Afemme fatale (/ˌfɛmfəˈtæl,-ˈtɑːl/FEM fə-TA(H)L,French:[famfatal];lit. 'fatal woman'), sometimes called amaneater,[1]Mata Hari, orvamp, is astock character of a mysterious, beautiful, andseductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is anarchetype of literature and art. Her ability to enchant, entice and hypnotize her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as verging on supernatural; hence, thefemme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, witch, having power over men. Femmes fatales are typically villainous, or at least morally ambiguous, and always associated with a sense of mystification, and unease.[2]
The term originates from the French phrasefemme fatale, which means 'deadly woman' or 'lethal woman'. Afemme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, or sexual allure. In many cases, her attitude towards sexuality islackadaisical, intriguing, or frivolous. In some cases, she useslies orcoercion rather than charm. She may also make use of some subduing weapon such assleeping gas, a modern analog of magical powers in older tales. She may also be (or imply that she is) a victim, caught in a situation from which she cannot escape.[3]
In early 20th-century American films, afemme fatale character was referred to as avamp, a reference to The Vampire,Philip Burne-Jones's 1897 painting, andRudyard Kipling's later 1897 poem, and the 1909 play and 1915 filmA Fool There Was.
Female mobsters (includingItalian-American Mafia orRussian Mafia) have been portrayed as femmes fatales infilms noir.[4] Femmes fatales appear inJames Bond films.
Thefemme fatalearchetype exists in the culture,folklore and myths of many cultures.[5] Ancient mythical or legendary examples includeInanna,Lilith,Circe,Medea,Clytemnestra,Lesbia,Tamamo no Mae, andVisha Kanyas. Historical examples from classical times includeCleopatra andMessalina, as well as the biblical figuresDelilah,Jezebel, andSalome.[6] An example from Chinese literature and traditional history isDaji.
Thefemme fatale was a common figure in the EuropeanMiddle Ages, often portraying the dangers of unbridled female sexuality. The pre-medieval inherited biblical figure ofEve offers an example, as does the wicked, seductive enchantress typified inMorgan le Fay. The Queen of the Night in Mozart'sThe Magic Flute shows her more muted presence during theAge of Enlightenment.[7]
Thefemme fatale flourished in theRomantic period in the works ofJohn Keats, notably "La Belle Dame sans Merci" and "Lamia". Along with them, there rose thegothic novelThe Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis, featuring Matilda, a very powerfulfemme fatale. This led to her appearing in the work ofEdgar Allan Poe, and as thevampire, notably inCarmilla andBrides of Dracula.The Monk was greatly admired by theMarquis de Sade, for whom thefemme fatale symbolised not evil, but all the best qualities of women; his novelJuliette is perhaps the earliest wherein thefemme fatale triumphs.Pre-Raphaelite painters frequently used the classic personifications of thefemme fatale as a subject.
In the Western culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thefemme fatale became a more fashionabletrope,[8] and she is found in the paintings of the artistsEdvard Munch,Gustav Klimt,Franz von Stuck, andGustave Moreau. The novelÀ rebours byJoris-Karl Huysmans includes these fevered imaginings about an image of Salome in a Moreau painting:[9]
No longer was she merely the dancing-girl who extorts a cry of lust and concupiscence from an old man by the lascivious contortions of her body; who breaks the will, masters the mind of a King by the spectacle of her quivering bosoms, heaving belly and tossing thighs; she was now revealed in a sense as the symbolic incarnation of world-old Vice, the goddess of immortal Hysteria, the Curse of Beauty supreme above all other beauties by the cataleptic spasm that stirs her flesh and steels her muscles, – a monstrous Beast of the Apocalypse, indifferent, irresponsible, insensible, poisoning.
— Joris-Karl Huysmans,À rebours,Sisters of Salome
In 1891,Oscar Wilde, in his playSalome: she manipulates her lust-crazed stepfather, King Herod, with her enticingDance of the Seven Veils (Wilde's invention) to agree to her imperious demand: "bring me the head ofJohn the Baptist". Later, Salome was the subject of an opera by Strauss, and was popularized on stage, screen, andpeep show booths in countless incarnations.[10]
She also is seen as a prominent figure in late 19th- and 20th-century opera, appearing inRichard Wagner'sParsifal (Kundry),Georges Bizet'sCarmen,Camille Saint-Saëns'Samson et Delilah andAlban Berg'sLulu (based on the playsErdgeist andDie Büchse der Pandora byFrank Wedekind).
Other considerably famousfemmes fatales includeIsabella of France,Hedda Gabler of Kristiania (now Oslo),Marie Antoinette of Austria, and, most famously,Lucrezia Borgia.
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Mrs Patrick Campbell,George Bernard Shaw's "second famed platonic love affair", (she published some of his letters)[11][12] andPhilip Burne-Jones's lover and subject of his 1897 painting,The Vampire, inspired Burne-Jones's cousinRudyard Kipling to write his poem "The Vampire", in the yearDracula was published.[13][14][15][16] The poem, which began: "A fool there was ...",[17] inspiredPorter Emerson Browne to write the play,A Fool There Was.
The poem was adapted to become a 1909Broadway production. This was followed by The 1913 filmThe Vampire byRobert Vignola, containing a "vamp" dance.[18] ProtagonistAlice Hollister was publicised as "the original vampire".[19][20][21] The 1915 film,A Fool There Was, starringTheda Bara, as "The Vamp" followed.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] The short poem may have been used in the publicity for the 1915 film.[citation needed] 1910sAmericanslang forfemme fatale wasvamp, forvampire.[29][30][24]
Another icon is Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. While working as an exotic dancer, she took the stage nameMata Hari. She was accused of German espionage duringWorld War I and was put to death by a French firing squad. After her death she became the subject of many sensational films and books.
Femmes fatales appear indetective fiction, especially in its 'hard-boiled' sub-genre which largely originated with the crime stories ofDashiell Hammett in the 1920s. At the end of that decade, the French-Canadian villainessMarie de Sabrevois gave a contemporary edge to the otherwise historical novels ofKenneth Roberts set during theAmerican Revolution.
Film villainess often appeared foreign, often of Eastern European or Asian ancestry. They were a contrast to the wholesome personas of actresses such asLillian Gish andMary Pickford. Notable silent-cinema vamps include Theda Bara,Helen Gardner,Louise Glaum,Valeska Suratt,Musidora,Virginia Pearson,Olga Petrova,Rosemary Theby,Nita Naldi,Pola Negri,Estelle Taylor,Jetta Goudal, and, in early appearances,Myrna Loy.
During the era of classicfilm-noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, thefemme fatale flourished in American cinema. The archetypalfemme fatale isPhyllis Dietrichson, played byBarbara Stanwyck (who was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actress for this role) in the 1944 filmDouble Indemnity. This character is considered one of the bestfemme fatale roles in film noir history.[31] The character was ranked as the #8 film villain of the first 100 years of American cinema by theAmerican Film Institute in theAFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains.[32] In a classical film noir trope, she manipulates a man into killing her husband for financial gain.
Other examples offemme fatale include theDorothy Dandridge as the titular character inCarmen Jones, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, portrayed byMary Astor, who murders Sam Spade's partner inThe Maltese Falcon (1941); manipulative narcissistic daughter Veda (portrayed byAnn Blyth) inMildred Pierce who exploits her indulgent mother Mildred (portrayed byJoan Crawford) and fatally destroys her mother's remarriage to stepfather Monte Barragon (portrayed byZachary Scott);Gene Tierney as Ellen Brent Harland inLeave Her to Heaven (1945), and the cabaret singer portrayed byRita Hayworth inGilda (1946),[33] narcissistic wives who manipulate their husbands;Ava Gardner inThe Killers and Cora (Lana Turner) inThe Postman Always Rings Twice, based on novels byErnest Hemingway andJames M. Cain respectively, manipulate men into killing their husbands.[33] In theHitchcock filmThe Paradine Case (1947),Alida Valli's character causes the deaths of two men and the near destruction of another. Another frequently cited example is the character Jane played byLizabeth Scott inToo Late for Tears (1949); during her quest to keep some dirty money from its rightful recipient and her husband, she uses poison, lies, sexual teasing and a gun to keep men wrapped around her finger.Jane Greer remains notable as a murderousfemme fatale using her wiles onRobert Mitchum inOut of the Past (1947). InGun Crazy (1950), thefemme fatale lures a man into a life of crime. In Hitchcock's1940 film and Daphne du Maurier's1938 novelRebecca, the eponymousfemme fatale completely dominates the plot, even though she is already dead and we never see an image of her.Rocky and Bullwinkle's Natasha Fatale, a curvaceous spy, takes her name from thefemme fatale stock character.Blonde Ice (1948) features a female serial killer who murders several men.
The femme fatale is one of the most mesmerizing of sexual personae. She is not a fiction but an extrapolation of biologic realities in women that remain constant.
Thefemme fatale has carried on to the present day, in films such asBody Heat (1981) andPrizzi's Honor (1985) – both withKathleen Turner,Blade Runner (1982) withSean Young,The Hunger (1983) withCatherine Deneuve,Blue Velvet (1986) withIsabella Rossellini,Fatal Attraction (1987) withGlenn Close,Basic Instinct (1992) withSharon Stone,Damage (1992) withJuliette Binoche,Final Analysis (1992) withKim Basinger,Dream Lover (1993) withMadchen Amick,The Last Seduction (1994) withLinda Fiorentino,To Die For (1995) withNicole Kidman,Lost Highway (1997) withPatricia Arquette,Devil in the Flesh (1998) andJawbreaker (1999), both withRose McGowan,Cruel Intentions (1999) withSarah Michelle Gellar,Original Sin (2001) withAngelina Jolie,Femme Fatale (2002) withRebecca Romijn, andJennifer's Body (2009) withMegan Fox. In 2013,Tania Raymonde played the title role inJodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret. In 2014,Eva Green portrayed afemme fatale inSin City: A Dame to Kill For andRosamund Pike starred inGone Girl. InBabylon (2022),Margot Robbie plays character withfemme fatale tendencies.[35]
Academy Award-winning actressMarion Cotillard has frequently played femmes fatales, in such films asA Private Affair (2002),A Very Long Engagement,The Black Box,Inception,Midnight in Paris,The Dark Knight Rises andMacbeth. In addition toTo Die For,Nicole Kidman has played femmes fatales in films such asMoulin Rouge!,The Paperboy,The Northman andBabygirl.
The archetype is also abundantly found in American television. One of the most famous femmes fatales of American television isSherilyn Fenn'sAudrey Horne of theDavid Lynch cult seriesTwin Peaks. In the TV seriesFemme Fatales, actressTanit Phoenix playedLilith, the host who introduced each episodeRod Serling-style and occasionally appeared within the narrative. In theNetflix TV seriesOrange Is the New Black, actressLaura Prepon playedAlex Vause, a modernfemme fatale, who led both men and women to their destruction.
Femmes fatales appear frequently incomic books. Notable examples includeBatman's long-time nemesisCatwoman, who first appeared in comics in 1940, and various adversaries ofThe Spirit, such as P'Gell.
This stock character is also often found in the genres of opera andmusical theatre, where she will traditionally have amezzo,alto orcontralto range, opposed to theingénue'ssoprano, to symbolize the masculinity and lack of feminine purity.[citation needed] An example is Hélène fromNatasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.
The term has been used by the media in connection with highly publicised criminal trials, such as the trials ofJodi Arias[36][37] andAmanda Knox.[38]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Margot Robbie […] in the role of the incendiary blonde Nellie LaRoy, dancing like Salomé, plays a femme fatale who dreams of seeing her name rise, in letters of fire, at the top of the bill.
