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A '''''femme fatale''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|f|æ|m|_|f|ə|ˈ|t|ɑː|l}} or {{IPAc-en|ˌ|f|ɛ|m|_|f|ə|ˈ|t|ɑː|l}}; {{IPA-fr|fam fatal|lang}}) is a [[stock character]] of a mysterious and [[Seduction|seductive]] woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an [[archetype]] of literature and art. Her ability to entrance and hypnotise her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, vampire, witch, or demon, having power over men. In American early 20th century film, ''femme fatale'' characters were referred to as '''[[:wikt:Vamp|vamps]]''', an allusion to their role as sexual [[vampire]]s.

The phrase is French for "fatal woman". A femme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, and sexual allure. In some situations, she uses [[lie]]s or [[coercion]] rather than charm. She may also make use of some subduing weapon such as [[sleeping 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; ''[[The Lady from Shanghai]]'' (a 1947 ''[[film noir]]'') is one such example. A younger version of a femme fatale is called a '''fille fatale''', or "fatal girl."

One of the most common traits of the femme fatale include promiscuity and the "rejection of motherhood," seen as "one of her most threatening qualities since by denying his immortality and his posterity it leads to the ultimate destruction of the male."<ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=06ca45e7-6d8e-4a8f-8380-b2483dd20c99%40sessionmgr114&vid=3&hid=104|title = Images of the Femme Fatale in two Short Stories by Emilia Pardo Bazán|last = Walter|first = Susan|date = 2015|journal = Romance Notes|doi = |pmid = |access-date = December 8, 2015}}</ref> Femmes fatale are typically villainous, or at least morally ambiguous, and always associated with a sense of mystification, and unease.<ref name=":0">Mary Ann Doane, ''Femme Fatales'' (1991) pp. 1–2</ref>

==History==
===Ancient archetypes===
[[File:Wood carving detail2 - Vishnu Mohini.jpg|right|thumb|The divine femme fatale of Hindu mythology, [[Mohini]] is described to have enchanted gods, demons and sages alike.]]

The femme fatale [[archetype]] exists in the culture, [[folklore]] and myth of many cultures.<ref>Mario Praz, ''The Romantic Agony'', ch. IV, p. 199: La Belle Dame sans Merci (The Beautiful Lady without Mercy). London/New York, 1933–1951–1970 (Oxford University Press).</ref> Ancient mythical or legendary examples include [[Mohini]], [[Lilith]], the [[Siren (mythology)|Siren]]s, the [[Sphinx]], [[Scylla]], [[Aphrodite]], [[Circe]], [[Medea]], [[Clytemnestra]], [[Lesbia]], [[Helen of Troy]] and [[Visha Kanya]]s. Historical examples from Classical times include [[Cleopatra]] and [[Messalina]], as well as the Biblical figures [[Delilah]], [[Jezebel]] and [[Salome]].<ref>Mario Praz (1970) ''The Romantic Agony''. Oxford University Press: 199, 213–216, 222, 250, 258, 259, 272, 277, 282, 377</ref> An example from Chinese literature and traditional history is [[Daji]].

===Early Western culture to the 19th century===
[[File:Franz von Stuck 010.jpg|thumb|left|[[Salome]] in a painting by [[Franz von Stuck]]]]

The ''femme fatale'' was a common figure in the European [[Middle Ages]], often portraying the dangers of unbridled female sexuality. The pre-medieval inherited Biblical figure of [[Eve]] offers an example, as does the wicked, seductive enchantress typified in [[Morgan le Fay]]. The Queen of the Night in Mozart's [[The Magic Flute]] shows her more muted presence during the [[Age of Enlightenment]]<ref>C. G. Jung ed, ''Man and his Symbols'' (1978) p. 187</ref>

The ''femme fatale'' flourished in the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] period in the works of [[John Keats]], notably "[[La Belle Dame sans Merci]]" and "[[Lamia (poem)|Lamia]]". Along with them, there rose the [[gothic novel]], ''[[The Monk]]'' featuring Matilda, a very powerful femme fatale. This led to her appearing in the work of [[Edgar Allan Poe]], and as the [[vampire]], notably in ''[[Carmilla]]'' and ''[[Brides of Dracula]]''. ''The Monk'' was greatly admired by the [[Marquis de Sade]], for whom the femme fatale symbolised not evil, but all the best qualities of Women; his novel ''[[L'Histoire de Juliette|Juliette]]'' is perhaps the earliest wherein the femme fatale triumphs. [[Pre-Raphaelite]] painters frequently used the classic personifications of the femme fatale as a subject.

In the Western culture of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the ''femme fatale'' became a more fashionable [[Trope (literature)|trope]],<ref>Jill Scott, ''Electra after Freud'' (2005) p. 66</ref> and she is found in the paintings of the artists [[Edvard Munch]], [[Gustav Klimt]], [[Franz von Stuck]] and [[Gustave Moreau]]. The novel ''[[À rebours]]'' by [[Joris-Karl Huysmans]] includes these fevered imaginings about an image of Salome in a Moreau painting:<ref>Huysmans ''À rebours'' – Toni Bentley (2002) ''Sisters of Salome'': 24</ref>

{{bq|1=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.|sign=[[Joris-Karl Huysmans]]|source=''[[À rebours]]'', ''Sisters of Salome''}}

She also is seen as a prominent figure in late nineteenth and twentieth century opera, appearing in [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Parsifal]]'' ([[Kundry]]), [[George Bizet]]'s "[[Carmen]]", [[Camille Saint-Saëns]]' "[[Samson et Delilah]]" and [[Alban Berg]]'s "[[Lulu (opera)|Lulu]]" (based on the plays "[[Earth Spirit (play)|Erdgeist]]" and "[[Pandora's Box (play)|Die Büchse der Pandora]]" by [[Frank Wedekind]]).

In [[fin-de-siècle]] decadence, [[Oscar Wilde]] reinvented the femme fatale in the play ''[[Salome (play)|Salome]]'': she manipulates her lust-crazed uncle, King Herod, with her enticing [[Dance of the Seven Veils]] (Wilde's invention) to agree to her imperious demand: "bring me the head of [[John the Baptist]]". Later, Salome was the subject of an opera by Strauss, and was popularized on stage, screen, and peep-show booth in countless reincarnations.<ref>Toni Bentley (2002) ''Sisters of Salome''</ref>

Another enduring icon of glamour, seduction, and moral turpitude is Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, 1876–1917. While working as an exotic dancer, she took the stage name [[Mata Hari]]. Although she may have been innocent, she was accused of German espionage and was put to death by a French firing squad. After her death she became the subject of many sensational films and books.

Other considerably famous ''femmes fatales'' are [[Isabella of France]], [[Hedda Gabler]] of Kristiania (now Oslo), [[Marie Antoinette]] of Austria, and, most famously, [[Lucrezia Borgia]].

===20th-century film and theatre {{anchor|vamp}}===
[[File:Thedarose.jpg|thumb|Actress [[Theda Bara]] defined the word "Vamp" in the film ''[[A Fool There Was (1915 film)|A Fool There Was]]''.]]

One traditional view portrays the femme fatale as a sexual [[vampire]]; her charms leech the virility and independence of lovers, leaving them shells of themselves. [[Rudyard Kipling]] took inspiration from a vampire painted by [[Philip Burne-Jones]], an image typical of the era{{citation needed|date=September 2012}} in 1897, to write his poem "The Vampire". The poem inspired the 1913 [[eponymous]] film '''The Vampire''' ([[:it:The Vampire (film 1913)|it]]) by [[Robert Vignola]], sometimes cited as the first "vamp" movie.<ref>John T. Soister, ''American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929'', McFarland, 2012, p.41</ref> Like much of Kipling's verse it became very popular, and its refrain: "A fool there was...", describing a seduced man, became the title of the popular 1915 film ''[[A Fool There Was (1915 film)|A Fool There Was]]'' that made [[Theda Bara]] a star. The poem was used in the publicity for the film. On this account, in the [[American English|American]] [[slang]] of the era the ''femme fatale'' was called a ''vamp'', short for ''vampire''.<ref>Per the Oxford English Dictionary, ''vamp'' is originally English, used first by [[G. K. Chesterton]], but popularized in the American silent film ''The Vamp'', starring [[Enid Bennett]]</ref><ref>[http://www.oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=Vamp&_searchBtn=Search "Vamp", Oxford English Dictionary]; retrieved 30 December 2016</ref>

From the American film-audience perspective, the femme fatale often appeared foreign, usually either of indeterminate Eastern European or Asian ancestry. She was the sexual counterpart to wholesome actresses such as [[Lillian Gish]] and [[Mary Pickford]]. Notable silent-cinema vamps included [[Theda Bara]], [[Helen Gardner (actress)|Helen Gardner]], [[Louise Glaum]], [[Valeska Suratt]], [[Musidora]], [[Virginia Pearson]], [[Olga Petrova]], [[Rosemary Theby]], [[Nita Naldi]], [[Pola Negri]], [[Estelle Taylor]], [[Anita Page]], [[Jetta Goudal]], and, in early appearances, [[Myrna Loy]].

During the [[film-noir]] era of the 1940s and early-1950s, the femme fatale flourished in American cinema. Examples include Brigid O'Shaughnessy, portrayed by [[Mary Astor]], who murders Sam Spade's partner in ''[[The Maltese Falcon (1941 film)|The Maltese Falcon]]'' ([[1941 in film|1941]]); manipulative narcissistic daughter Veda (portrayed by [[Ann Blyth]]) in [[Mildred Pierce (1945 film)|''Mildred Pierce'']] who exploits her indulgent mother Mildred (portrayed by [[Joan Crawford]]) and fatally destroys her mother's re-marriage to stepfather Monte Barragon (portrayed by [[Zachary Scott]]); [[Gene Tierney]] as Ellen Brent Harland in ''[[Leave Her to Heaven]]'' ([[1945 in film|1945]]), and the cabaret singer portrayed by [[Rita Hayworth]] in ''[[Gilda]]'' ([[1946 in film|1946]]),<ref name=Independent>{{cite news|last=Johnston |first=Sheila |title=Whatever happened to the femme fatale? |publisher=The Independent |date=27 February 2009 |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/whatever-happened-to-the-femme-fatale-1633088.html |accessdate=27 February 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228103849/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/whatever-happened-to-the-femme-fatale-1633088.html |archivedate=February 28, 2009 }}</ref> narcissistic wives who manipulate their husbands; [[Phyllis Dietrichson]] ([[Barbara Stanwyck]]) in ''[[Double Indemnity (film)|Double Indemnity]]'' ([[1944 in film|1944]]), [[Ava Gardner]] in ''[[The Killers (1946 film)|The Killers]]'' and Cora ([[Lana Turner]]) in ''[[The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film)|The Postman Always Rings Twice]]'', based on novels by [[Ernest Hemingway]] and [[James M. Cain]] respectively, manipulate men into killing their husbands.<ref name=Independent/> In the [[Alfred Hitchcock|Hitchcock]] film ''[[The Paradine Case]]'' ([[1947 in film|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 by [[Lizabeth Scott]] in ''[[Too Late for Tears]]'' ([[1949 in film|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 murderous femme fatale using her wiles on [[Robert Mitchum]] in ''[[Out of the Past]]'' ([[1947 in film|1947]]). In Hitchcock's [[Rebecca (1940 film)|1940 film]] and Daphne du Maurier's [[Rebecca (novel)|1938 novel]] ''Rebecca'', the eponymous femme fatale completely dominates the plot, even though she is already dead and we never see an image of her.

The femme fatale has carried on to the present day, in films such as ''[[Body Heat]]'' (1981) and ''[[Prizzi's Honor]]'' (1985) – both with [[Kathleen Turner]], ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982) with [[Sean Young]], ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]'' (1986) with [[Isabella Rossellini]], ''[[Basic Instinct]]'' (1992) with [[Sharon Stone]], ''[[Damage (1992 film)|Damage]]'' (1992) with [[Juliette Binoche]]'', [[The Last Seduction]]'' (1994) with [[Linda Fiorentino]], ''[[To Die For]]'' (1995) with [[Nicole Kidman]], ''[[Lost Highway (film)|Lost Highway]]'' (1997) with [[Patricia Arquette]], ''[[Devil in the Flesh (1998 film)|Devil in the Flesh]]'' (1998) and ''[[Jawbreaker (film)|Jawbreaker]]'' (1999), both with [[Rose McGowan]], ''[[Original Sin (2001 film)|Original Sin]]'' (2001) with [[Angelina Jolie]], ''[[Femme Fatale (2002 film)|Femme Fatale]]'' (2002) with [[Rebecca Romijn]], and ''[[Jennifer's Body]]'' (2009), with [[Megan Fox]]. In 2013, [[Tania Raymonde]] played the title role in ''[[Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret]]''. In 2014, [[Eva Green]] portrayed a [[Ava Lord|femme fatale]] in ''[[Sin City: A Dame to Kill For]]'' and [[Rosamund Pike]] starred in ''[[Gone Girl (film)|Gone Girl]]''.

Academy Award-winning actress [[Marion Cotillard]] has frequently played femmes fatales, in such films as ''A Private Affair'' (2002), ''[[A Very Long Engagement]]'', ''[[La Boîte noire|The Black Box]]'', ''[[Inception]]'', ''[[Midnight in Paris]]'', ''[[The Dark Knight Rises]]'' and ''[[Macbeth (2015 film)|Macbeth]]''. [[Nicole Kidman]] has also played a few femmes fatales in films as ''[[To Die For]]'', ''[[The Paperboy (2012 film)|The Paperboy]]'' and ''[[Moulin Rouge!]]''.

The archetype is also abundantly found in American television. One of the most famous femmes fatales of American television is [[Sherilyn Fenn]]'s [[Audrey Horne]] of the [[David Lynch]] cult series ''[[Twin Peaks]]''. In the [[Netflix]] TV series, ''[[Orange Is the New Black]]'', actress [[Laura Prepon]] plays [[Alex Vause]], a modern femme fatale, leading both men and women to their destruction.

==Use in criminal trials==
The term has been used in connection with highly publicised criminal trials, such as the trials of [[Jodi Arias]]<ref>{{Cite news|url = http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/jurors-hear-conflicting-persona-jodi-arias-trial-article-1.1237319|title = Jodi Arias: Femme fatale or woman of faith? Jurors hear conflicting persona in murder trial as prosecutors play phone calls of Arias lying|last = Ortiz|first = Erik|date = |work = |access-date = |via = }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Jodi Arias Trial Update: Lawyer Reveals Femme Fatale Was Terrified During Sentencing|url = http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/13812/20150415/jodi-arias-scared-death-lawyer-reveals.htm|accessdate = 2015-04-30}}</ref> and [[Amanda Knox]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = Amanda Knox is no femme fatale, defence lawyer says|url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15076916|website = BBC News|accessdate = 2015-04-30}}</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|3|
* [[Abjection]]
* [[Armida]]
* [[Deadly Women]]
* [[Bad girl movies]]
* [[Dragon Lady (stereotype)]]
* [[Magician (paranormal)|Enchantress]]
* [[Film noir]]
* [[Girls with guns]]
* [[Gun moll]]
* [[Histrionic personality disorder]]
* [[Neck (water spirit)|Lorelei]]
* [[Psychological manipulation]]
* [[Siren (mythology)|Siren]]
* [[Succubus]]
* [[Superficial charm]]
}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*[[Giuseppe Scaraffia]] (2009) ''Femme fatale''. ISBN 978-88-389-0396-0.
*Toni Bentley (2002) ''Sisters of Salome''. Salome considered as an archetype of female desire and transgression and as the ultimate ''femme fatale''.
*[[Bram Dijkstra]] (1986) ''Idols of Perversity: Fantasies of Feminine Evil in Fin-De-Siecle Culture'', (1986) ISBN 0-19-505652-3. Discusses the ''Femme fatale''-stereotype.
*Bram Dijkstra (1996) ''Evil Sisters: The Threat of Female Sexuality in Twentieth-Century Culture'', (1996) ISBN 0-8050-5549-5
*Elizabeth K. Mix ''Evil By Design: The Creation and Marketing of the Femme Fatale'', ISBN 978-0-252-07323-6. Discusses the origin of the ''Femme fatale'' in 19th century French popular culture.
*[[Mario Praz]] (1930) ''The Romantic Agony''. See chapters four, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci', and five, 'Byzantium'.

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Femme fatale - Revision history

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