The femme fatale became a very popular character in crime fiction in the United States during the mid-twentieth century (Jaber, 1). This character is a woman who is portrayed to be hyper-sexual and is manipulative towards men. The femme fatale appears in hard-boiled crime fiction and film noir. She also was featured on many pulp covers making seductive poses because of the rise of sex in books (Horsley). Throughout the mid-twentieth century, the femme fatale character changed. Throughout this essay, I will discuss what a femme fatale is, the history behind this popular character, and authors who used femme fatales in their work. First, what is a femme fatale? In Criminal Femmes Fatales in American Hardboiled Crime Fiction, Maysaa
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In The Big Sleep, the femme fatale, Carmen, kills a man named Regan for rejecting her, and then later tries to kill another man who also rejected her. The femme fatale finds “marriage to be confining, loveless, sexless, and dull” (Blaser). For example, in Double Indemnity, Phyllis Dietrichson feels trapped in her husband’s home so she murders him because of the lack of affection he shows towards her (Blaser). Not wanting to be married or confined, replicates how the femme fatale is the complete opposite of the traditional woman after World War …show more content…
Cain’s novel, Double Indemnity (1993), includes another popular femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson. This novel was later turned into a film where the film portrayed the femme fatale to be a “sinister brassy blonde” who convinced a man to murder her husband. This man was the protagonist, named Walter Neff. At the end of the film, Phyllis shoots at Neff but decides not to kill him (Dirks). This piece of work shows how the plots with femme fatales are very similar to one another. The femme fatale uses her attractiveness to manipulate the protagonist into murdering someone and then the femme fatale attempts to murder the protagonist.
Overall, the femme fatale was a character who was seductive, dangerous, and possibly unstable in hardboiled fiction and film noir. As well as including a dangerous femme fatale in the plot, a male protagonist and murder were most likely to appear throughout the novel or film as well. The femme fatale represented those women who were independent and strong after World War II, but also took on the characteristics that men feared about women becoming
In The Big Sleep, the femme fatale, Carmen, kills a man named Regan for rejecting her, and then later tries to kill another man who also rejected her. The femme fatale finds “marriage to be confining, loveless, sexless, and dull” (Blaser). For example, in Double Indemnity, Phyllis Dietrichson feels trapped in her husband’s home so she murders him because of the lack of affection he shows towards her (Blaser). Not wanting to be married or confined, replicates how the femme fatale is the complete opposite of the traditional woman after World War …show more content…
Cain’s novel, Double Indemnity (1993), includes another popular femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson. This novel was later turned into a film where the film portrayed the femme fatale to be a “sinister brassy blonde” who convinced a man to murder her husband. This man was the protagonist, named Walter Neff. At the end of the film, Phyllis shoots at Neff but decides not to kill him (Dirks). This piece of work shows how the plots with femme fatales are very similar to one another. The femme fatale uses her attractiveness to manipulate the protagonist into murdering someone and then the femme fatale attempts to murder the protagonist.
Overall, the femme fatale was a character who was seductive, dangerous, and possibly unstable in hardboiled fiction and film noir. As well as including a dangerous femme fatale in the plot, a male protagonist and murder were most likely to appear throughout the novel or film as well. The femme fatale represented those women who were independent and strong after World War II, but also took on the characteristics that men feared about women becoming