try on the woman’s clothes. Then it can be concluded that Greta knows something about Lili related to her desire to try out woman’s dress when Lili is still a male. But she knows that somehow that Lili does not want her desire to be obviously seen, so she does not tell her what is it in her mind. Greta’s gesture is actually very important toward Lili’s decision to have the transition. It is the beginning of her journey to finally find out that she does have the desire to be a woman, let’s just call it the discovery phase. Based on the analysis previously, Lili cannot have the courage and flexibility because of her past and also inherent characteristics. Lili’s past tries to shut her desire down because it is deemed immoral by her parents, while her inherent characteristics naturally draw her back from taking any further moves. Greta asking her to try woman’s clothes is the first
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step toward her discovery of desire after it is repressed for a long time. When Lili is little, she once tries her mother’s dress but it is prohibited by her father. Afterwards, she gets punishment. The punishment then indicates that it is wrong for a boy to wear woman’s dress. However, even though it is prohibited, the feeling still lingers until she grows up. Lili still likes to wear woman’s dress but does not channel the longing until Greta suggests her to wear one. In this case Greta opens Lili’s discovery phase, that she actually has such kind of desire. It is not once in a life time feeling, but a continued one. Furthermore, Greta sort of reminds her that she has the option to wear woman’s dress and she permits her as well. It kind of gives Lili clue that she has already lived in a different moment where she is now a consented adult that has her own will. Greta slowly changes Lili’s moral standard in choosing what is wrong and what is right, a thing that is shaped by her late father and grandmother before. Not only once does Greta permit her to wear woman’s dress, but as long as Lili wants to wear one even though at that time Greta also only understands that it is only a game.
But she unconsciously encourages Lili to question her identity. For example at that time when Lili is still a male and Greta asks if Lili just dressed up as a woman. They talk as if Lili is someone that can come in and out when Lili wants. Lili says that she can come in and come out whenever Greta wants her to, which Greta replies with;
“It’s up to Lili. It’s whatever she wants to do.(p.27)” She gives her the flexibility that she does not have in the past, even encourages her to go out as woman. It first happens when Greta asks her to go to the ball, as Lili; “One night at the theater, she gently asked, ‘Would you like to go as Lili?’She asked because she guessed it was
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what Einar wanted. He would rarely confessed anything to her, unless she proded.(p27)” It is actually the first time ever Lili goes out to public dressing up as a woman. Therefore it is a big moment for Lili to finally introduce this side of her that she never has the guts to before. Thanks to Greta, she finally is brave enough to realize her desire, not only in a closeted place but in an open place where everyone can see her. She can at least feel how it is to be a woman completely.
Moreover, Greta does not only touch Lili’s past. She also compliments Lili in terms of her characteristics. As mentioned before, Lili is very self conscious and Immature also dependent. Self conscious means that Lili is very careful in making every single move. If something threatens her, she will instantly pull back and stay in her comfort zone. Basically she will never come out. And Greta understands Lili well. Notice that the first time Greta asks Lili to model for her painting, she is being extra careful.
Instead of ordering Lili to wear the shoes and stockings, she asks Lili gently to put them on and provide reasonable reason to do it. In that way, she brings out the urgency of her trying out the shoes and stockings without being pushy, somehow she is protecting Lili’s ego. She does not want to make Lili feels uncomfortable by catching him off guard. By making Lili comfortable to be who she is, Lili can come out naturally. Moreover, as Lili has a rather passive characteristic, it is a good thing that Greta can initiate the trial first, especially when Lili is known to always keep her secret and never tells to Greta what she wants unless she really makes her to. In a case as sensitive as this, Greta is thoughtful to bring out Lili’s desire without making
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Lili feels humiliated. In other words, Greta can make Lili’s discovery process to happen.
Another reason why Lili can also feel encouraged is because she is given constant reassurances from Greta that everything will be fine. Giving constant reassurance to Lili is important because it can reduce her self consciousness since she is very anxious and having low self worth. The self consciousness blinds her in finding her true identity because she can never choose what to do, besides she even fears to try and explore her desire. Greta can give the boost of confidence which Lili needs. For the example that time when she assures Lili to stop worrying about what others would think about her. At that time Lili is wearing the women’s shoes and stockings for the first time; “Greta must have noticed the discomfort, because she reached out and held Einar’s cheeks and said, ‘It means nothing’. And then, when will you stop worrying about what other people think?’. It is one of her traits that Lili likes about Greta. Einar loved it when Greta made such declarations – the way she’d swat her hands through the air and claim her beliefs as the faith of the rest of the world.(p.11)”. From those lines it can be seen that according to Lili, Greta is someone that confident about herself and she can make Lili feel sure about everything. Another example is when Lili is still a male and she has been thinking about Lili for a while again after going out as a woman. She has the thought of dressing up as a woman but she does not make it happen, until Greta reassures her to do so. “”I’ve been thinking about her,’ Einar said. ‘Who’s that?’ ‘Little Lili’ ‘Then why don’t we see her again?’
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Greta said, her face barely lifting from the puzzle, her finger smudged with newsprint, brushing at the chickenpox scar. (p23)” From Greta’s line, it can be analyzed that she thinks simpler than Lili. In result, Lili can have more courage to try out and explore her desire,something that she is afraid to do without Greta. At least
Greta can comfort her by keep reminding her that she has the option to explore herself and tells her that she can be whoever she wants. By giving her freedom to explore herself, Lili can finally discover the true desire that she has that then it leads to her final transition to become a complete woman.
Another thing is,the fact that Lili is always anxious means that she needs someone to always be there for her, to help her solve her problem when she does not know what to do, or she gets lost. Even just the feeling that someone is there to help her whenever she needs helps can comfort Lili already. This safe feeling is important for her anxious mind because then she is courageous enough to explore her desire.
When Lili finds trouble, it is Greta that she goes to for the first time. Even at the time when she does not feel like she wants to be taken care of by Greta deep down she knows that she still needs her. For example at the scene where Greta worries about
Lili when she still comes back and forth dressing up as a woman. Greta expresses her confusion of what to do with Lili when she is coming and Lili feels like Greta worries too much about her;
“He wondered why Greta couldn’t let Lili come and go without worrying so much. If it didn’t upset him, then why should Greta become concerned? If only she would quietly welcome Lili when it was time to paint her portrait. If
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only Greta wouldn’t pry with her questions – to say nothing about her eyes – when Lili slipped in and out of the apartment. And yet Einar knew that he and yes, Lili too, needed Greta.(p.79)” The indication that Greta worries too much about Lili means that she is prepared to help Lili anytime she needs her. Because she just cares so much about
Lili. As stated before, it is prominent for Lili to feel safe before she is able to explore her desire. It is a prominent factor because she can be confident in choosing what to do when she feels like to. She does not have that big of a cost to sacrifice since she can find a safe place behind Greta’s back. She does not feel like she is alone when problems happen. Instead she can seek for solution or solve the problems together with Greta. At last, it allows her to be more flexible in realizing her desire.
2. Greta Treats Lili Like a Woman
The second way that can be understood from Greta’s contribution to Lili’s transition is the way she treats Lili like a woman. When Lili is a male and she dresses like a woman, not once Greta behaves like it is a male in a female’s dress. Instead,
Greta would treat her as if she is her female friend or even sibling. In other words, she humanizes Lili as a person and acknowledges her desire. In terms of Lili’s transition, it is an important contribution from Greta;
“When she returned she’d find Lili at the window in a loose dress, the back buttons unfastened. Greta would help finish dressing, clasping a string amber beads aroud her throat. It never ceased to startle Greta, finding her husband like that, waiting with neckline of a dress across his pale shoulders. She never once said anything to Einar, or to Lili. Instead, she would always welcome Lili as if she were an amusing foreign friend. She’d hum and gossip as she helped Lili into her shoes. She would stand Lili in front of the mirror and
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whisper, her voice the soft intimate voice of wedlock. ‘There now…..so very pretty.’(p.70)” The researcher can argue that it is an important contribution regarding her transition because then Lili can feel comfortable when she becomes her true self.
Comfortable in this case means that she finally can see herself turning into a woman that she always wants to be and feels like she is able to. Lili is always afraid if she is not pretty enough as a woman, if people would know that she is actually a man, therefore it is vital for her to be convinced that in fact she can be a woman. Greta convincing Lili that she is a woman also enables her to feel comfortable with her identity. It is because at the time before Lili decides to have the transition, Lili still struggle to accept her identity, that is why she has to repress her desire and it takes
Greta to bring her repressed desire out before she actually accepts it. For example at the scene where Lili finds out that her first lover, Henrik, already knows the whole time that she is in fact a male dressing as a woman. She feels like her biggest secret is revealed and she feels upset. In result, she draws herself back from the progress that she has made with herself. At first she starts to feel comfortable being herself, but then she has to feel exposed for something that she is not ready yet to reveal;
“Henrik’s eyebrows were still lifted, and a terrible shudder rose through Lili, and it suddenly was if Einar were a third person there – as if he were one step removed from Lili and Henrik’s intimate circle of confession, witnessing it all. There he was, Einar in the young girl’s dress, flirting with a younger man. It was an awful sight. Lili shuddered again. ‘I’m afraid I can’t see you any more,’ Lili finally said. ‘I’m going to have to say goodbye to you tonight’(p.67)”
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The line suggests that it is a serious thing for Lili to accept her identity first before getting comfortable with herself, that she is indeed a woman trapped inside a man’s body yet there is nothing wrong with it. However, in that particular scene it is clear that Lili has not made peace with her identity. In the end, when someone finds out, she redraws her-self back from her desire thinking that it is a shame, coming back to the mentality that she has before. It is not until Greta brings her along to Paris when no one knows her that she begins to explore herself again. When Lili still questions her identity, Greta takes the problem seriously. She takes Lili as if she is a real person. That in the end that convinces Lili also to think that she is real, she is not a joke and her desire really exists. Saying that Lili’s desire does not exist when she is trying to question herself will only make Lili shut her desire again for the second time since her father’s punishment. Based on her characteristics previously that she always considers and listens to what people say to her, she possibly will listen to Greta as well if Greta says she is only being delusional with her desire.
Moreover Lili now only lives with Greta and she considers her as someone important. It means that Greta holds a quite prominent key for Lili in making her decision. Therefore Greta can either make it or break it with Lili. Fortunately, Greta is shown to always be supportive towards Lili even though sometimes it is against her will. Despite losing her husband for the second time, Greta sacrifices her needs and decides to welcome Lili in her life as a woman. Greta’s acceptance toward Lili’s
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identity can help Lili in terms of acknowledging her desire so that she can do the transition.
3. Greta Totally Supports Lili
It is of course important for Lili to acknowledge her desire to be a woman, because then she has the incentive to finally realize her desire. In this case, the last thing that she has to do is the complete transition. However it is not easy to undergo the transition when many people are against the surgery, even against her longing to be a woman from the beginning. When talking about Lili and her past also her characters, logically it is even harder for her to choose the h Therefore, there must be someone to give Lili the affirmation that it is alright to be herself. That is exactly what Greta gives to Lili. People who do not believe in Lili’s transition usually have the mindset that Lili’s desire is the result of her bad mental state, or it is something abnormal that should be abolished immediately. It is stated in the novel when Lili goes to a doctor for the first time, checking for her health because of the constant nose bleeding. Her first doctor actually uses X-ray that he assumes would drive the desire out of her;
“’It’s time for an X-ray’, Dr Hexler said. He seemed surprised when Einar said he’d never had one before. ‘It will tell us if there’s something wrong,’Dr. Hexler said. ‘It may also drive this desire out of you.’(p.100)”. Here the Doctor talks about Lili’s desire to find Lili when she is still a man.
When she consults to Dr. Hexler, Dr. Hexler says that Lili should stop dressing up as a man. He thinks it is one of the reasons that Lili feels like she is a
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woman. Dr. Hexler’s assistant, Vlademar, then proceeds to tell Greta that Lili has some kind of demon living inside of her. That is what explained why a guy can act like a woman, and according to him an X-ray can demolish the demon; “’And if it’s the devil your husband’s got in him,’ Vlademar added, ‘I’ll zap it out.’ (p.104)” The line suggest that Lili is deemed to be possessed by some kind of evil power for having the wish to be a woman. It is not only once that Lili is told to be abnormal. On her second doctor appointment with Dr. Mai, Lili is diagnosed to have schizophrenia.
As seen from the dialogue between Lili and Carlisle, Greta’s twin brother; “’The
Doctor wants to admit you to the hospital.’ ‘For what?’ ‘He suspects schizophrenia.’
(p.155)”. Carlisle tells Lili after they both went to Dr. Mai office that Lili is analyzed to be schizophrenic because she explains Lili as if she has two kinds of people living inside of her. Actually Lili does agree that there are two people living inside of her but she is sure that she is not schizophrenic.
The diagnoses made by the two doctors are not something to be surprised of if the context of time and place are taken into consideration. In the past, it is not common to have men admitting that somehow they have the desire to be a woman, especially with the strong patriarchal values still instilled in the society. Patriarchal values expect males to be masculine and females to be feminine. When someone does not meet the expectation, people try to reason the factor behind as why those “people” are different. However, because there is no sufficient technology that can prove the factors behind it, also the fact that religious faith heavily influenced the society
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mindset, people can only speculate based on their knowledge and belief at that time.
Hence the assumption that Lili is possessed by demon and or is schizophrenic.
The assumption that Lili is either schizophrenic or possessed by demon is very problematic for Lili that it hampers the realization of her dream.
Psychologically, it can affect her thoughts on her identity. Being told that her desire is abnormal can make her believe afterwards that her desire is indeed something wrong.
Instead of pursuing the desire, she will be reminded by her past when her father always rages if she gets caught behaving like a woman,e.g wearing woman’s dress, be intimate with a guy. Therefore, the same experience can happen to Lili again where she has to shut her desire down for the second time. In this occasion, Greta contributes in a way that she can make Lili feels sure that her desire is totally normal.
Greta always reassures Lili that she is not insane, nor possessed like what the doctor says. In fact, Greta is the person that trusts Lili the most. She believes that what Lili has is something real and something worth to be pursued. It can be seen from Lili’s dialogue with Greta’s twin brother, Carlisle; “‘Do you think Greta thinks that? Do you think she believes I’m insane?’ ‘Not at all’,Carlisle said. ‘She’s the one who believes in Lili the most.’(p.156)”
Another line that suggest Greta’s support is the one where Lili asks if Greta thinks she is insane; “ ‘Do you think I’m going insane?’ he said. She sat up. ‘Insane?
Who told you that?’ ‘No one, but do you?’ ‘That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.’(p.156)” Based on that line it is very clear that Greta totally gives her full support toward Lili. The way in which she gives support is by convincing Lili that
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she is not insane. Greta believes on the idea that what Lili saying is true, that there are two people living inside of her and right now Lili just wants to have one person to stay, which is her true identity, a woman. In other words, Greta can make Lili feel confident that this is the right path that she chooses. Moreover, Greta support is not only limited in convincing Lili about her identity. It is also in terms of financial. Ever since Lili finds her desire, she does not paint any longer because she thinks painting is Einar’s hobby, or it is the thing that her “male” self does, but it is not her.
Therefore, Lili does not have much income anymore because she used to paint for her living. In the end, the one who becomes the bread winner in their marriage is Greta.
Besides having popular sold out paintings, Greta actually comes from a rich family.
Her late grand-father is rich from land grants, while her father is richer from orange groves (p.17) Without Lili’s knowledge, Greta always receives her father’s money at the end of each orange season. Even Lili admits herself that when she does not have money, she will come to Greta to ask for some and Greta never says no; “If he found none, sometimes Lili would run to Greta, who with Lili only seemed to know the word ‘yes’ and ‘more’(p.111).” Based on Lili’s thought, it is clear that Greta has always been generous toward Lili. Greta’s generosity is also a part of her contribution toward Lili’s transition. It is because Lili now has the chance to have the surgery with
Greta’s allowance. In the novel, it is stated that Lili has to undergo a lot of procedures and she has to stay in the clinic for weeks. Logically, it does not take a little amount of money to cover all the surgery expanses. Without Greta, Lili does not have family or someone that can support them, in other words, it is impossible for Lili to have the
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transition if only Greta does not present in her life. Greta’s financial contribution even goes before she pay for Lili’s transition. Lili’s needs such as wardrobes, perfumes are also covered by Greta, which is also tangible in her discovery process of her desire, just like what is explained earlier. Therefore, it can be concluded that
Greta has a huge amount of influence in Lili’s transition, either in psychologically even practically.
C. Reasons behind Greta’s Contribution to Lili’s transition
The first and second problem formulations have explained the significance of
Greta in Lili’s transition, including the reasons why she is so important to Lili’s life.
Both of the problems then lead to the final question as to why Greta is that willing to help Lili, because helping her to have the transition is not easy. In fact Greta has to sacrifice a lot of things so that Lili can finally have her surgery. While analyzing the novel, the researcher used the theory of altruistic motivation, the theory of character and characterization and finally the theory of love to discover the reasons behind
Greta’s compassion toward Lili. By using the theory, the researcher concludes that the reasons behind Greta’s compassion are her personalities and her love towards Lili.
However, before jumping to Greta’s motivation behind her act of kindness, it is important to differentiate Greta’s altruistic motivation with other motivations. It is essential to clarify the misunderstanding existed that motivation is all about selfish
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needs. In order to prove that Greta’s intention is truly altruistic, the researcher used the characteristic of altruism to begin the analysis.
Based on Bertal (1985) theory of altruism, an act can be categorized as altruistic if they fit five criteria;
Must Benefit Another Person
Throughout the story, Greta has been showing the signs that she does not help
Lili for the sake of herself but Lili. She genuinely concerns about Lili and constantly seeks ways to help her. The first sign can be noticed when she asks Lili if she wants to go out as a woman for the very first time. Greta asks Lili for she thinks that that is what Lili wants, “One night at the theatre, she gently asked, ‘Would you like to go as
Lili?’ She asked because she guessed it was what Einar wanted. He rarely confessed anything to her unless she prodded,…(p.27).” It shows that she cares about Lili’s needs and always has the interest to fulfill them. She is already satisfied when she can give what Lili actually wants. In addition, when it comes to Lili’s transition, Greta always tries to find treatments that can change her into the woman that she is longing to be. Reflecting back to Lili’s personality that always requires Greta assistance in doing something, Greta’s presence really gives benefits toward Lili. In exchange,
Greta does not get anything from Lili, except the feeling of satisfaction that she is able to help her.
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Must be performed voluntarily
Another thing that can prove Greta’s altruistic motive is her willingness to help Lili. She helps Lili without having any external influence to convince her to do so. In fact, she even goes against her selfish needs to keep Lili as a man and in the end decides to help her to have the transition. It can be seen from her ways in treating
Lili. Additionally, when it comes to Lili’s treatment, she also never complains about anything;
“He thought of the nausea during last year; walking in the sunlight of the apartment with stomach that felt as if it had just the night before succumbed to Hexler’s X-ray. And the pail with the bent handle he had begun keeping at the side of his bed, which Greta would empty in the morning with never a word of complaint or pity, only a long hand gently on his forehead. (p.195)”. Looking at Lili and Greta’s environment, it is also almost impossible for
Greta to be forced to help Lili. With society’s stigma about LBGTQ people, Greta can only rely on her own moral judgment whether or not to help Lili. Succumbing to society’s moral values means Greta would do the opposite way. However, she trusts
Lili and helps her to do the transition, meaning to say that all her decisions including her acts towards Lili is based purely on herself, voluntarily, even if it means she might have the chance of losing a lot of money and valuable time.
Must be performed intentionally
It is pretty clear that Greta has all the intention to help Lili to undergo her transition. It can be seen from the way that Greta always makes sure that Lili has her
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needs fulfilled without having any external forces to force her. She always wants the best for Lili and she will make sure that Lili gets all the help. For example, in a way that she intentionally seeks for doctors that can help Lili in solving her identity crisis.
When the first doctor only hurts Lili, she purposely changes the doctor and looks for a new one so that Lili can be more comfortable. In other words, all the thing she does for Lili are with the intention to make Lili gets out of her misery. She conducts all of the things always with Lili in mind.
The benefit must be the goal of itself
In order to prove whether the benefit is the goal of itself, it is a must to understand Greta’s main goal. Throughout the story, Greta actions lead up to the final result which is the success of Lili’s transition to become a woman. In the end of the story, Greta is relieved when Lili has done the surgery and become a woman biologically. It is the time where Greta finds the ultimate satisfaction. How she shows that Lili’s well-being is her number one priority is by constantly checking on how she feels about the treatments that she has undergone. It is to make sure that her action really benefits Lili; “..No, you are right. How do you feel Lili? Tell me, how do you feel today? (p.218).” Greta’s concern shows that Lili’s feeling is her primary thing to look up to, and it is her goal to make her feel alright. Therefore, it can be concluded that Greta’s main goal is so that Lili can have the surgery and feel good about herself.
In other words, helping Lili to change into who she wants to be itself is the benefit that Greta can get and at the same time it is the goal that Greta wants to achieve.
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Must be performed without expecting any external rewards.
The next thing which shows that Greta’s intention is truly altruistic is the fact that she does not require any rewards from Lili. If in the end Greta has the intention to gain any rewards, it does not become an altruistic motive anymore. If anything,
Greta always wishes the best for Lili. The story even closes with Greta letting go of
Lili so that she can be with her lover, Henrik, and to live her own independent life, although she still has the feeling that she still wants to be with Lili. It can be seen through her dialogue with Hans, when Hans says that Lili might want to have the life of her own, meaning that she does not want to be in the shadow of Greta anymore. In response, Greta agrees and understand that it is bound to happen and she feels alright about it; “ ‘She needs to lead her own life’, Hans said one day. ‘She should get out on her own and make her own friends.’ ‘I’m not stopping her from doing that’. Greta had run into him at the entrance of the royal academy of Arts under the arch. (p.226)” It can be seen through the dialogue, that rather than forces Lili to pay her back or stays with her like how it was used to be, Greta instead hopes that with her help, Lili can have her own happy life. She does not need any external rewards from helping Lili, which shows that her act is truly an altruistic one.
Based on the explanation earlier it can be seen now that Greta’s help is actually altruistic. After proving Greta’s altruism, the next thing that the researcher does is to give understanding as to why the altruistic motivation can happen. As cited
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from Bertal (1985), some researchers suggest that altruistic act is done based on several reasons;
…altruistic act is done as a result of empathy, (e.g., Aronfreed, 1970; Cohen, 1972; Hoffman, 1981). Bartal (1982) suggested that a real altruistic act is a result of conviction in justice and/or caring for the well-being of the individual in need (p.6)
From the explanation above, it can be understood that some factors drive the altruistic act to happen. When it comes to Greta, it is clear that empathy and the caring for the well-being are the ultimate reason why she performs altruistic act to
Lili. Her empathy toward Lili is portrayed on how she always tries to help Lili whenever she can, thus Lili gets what she needs. In this case, Lili needs someone to understand her misery, that she feels miserable to be trapped inside a wrong body.
Greta comprehends her needs and gives her the helping hand so that Lili can have the transition. Knowing that Lili feels miserable the whole time does not only make Greta sympathize with her, but in an extent, she seeks for ways so to make Lili’s life better.
Greta’s help is not limited in showing empathy but also shows that she cares about the well-being of Lili, which also becomes another factor to drive her altruistic act.
After knowing the factors behind Greta’s altruism, another question raises, that is what creates the empathy and the feeling of care towards Lili’s well-being. The researcher concluded that the factors behind her altruism are caused by her character/personalities and also her love towards Lili.
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1. Greta’s Personality
The researcher argues that personalities contribute toward her altruistic act because it was mentioned in the theory of altruistic motivation before that self-reward is one of the reasons why altruism is performed. By using the justification, arguably, by performing an act that can fulfill the desire made by one’s character/personality, it can give a sense of self-satisfaction toward the person performing the act of altruism.
a. Loyal
Greta’s first personality that contributes to her compassion towards Lili is her loyal character. It was mentioned several times that Greta has a great sense of devotion towards her lovers, including her former husband, Teddy Cross, and this great sense of devotion that makes her feeling responsible to take care of Lili.
Especially for Lili in fact, Greta has been in love with her since the first time they both met, and still thinking of her even when she is married to Teddy Cross. It proves that her feelings for Lili never changes and Greta stays loyal to regardless of the difference of time and space. Another way to prove her loyalty for instance can be seen from the very beginning of Lili’s exploration towards womanhood, it is Greta who always helps her to dress up, it is done with the belief that she has to make Lili, her marriage partner at that time, feel happy;
She would stand Lili in front of the mirror and whisper and whisper, her voice the soft intimate voice of wedlock, ‘There now…so very pretty.’ All of this Greta did with a sense of devotion, for she always believed she could defy anyone in the world except her husband. It had been the same with Teddy. (p.70)
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Another example is when Lili falls sick, Greta makes sure that Lili gets the treatments that she needs;
No, she had first telephoned Hexler,from the little booth atht he post office, because she knew she had to do something for Einar. Wasn’t it her responsibility to make sure he got the proper attention? Greta thought of the blood bursting from Einar’s nose, seeping through the lap of Lili’s dress.(p.104) The sense of devotion in her character creates the feeling of empathy and the urgency to take care of Lili when there is something wrong happening to her. In fact, her loyal personality that makes her able to tolerate all the sacrifices that she has to make in order to support Lili. It also might affect her moral judgment in making the decision whether to help Lili or not. In the end, she feels like she has to help and tolerate the sacrifices because that is the right thing to do when she is in love with her. In contrast, not having the sense of great devotion towards Lili may result in
Greta leaving Lili when she knows that there is a chance for Lili to abandon her after she becomes a woman. However, the feeling of loyalty toward Lili as her lover, prevents her to do so and instead pulls her to sticks with Lili and helps her through out the process of Lili’s transition. Fulfilling the feeling of loyalty is believed to give the satisfaction that Greta seeks and that is why the act of altruism happens.
b. Understanding
Understanding is another Greta’s personality that drives the feeling of empathy towards Lili. Understanding in this context means that she takes time to comprehend Lili’s needs and tries to help her when she knows that Lili is not able to
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to do it by herself. Greta’s understanding character can be seen firstly when she tries to guess what Lili wants when she cannot say it explicitly. As it is known before, Lili never states what she wants directly, instead, she would implies her needs in her speech, her gestures, and she even stays quiet about it sometimes. Therefore, it is important for Greta with her character to actively dig what Lili really wants and look for ways to help her fulfill the needs. Greta’s character can be seen through her dialogue with Lili when she is acting careful to guess what Lili needs, because she does not want to hurt Lili, or even worse, makes Lili hide her true feelings. For instance, at the beginning part of the story, somehow she can sense something about
Lili and her desire. Greta asks whether Lili wants to try on a dress when Greta pleads
Lili to be her painting model. However, after a while Greta can tell that Lili has not felt comfortable with it, therefore she does not asks for more and says sorry.
Does that mean you don’t want to try on her dress? When she said the word dress his stomach filled with heat, followed by a clot of shame rising in his chest. “No, I don’t think so,” Einar said. “Not even for a few minutes?” she asked. “I need to paint the hem against her knees.” Greta was sitting on the rope-bottom chair beside him, stroking Einar’s calf through silk. Her hand was hypnotic, its touch telling him to close his eyes. He could hear nothing but the little rough scratch of her fingernail against the silk. But the Greta stopped. “No, I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have asked.(p.14). By using the earlier instance, it can be understood that Greta tries to comprehend Lili. She makes efforts in understanding the boundaries of things to do or should not do in order to please her. Greta also tries to comprehend what are the right ways to help her by observing Lili through her behaviors and speeches. This particular character creates the need that she has to help Lili because she is the one
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who already follows Lili’s journey from the beginning. She knows every single detail about Lili and naturally, her personality induces the feeling of empathy and care of
Lili’s well-being. The feeling enables her to have the sense of responsibility to take care of Lili and can only be satisfied when she can directly help her. Thus in the end,
Greta perform the altruistic act.
c. Patient
The last characteristic of Greta that drives her altruism is her high patience especially to Lili. This patient personality sort of complements her character that is understanding. Arguably, the understanding character cannot create the feeling of empathy and the care of one’s well-being without the existence of patience. Without patience, Greta might understand what Lili needs but considering the amount of things that she has to sacrifice, such as time, money, energy and many more, it will be hard to keep up and cover with Lili needs including her transition. Greta has to have a high patience in able to be considerate towards Lili’s transition process and keeps her accompanied. One example that shows Greta’s patience toward Lili is how she never says a word about Lili when she is sick or when she has to take care of her through her surgery. One example is when Lili falls ill and has to be cared of;
He thought of the nausea during last year; walking in the sunlight of the apartment with stomach that felt as if it had just the night before succumbed to Hexler’s X-ray. And the pail with the bent handle he had begun keeping at the side of his bed, which Greta would empty in the morning with never a word of complaint or pity, only a long hand gently on his forehead. (p.195).
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Greta’s patience enables her to be compassionate towards Lili and that characteristic is the one that creates the urgency of an altruistic act to be performed.
In contrast, without the sense of patience, Greta would demand for some external rewards to compensate the loss of time and energy. With the existence of understanding and patient characters, Greta can finally execute altruistic act.
2. Greta’s Love towards Lili
The second factor which bases Greta’s willingness to help Lili is her love towards her. It is stated several times in the novel that Greta’s feeling has influenced how she behaves when it comes to the person she loves, and at that time it is Lili.
Greta is eager to do anything as long as it can make the person that she falls in love with happy. One of example is when Greta explicitly tells the reader how she feels about Lili;
All of this Greta did with a sense of devotion, for she always believed she could defy anyone in the world except her husband. It had been the same with Teddy. She could cross her mother and argue with her father and snub all of Pasadena and Copenhagen alike, but in her chest was a bottomless well of tolerance for the man she loved. She never questioned it, why she allowed Lili to come into their lives. Anything to make Einar happy, she would tell herself. Anything at all. (p.70) It is pretty clear now that Greta’s love is one of the factors that contribute to her tolerance for Lili and motivates Greta to help her transition. However, there is no explicit statement that says what exactly the kind of love that Greta has for Lili.
Knowing the type of love that Greta has toward Lili can actually help to identify the motive behind Greta’s contribution to Lili’s transition, because each type of love has
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its own goal. After analyzing Greta, the researcher finds out that Greta has two kinds of love toward Lili. The first one is erotic love and the second one is motherly love.
The researcher argues that the one which motivates Greta the most to help Lili is the motherly love. However, the motherly is not strongly performed at the beginning of their marriage. The one that is commonly performed at the beginning is the erotic love. Nevertheless, the erotic love then slowly shifts to motherly love throughout the time, along with Lili’s decision to undergo the transition.
It is stated before by Fromm (1956), that erotic love is the type of love that unites two people on the base of sexual relationship.“...erotic love: the craving for complete fusion, for union with one other person. For erotic love, intimacy is established primarily through sexual contact.” (p.54) Meaning to say that Greta marries Lili firstly because of her lust for her. In other words, her compassion toward
Lili also arises from her sexual needs. She tolerates Lili so that Lili can fulfill her sexual needs in return. That is the time when Greta lets Lili to explore woman hood in the beginning. Greta’s lust for Lili when she is still a man can be seen through her thoughts and behaviors. For instance when Greta initiates a sexual intercourse to Lili;
She would hold him through the night, waking up like that, with her arm over his chest. Their eyes would meet in the quiet morning. Often she would long to touch him, and as her hand began to stroke first his chest and then his thigh, Einar would rub his fist in his eyes and leap out of bed. “Is there anything wrong? Greta would call, still wrapped in the bedclothes. ‘Not a thing,’he’d reply, running the water in the bath. ‘nothing at all’.(p.76)
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Another example to prove that sexual relationship is still important for Greta is how she tells her painting model about her sex life with Lili, and that she has longer and longer interval of intimacy with her.
She’d tell her female subjects – as Einar once overheard upon returning to their apartment’s door at the top of the dark stairs about their longer and longer intervals between intimacy: ‘He takes it so very personally. But I never blame him,’ she’d say (p13). From the explanation above it can be understood that in the early life of their marriage, Greta still has erotic love as her strong base to behave around Lili.
However, it is not erotic love that becomes the foundation of her biggest contribution to Lili’s transition. It is the motherly love. The argument of motherly love arises because there is a sign of mother-child relationship told in the novel. Sometimes, Lili would see Greta as her mother, while sometimes Greta would see Lili as her child that needs to be protected. For example at that time Lili is sick, Greta would worry about her like a mother would worry about her child, “…But about a month after, her nose began to bleed again, a couple of warm red bursts over the course of three days in July. Einar said it was nothing, but Greta worried, like a mother watching a son’s early cough.(p.59)” Another prove is that when Greta always pays for Lili’s needs like a mother would do to their child, “..they had eaten breakfast together in silk kimonos patterned with cranes, and shopped for stockings together, Greta always paying like a mother or an odd, barren aunt. (p.76)” These scenes suggest that mother-child relationship exist in their relationship.
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Before jumping to the explanations, it is important to be reminded about what is motherly love. Based on Fromm’s explanation, it might seem that it is a little bit sexist to say that motherly love is only possessed by women. However, the time that the theory is published might contribute to the sexist sense that it has. Nowadays, people are more aware that some psychological traits are not limited by sex and gender. Nonetheless, the theory is still used because it can actually explain Greta’s type of love towards Lili. According to Fromm (1956), motherly love is
“unconditional affirmation of the child’s life and his needs.(p.49)” Fromm argues that motherly love is the love that finds satisfaction through their children. He characterizes motherly love as one of the purest love, meaning to say that the love does not really require a feedback. It is for the altruistic, unselfish character. Based on
Fromm’s explanation, the thing that makes motherly love different from erotic love is the non-existence of sexual relations. Motherly love bases itself by the care of one being, and Greta fits the criteria of having the motherly love towards Lili. When talking about the shifting of erotic love to motherly love, it is important to notice the sexual activity, whether it exists or not. Based on the analysis earlier, after a while,
Greta does not demand or talk about sexual intercourse anymore, rather she talks about wanting to make Lili feels happy about her transition, so that she can be her true self. One of the proofs can be seen from Greta’s letter to Lili;
…I hope you are comfortable. That’s what worries me the most. I wish you had let me come with you but I understand. Some things you must do alone. Lili don’t you just sometimes stop and think about what it will be like when it’s all over? The freedom! That’s how I think of it. Is that how
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you think of it? I hope so. I hope you think of it that way because that is what it should feel to you. It does to me. (p.202) In the letter it is implied that Greta feels content when Lili can have her freedom after transitioning to a woman, just like how she would dream about. Greta already feels satisfied when she can care about her Lili and fulfill Lili’s needs. It shows that motherly love already takes place in contributing towards Greta’s decision to help Lili and erotic love does not exists anymore. Moreover, the letter also suggests another characteristic of motherly love, which is wishing one’s freedom. A mother would feel like she is a good mother when she can make her child be independent from her just like Fromm’s theory;
The very essence of motherly love is to care for the child’s growth, and that means to want the child’s separation from herself. The mother must not only tolerate, she must wish and support the child’s separation. (1965, p.51) Using Fromm’s theory, motherly love is altruistic because it only wishes for their children’s contentment so it can make them content too. In the novel, that is also what Greta wishes for Lili. Afterwards, she even lets Lili to build her own life with her new lover, Henrik Sandahl because Lili already falls in love with him.
Now, it can be seen that Greta’s love can be categorized as a motherly love.
However, there still one question remains. How can Greta feel a motherly love when she and Lili are not even related biologically to each other? The question can be answered by using Fromm’s theory of motherly love. In his book, Fromm stated that
“the attitude of motherly love is partly rooted in an instinctive equipment to be found in animals as well as the human female.(p.50)” From that theory, it can be inferred
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that without having a biological relation, one can still feel motherly love toward one another because the motherly feeling is naturally a part of human instinct. In other words, Greta’s motherly feeling is always there from the beginning and it just needs a trigger to come out. According to Fromm, the motherly love can be induced as long
“as the infant is small and completely dependent on them” (p.50) The statement shows that in order to trigger Greta’s motherly love to come out, an infant must exist first. In this case, the researcher can conclude that the infant is actually Lili.
Biologically, Lili is not an infant but an adult. However when she is seen metaphorically, she can be categorized as an infant or a growing child. It is because, when becoming Lili, she was born into a new person and established a new separate entity from Einar Wegener. Lili is like a small girl learning to be a woman because she is just born into the world. Moreover, it was explained before about Lili’s personalities that are immature and dependent. Her personalities are similar to the characteristics of an infant as mentioned by Fromm earlier. Therefore, it can be understood where Greta’s motherly feeling can feel so strong toward Lili.
The reason why the motherly love exists might be also traced back when
Greta has not married to Lili, but to Teddy. Greta was actually pregnant with Teddy’s child but unfortunately she has to lose the baby due to her sickness. She names the baby, Carlisle. “Greta and Teddy had buried baby Carlisle in the Bakersfield strawberry fields and, Mrs. Waud stressed by the way she anxiously played with her rings, a bit scared. (p167)”. In compensation to her loss, she then treats Lili like she is
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her child. But why then, Greta has a strong will to compensate her loss with treating
Lili nicely? It is because according to Fromm, one of the psychological factors behind motherly love is the need of transcending.
The need for transcendence is one of the most basic needs of man, rooted in the fact of his self awareness, in the fact that he is not satisfied with the role of creator, that he cannot accept himself as dice thrown out of the cup. He needs to feel as the creator, as one transcending the passive role of being created. There are many ways of achieving this satisfaction of creation; the most natural one also the easiest one to achieve is the mother’s care and love for her creation. She transcends herself in the infant, her love for it gives meaning and significance. (In the very inability of the male to satisfy his need to transcendence by bearing children, lies his urge to transcend himself by the creation of man-made things and of ideas.) (p.51)
However, the fact that she does not have someone to transcend herself into, while at the same time having the desire to transcend herself makes her seek for another alternative. Fromm stated before that men who do not have the capability to bear children will compensate themselves by making things and ideas. In this case, it proves that Greta, who is unable to transcend to her dead child also look for substitutes in order to channel her desire to transcend. Therefore, she uses Lili to channel her desire, which comes out in the form of mother’s care and love, which is the easiest way to achieve the satisfaction of creation. From that, it can be understood where Greta’s motherly can come from.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
This research aims to know Greta Wegener’s contribution to Lili Elbe’s transition and her motivation to help Lili. In this chapter the researcher concludes the discussion by answering three problem formulations. First, to find out Greta’s contribution, the researcher analyzes Lili’s condition before Greta is present in her life, thus Greta’s influence can be seen. Secondly, the researcher analyses Greta’s influence that directly contributes to Lili’s transition process. Lastly, the researcher finds the reasons behind Greta’s willingness in helping Lili.
In regards of the first problem formulation, the researcher answers the question by providing two points. The first point is, before the presence of Greta in
Lili’s life, Lili who was once still a man, is unable to experience the process of transition to become a woman, because she does not have any courage and flexibility in realizing her desire. Lili’s discouragement and inflexibility to experience her desire comes from her past and also inherent characteristics. Lili’s past parents and her environment shapes her moral judgment in knowing what is right and wrong. Being taught that her desire to be as woman is morally wrong encourages Lili to abandon her desire. On top of that, her traditional environment limits her chance to explore her non-traditional desire which creates inflexibility in realizing her dream. Lili’s inherent characteristics, such as self-conscious, immature and dependent also
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contribute toward the inability because she unconsciously creates the condition herself. The second point to answer the first problem formulation is that the fact she only sees her “true” identity as a role play. It is dangerous towards the realization of her transition because then she does not make any effort to make it happen while at the same time her desires are evolving, and dressing as a woman cannot cover them, it sort of holding her back from the ultimate satisfaction in becoming her correct identity. Moreover, it also prevents her to believe that it is her true self for she always sees her woman self as an “abnormal” way to escape from reality, while her man self as the normal one.
The second problem formulation which discusses Greta’s contribution directly correlates to the first problem formulation by explaining the ways how she helps Lili.
There are three main contributions that Greta gives, first of all she encourages Lili to explore her desire. She does it by reminding her of the open options that she has got, that it is okay to dress like a woman which slowly changes her moral judgment of what is wrong right shaped by her past before. Moreover, she gives Lili flexibility to explore womanhood, something that Lili is unable to do in her childhood. Secondly, she treats Lili like a woman which is critical to boost her confidence. Because of
Greta she can have the faith that eventhough she is (at that time) a man, she still can be a real woman. Lastly, she constantly supports Lili psychologically and practically.
Psychologically, she helps Lili by convincing her that her desire is real and it is worth to be pursued while practically she helps Lili finding the right treatments that she
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needed and support her financially which also enables Lili’s exploration of womanhood to happen.
The third problem formulation answers question about Greta’s motivations behind her act of help. The researcher finds out that Greta’s help is categorized as an altruistic act for it does not ask for any external rewards and solely done for the benefit of Lili, thus the motivation for the help is also called altruistic motivation.
Greta’s altruistic motivations are influenced by her inherent characteristics that are loyal, understanding and patient. Instead of asking for external reward, Greta helps
Lili for fulfilling her desire created by her personality, in other words she seeks for only internal reward. Lastly, her love for Lili is alo the motivation behind her act.
Shifting from erotic to motherly love, Greta’s motivation to help Lili also changes from sexual interaction to the satisfaction for Lili’s happiness. Greta’s motherly love motivates her to help Lili despite sacrificing a lot of things including her marriage, time and money.
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REFERENCES
Abrams, M.H. (1985). A Glossary of Literary Term, Sixth Edition. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovalovich, College Publisher. Arp, T.R., & Johnson, G. (2012). Perrine’s Story and and Structure, Thirteenth Edition. Boston: Wadsworth. Bartal, Daniel. (1985). Altruistic Motivation to Help : Definition, Utility, and Operationalizational. Retrieved on March, 5 2018, from http://www.jstor.org./stable/23262656 Benjamin, Harry. M.D. (1999). The Transsexual Phenomenon. Dusseldorf: Symposium Publishing. Bertens, Hans. (2008). Literary Theory : The Basics, Second Edition. New York: Routledge Bowker, Julie C & Rubin, H Kenneth. (2009). Self-consciousness, Friendship Quality, and Adolescent Internalizing Problems. Retrieved on March, 5 2018 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3733215/ Daiches, David. (1981). Critical Approaches to Literature. New York: Longman Dessensia, Natalia Sisca. (2017). Gender and Sexual Dilemma as Seen Through the Character of Einar Wegener in David Ebershoff’s the Danish Girl (Undergraduate Thesis). Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta. Dewi, Catur Utami. (1997). Parent’s Role, Its Contribution in Kim’s Identifying Self in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim (Undergraduate Thesis). Universitas Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta. Ebershoff, David. (2015). The Danish Girl [Adobe Reader Version]. Retrieved from https://www.booksbeyond.co.id Fromm,Erich. (1956). The Art of Loving. New York: Harper & Brothers. Kennedy, X.J.,& Gioia, D. (2010). An Introduction to Fiction, Eleventh Edition. Boston: Longman. Lorenz, Annalena. (2016). The Danish Girl (2015) and the De/Construction of Gender Identity. Retrieved 3 Marc, 2018, from: http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1423/the- danish-girl-2015-and-the- deconstruction-of-identity
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Lutz, David. J, Howard B Roback & Maureen Hart. (1984). Feminine Gender Identity and Psychological Adjustment of Male Transsexuals and Male Homosexuals. Retrieved on March,5 2018 from http://.jstor.org./stable/3812192 Murphy, M.J. (1972). Understanding Unseens : an Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students. London: George Allen & Unwin. Pikunas, Justin & Albrecht, Eugene J (1961). Psychology of Human Development. New York: McGraw Hill Raypole, Crystal. (2016). What does it Mean for a Transgender Person to Transition. Retrieved on March 3 2018, from : https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/what- does-it-mean-for- transgender- person-to-transition-0629167 Rohrberger, M.,& Woods, S.H. (2010). Reading and Writing about Literature. New York: Random House. Tyson, Louis. (2012). Using Critical Theory : How to Read and Write about Literature. London: Routledge Wheeler, D.L.K. (n.d). Literary Terms and Definitions. Retrieved on May 3, 2018, from http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_A.html. Worchel, Stephen & Shebilske, Wayne (1989). Psychology : Principles and Application. New Jersey: 1989
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APPENDIX
Set in Denmark, The Danish Girl tells a story about the life of a married couple Einar and Greta Wegener. Einar is raised in Denmark alongside his bestfriend,
Hans, while Greta is raised in California with her twin brother, Carlisle. Eventually,
Greta moved to Denmark with her family and then first met Einar in the Royal
Academy. At that time, Greta is Einar’s painting student. Ever since Greta met Einar, she already falls in love with him. However, they have to be separated because of the
World War I. During the separation, Greta is married to another man named Teddy
Cross and had a child together. Unfortunately, the child dies at birth and soon Teddy also dies of tuberculosis.
After a while, the World War I has ended. Greta then comes back to Denmark and marries Einar. They both work as painters. Greta usually draws portraits of famous people while Einar draws mostly landscapes of Bluetooth. One day, Anna,
Greta’s painting model cannot come due to her busy schedule. In results, Greta asks
Einar to model for her by using Anna’s clothes. Greta decides to name Einar in
Anna’s dress, Lili.
After sometimes, the couple is invited to an Annual Artists’ Ball. Greta convinces Einar to dress up as Lili. Einar, who dresses up as Lili, meets a painter named Henrik Sandahl and develops feeling for him. They start a relationship later
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but soon have to go to separate ways. But since the ball, Einar regularly dresses up as
Lili.
Einar then begin to fall sick more often, the constant nosebleed and stomachaches worries Greta that she makes him an appointment with Dr.Hexler. However, Dr.
Hexler finds out about Einar and his new habit of dressing up as Lili. He strongly encourages Einar to stop wearing woman’s clothes even offer an X-ray treatment to end his habit. Einar accepts but only for a while.
Meanwhile, Greta starts to paint Lili more often. Greta’s painting of Lili becomes very popular that she is offered to have her own gallery in France. Greta then brings Einar along to France, where they both meet Hans, Einar’s childhood friend. When meeting for the very first time, Hans does not recognize Lili as Einar.
Because Einar’s identity crisis is worsen, Greta’s twin brother decides to help
Lili to find a doctor after Greta tells him about Einar. Gerda, meanwhile, meets dr.
Alfred Bolk. Bolk actually can help Einar become Lili fully. After agreeing to the procedure of surgery in Dresden, Einar then undergoes the biological transition, by removing his testicles. Dr. Bolk actually explains that Einar has an underdeveloped ovaries inside his body which suggests that Einar is supposed to be born as a woman.
After recovering from surgery, finally Einar is able to become Lili fully. Lili then rekindles her relationship with Henrik back in Denmark, when Henrik porposes to
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her. Meanwhile, Greta and Hans falls in love with each other. Hans, asks Greta to moves back to America.
At the end of the story, Lili decides to undergo another surgery so that she can have a baby. Greta refuses going to Dresden to accompany Lili because she is afraid that the surgery is too dangerous. She disapproves the surgery to happen. However,
Carlisle agrees to accompany Lili. It is told that after the surgery, there is a growing infection inside Lili’s uterus but it is not stated whether Lili survives.