claim) is also the creation of an identity.28 Kunigunde creates a totality
out of numerous fragments. By using a breastplate, hair extensions (or a
wig) or false teeth she is manufacturing an identity for herself. The
identity she adopts is not a better or more enhanced representation of
herself, rather one that protects the real Kunigunde from the world. She
curls or rather does not curl her hair in order to elicit the greater
reaction from the male gaze. "Mich diinkt, Rosalie, diese Locken sind Zu
zierlich hier. Was meinst du? Es ist nicht Meine Wille, was die Kunst
kann, zu erschopfen. Vielmehr, wo die Bedeutung minder ist, Mogt' ich
dich gern nachlassiger, damit Das Ganze so vollendeter erschiene" (Kleist
310). Kunigunde, cognizant of beauty's power, plays with representation
and costumes herself to reflect the socially generated concept of gender.
Kunigunde threatens male hegemony merely through the
implementation of a female arsenal, namely her beauty. The standard
male judgment would be to condemn Kunigunde for using her beauty to
influence men. However, because of her gender her position within
society remains precarious, despite the nominal elevation her social
standing would grant her. Rather than merely accepting the insignificant
role allotted her sex, Kunigunde manipulates her own person into a
weapon that she in turn uses against the patriarchal order. As an
28 Lacan describes identity assumption as the creation of an identity, a point that seems very relevant to the
manner in which Kunigunde manipulates her form. He writes, "[It] manufactures for the subject, caught up
on the lure of spatial identification, the succession of fantasies that extends from a fragmented body-image
to a form of its totality that I shall call orthopaedic—and, lastly, to the assumption of the armour of an
alienating identity [...]" (Lacan).
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