Bioshock Infinite's lead female Elizabeth difficult to pin down. Lamb, bastard, specimen, and daughter are all charicatures imposed on the young woman's body. As these layers are stripped away the Elizabeth who sits at the core is a confused, intelligent and sensitive with little self-consciousness or idea of who she might be. For my part, the most engaging aspect of the game was watching her unravel the stories that have been created about her whilst she was in isolation.
The game introduces Elizabeth as lamb in the tower, a miracle birth, protected and pacified so as not to be led astray. Zachary Comstock's prophecies construct this identity for Elizabeth, and thus once Booker arrives he has already been inserted into the propaganda. For the player, shrugging of his prophecy as ravings is made impossible by our presence, since we fulfil it. Each step we take towards monument tower strengthens the myths and thus our action intensifies the characterisation of Elizabeth as a meek and mild victim. As such Booker and Comstock equally substantiate this version of the lamb trapped in her tower through their actions.
Once one reaches the tower which houses "the lamb" and uncovers a deserted laboratory, it's clear that the myths of Elizabeth's weakness have been greatly exaggerated. Instead a device known as the siphon has been put in place to control Elizabeth's ability to produce splits in time and space. On the approach the "specimen's" rooms, we are taken on a tour of the space which reveals that not only is she considered to be unsafe but that a change occurred at "Menarche". Looking around the laboratory and finding the dentist's chair, the images and the burned out voxophones it becomes clear that hers is a body that no corset will contain. Since Elizabeth's powers to create splits or "tears" are connected to the point at which she reaches puberty, the game becomes an allegory for the treatment of female bodies in the period. Elizabeth's action is tempered by the siphon and as such she cannot easily control what she might produce. She can't for example easily transport herself to Paris, and escape the clutches of the men (her fathers); Comstock and DeWitt who seek to control her, albeit in very different ways.
Comstock's means of controlling Elizabeth is not limited to the siphon but relies on ideological rhetoric and the eventual torture and invasion of his daughter. The various voxophones from the hospital section are the most brutal to be found as they show Elizabeth's descent into the role that Comstock has laid out for her. As you wander through the hospital you hear her voice preaching, and discover the audio diary of the doctor who was tasked to bring her to heel, Harrison Powell. So the body and identity has been controlled, but Elizabeth, her voice cracked with age suggests that she too had been afraid to assert herself. Forging for herself a true path was impossible without Booker, because each other person she meets shapes that encounter by imposing their idealised version of her onto her body. For Lutece, "the girl" is an anomaly; for Comstock a future; for Lady Comstock, a bastard and so on ad infinitum. Only Booker DeWitt allows her to be complicated (and that is the direct result of amnesia). With him, and without the baggage of Columbia, Elizabeth develops and asserts her personality. Without him, she drowns the world in Comstock's apocalyptic flame.
For Ken Levine, lead designer of the project Elizabeth is the centre and "pillar" of the game and "she is complicated." When he says this though he's not referring simply to the how she is written, or really to how the game consistently complicates her character by having a different full formed charicature impose itself upon her. Instead he is describing the task of creating an AI character that would engage players emotionally. He wanted us to "like" Elizabeth, and she ingratiates herself upon us by engaging with the world, finding new objects and using tears to fulfil Booker's wishes. It is not only in cut scenes that Elizabeth grows, she is not a burden who undergoes a sudden transformation from pacified princess to active soldier. Instead her involvement grows steadily.
Nor does Elizabeth continue to react to situations in the same way. AI Elizabeth exhibits a particular emotion at any given time. As the story grows and develops, her emotional spectrum extends to reveal her frustrations and anger at DeWitt as he trails through Columbia murdering almost every soul he comes across, seemingly for the sake of using her as a bargaining chip. She creates her own identity not by showing the player a clear-cut transformation but by her constant growth, engagement and involvement within the game. During a sequence with the ghost of Lady Comstock, Elizabeth shouts:
Her fight is against the ideologies of Columbia. Elizabeth has been locked in two cages, the tower, and the cages that tell her who she is, and how she ought to behave.
In many ways the developers have explored Elizabeth's growth from passive child to fledgling powerhouse with surprising innovation. But the transitions have not been perfect and as Elizabeth's agency grows, the gameplay struggles to keep up. So despite having taken the agency to murder Daisy Fitzroy, Elizabeth continues to take a passive role in combat. Likewise when Elizabeth is released from torture by Booker, she unleashes a tornado. But these large scale moments never appear in the remaining combat.
These limitations mean that the only place we see her reach her "final form" is in the cut scene where she tears reality and drowns songbird. Now, Booker cannot control her, she runs ahead, into infinity. The siphon which controlled Elizabeth's ability to make tears created the narrowness necessary to produce a linear shooter. It allowed Booker to be protagonist by limiting Elizabeth's power. Thus the narrative of the game relies on her oppression. In that closing moment when she asks, "are you afraid of God?" he replies "no... but I'm afraid of you." His fear, both as Booker and as Comstock is of the empowered woman and his subsequent lack of control. Elizabeth unleashed means that Booker is pacified. He must follow her into infinity, into his past and back to the baptism where it all began.
The game introduces Elizabeth as lamb in the tower, a miracle birth, protected and pacified so as not to be led astray. Zachary Comstock's prophecies construct this identity for Elizabeth, and thus once Booker arrives he has already been inserted into the propaganda. For the player, shrugging of his prophecy as ravings is made impossible by our presence, since we fulfil it. Each step we take towards monument tower strengthens the myths and thus our action intensifies the characterisation of Elizabeth as a meek and mild victim. As such Booker and Comstock equally substantiate this version of the lamb trapped in her tower through their actions.
 |
| Periods are really dangerous. |
Two Too Many Fathers
Once one reaches the tower which houses "the lamb" and uncovers a deserted laboratory, it's clear that the myths of Elizabeth's weakness have been greatly exaggerated. Instead a device known as the siphon has been put in place to control Elizabeth's ability to produce splits in time and space. On the approach the "specimen's" rooms, we are taken on a tour of the space which reveals that not only is she considered to be unsafe but that a change occurred at "Menarche". Looking around the laboratory and finding the dentist's chair, the images and the burned out voxophones it becomes clear that hers is a body that no corset will contain. Since Elizabeth's powers to create splits or "tears" are connected to the point at which she reaches puberty, the game becomes an allegory for the treatment of female bodies in the period. Elizabeth's action is tempered by the siphon and as such she cannot easily control what she might produce. She can't for example easily transport herself to Paris, and escape the clutches of the men (her fathers); Comstock and DeWitt who seek to control her, albeit in very different ways.The Lost Elizabeth - who drowns the world of men in flames.
Comstock's means of controlling Elizabeth is not limited to the siphon but relies on ideological rhetoric and the eventual torture and invasion of his daughter. The various voxophones from the hospital section are the most brutal to be found as they show Elizabeth's descent into the role that Comstock has laid out for her. As you wander through the hospital you hear her voice preaching, and discover the audio diary of the doctor who was tasked to bring her to heel, Harrison Powell. So the body and identity has been controlled, but Elizabeth, her voice cracked with age suggests that she too had been afraid to assert herself. Forging for herself a true path was impossible without Booker, because each other person she meets shapes that encounter by imposing their idealised version of her onto her body. For Lutece, "the girl" is an anomaly; for Comstock a future; for Lady Comstock, a bastard and so on ad infinitum. Only Booker DeWitt allows her to be complicated (and that is the direct result of amnesia). With him, and without the baggage of Columbia, Elizabeth develops and asserts her personality. Without him, she drowns the world in Comstock's apocalyptic flame.For Ken Levine, lead designer of the project Elizabeth is the centre and "pillar" of the game and "she is complicated." When he says this though he's not referring simply to the how she is written, or really to how the game consistently complicates her character by having a different full formed charicature impose itself upon her. Instead he is describing the task of creating an AI character that would engage players emotionally. He wanted us to "like" Elizabeth, and she ingratiates herself upon us by engaging with the world, finding new objects and using tears to fulfil Booker's wishes. It is not only in cut scenes that Elizabeth grows, she is not a burden who undergoes a sudden transformation from pacified princess to active soldier. Instead her involvement grows steadily.
Nor does Elizabeth continue to react to situations in the same way. AI Elizabeth exhibits a particular emotion at any given time. As the story grows and develops, her emotional spectrum extends to reveal her frustrations and anger at DeWitt as he trails through Columbia murdering almost every soul he comes across, seemingly for the sake of using her as a bargaining chip. She creates her own identity not by showing the player a clear-cut transformation but by her constant growth, engagement and involvement within the game. During a sequence with the ghost of Lady Comstock, Elizabeth shouts:
 |
| "I am not your husband's bastard. I am his victim. But my days of victimhood are done. We must forgive each other." |
In many ways the developers have explored Elizabeth's growth from passive child to fledgling powerhouse with surprising innovation. But the transitions have not been perfect and as Elizabeth's agency grows, the gameplay struggles to keep up. So despite having taken the agency to murder Daisy Fitzroy, Elizabeth continues to take a passive role in combat. Likewise when Elizabeth is released from torture by Booker, she unleashes a tornado. But these large scale moments never appear in the remaining combat.
These limitations mean that the only place we see her reach her "final form" is in the cut scene where she tears reality and drowns songbird. Now, Booker cannot control her, she runs ahead, into infinity. The siphon which controlled Elizabeth's ability to make tears created the narrowness necessary to produce a linear shooter. It allowed Booker to be protagonist by limiting Elizabeth's power. Thus the narrative of the game relies on her oppression. In that closing moment when she asks, "are you afraid of God?" he replies "no... but I'm afraid of you." His fear, both as Booker and as Comstock is of the empowered woman and his subsequent lack of control. Elizabeth unleashed means that Booker is pacified. He must follow her into infinity, into his past and back to the baptism where it all began. 
No comments:
Post a Comment