Challenging the Stereotype: The Femme Fatale in Fin-de-Siècle Art and Early Cinema

Abstract

Why did the femme fatale rise to prominence in the late nineteenth century? In her study of the femme fatale in fin-de-siècle literature, Rebecca Stott suggests that the femme fatale ‘is fabricated, reconstructed in, and apparently necessary to, the cultural expression’ of the nineteenth century (Stott 1992: viii). The term ‘cultural expression’ suggests a range of emotions, from horror and hatred to admiration and desire. But the majority of previous scholarly studies of the femme fatale have radically overemphasized the role played by fear and hatred in depictions of the femme fatale. Stott, Mary Anne Doane and Bram Dijkstra all suggest that male anxiety regarding the lower classes, foreign invasion and feminism influenced nineteenth-century depictions of the femme fatale, and it is clear these factors are vitally important to a study of the fatal woman (Dijkstra 1986; Doane 1991). Yet Stott, Doane and Dijkstra offer a view of the nineteenth century as a period characterized by intolerance, anxiety and apprehension, ignoring the spirit of exploration and innovation which also distinguished the age. Nowhere in their work, for instance, is the growing interest in ancient mythologies and esoteric religions discussed, but these, as I will later show, were also a vital influence on depictions of the fatal woman.KeywordsLate Nineteenth CenturyCultural ExpressionRadical ArtistSensual StareFatal WomanThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.