According to Jack Halberstam in his book The Queer Art of Failure, “the queer art of failure is based on the impossible, the improbable, the improbable, and the ordinary. He loses silently, and in losing he imagines other goals for life, for love, for art and for being". In David Ebershoff's The Denmark Girl, the protagonist Lili Elbe experiences the strange art of failure within her own body when the uterus implanted by Professor Bolk is rejected: a procedure considered impossible, improbable and improbable by many characters in the novel proved effective. be like this. Halberstam's chapter "Friend, Where's My Phallus?" identifies a phenomenon that could explain Lili's failed organ transplant: women cannot be the phallus, so the art portrays them rejecting the phallus (along with other organs). In this essay I intend to examine male force on the female body and the consequent repudiation of phallic power; in particular, the strength of the medically ambitious Professor Bolk in Ebershoff's The Danish Girl and Lili's experience with the rejection of her uterus and its forgetfulness. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although Lili's desire to be a "real woman" is evident throughout the novel, she falls victim to phallic force when the concept of bodily alterations is forced upon her by Professor Bolk, a doctor who has lost his first opportunity to turning a man into a woman and yearns for a second chance. Lili's desire to undergo the changes suggested by Professor Bolk is inspired and encouraged by other male characters in the novel such as Henrik, Hans, and Carlisle. Lili is intrigued by the idea of ​​surgically altering her genitals, but doesn't think about having a fully functioning female reproductive system until after her first surgery, when Professor Bolk discovers a pair of underdeveloped ovaries and tells her he can make them even better. stronger. of a woman. After the successful ovary transplant, Lili has no intention of going further, until Henrik proposes marriage and she feels the pressure to make herself fertile. Lili consequently plans to go to Dresden to see Professor Bolk for a final operation, in which she will "impregnate a man" with her medical knowledge (Ebershoff, 248). While Halberstam argues that in men stupidity is forgiven, intelligence is rewarded, and Professor Bolk wishes for his intelligence to be rewarded. In The Denmark Girl, Professor Bolk becomes the image of phallic power as he attempts to manipulate Lili's body (and her burning desire to be a woman) for his own medical success. If stupidity is the only way male characters can be vulnerable, as Halberstam argues, then the portrayal of mass intelligence is the only way they can be strong. Professor Bolk's desire for a successful career requires him to use his phallic power as a weapon and Lili, as a woman, is unfortunately the victim. While he plants ideas in her head and uses her as his medical experiment, Professor Bolk also imposes his masculinity on her, making her physically and mentally reject the phallus. Lili is aware of the failure of her uterus transplant after the operation, but she experiences significant physical and mental debilitation during this period, which is likely the female reaction to castration and the force of the phallus. After the operation, the narrator states that “for nearly six weeks she was unconscious, spitting in her sleep, bleeding between her legs and in her abdomen” (Ebershoff, 263). Lili then overhears her ex-brother-in-law, Carlisle, explaining to a family friend that despite the.