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44-571: [REDACTED] Look up femme fatale in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Femme Fatale ( s ) may refer to: Femme fatale , an archetypal character of literature and art Film and television [ edit ] Femme Fatale (1991 film) , an American drama starring Colin Firth Femme Fatale (2002 film) , a film directed by Brian De Palma Femme Fatale, Jang Hee-bin ,

88-549: A "self-derogatory and understating character". In American popular films, there are a wide range of stock characters, which are typically used as non-speaking extras in the background, bit parts with a single line, minor secondary/supporting roles, or major secondary/supporting roles. Stock characters in American films have changed over the decades. A 1930s or 1940s film's stock characters include newspaper vendors, ice vendors, street sweepers, and cigarette girls; in contrast,

132-488: A 1968 South Korean film Femme Fatale: Bae Jeong-ja , a 1973 South Korean film Femme Fatales (TV series) , a 2011–2012 Cinemax anthology series Supermodel Me: Femme Fatale , season 4 of the Asian reality series Supermodel Me Literature [ edit ] Femme Fatales (comics) , a group of Marvel Comics supervillains Femme Fatales (magazine) , a 1992–2008 American men's magazine Femme Fatales ,

176-399: A 1990s film has homeless " bag ladies ", pimps, plainclothes police, business women, and Black and Hispanic stereotypes. Stock characters in American popular culture, especially racial and ethnic stereotypes, often came to be seen as offensive in later decades and were replaced with new stereotypes. For example, the " lazy Black " and the " treacherous bespectacled Japanese " were replaced in

220-828: A 2009 Iron Man novel by Robert Greenberger Music [ edit ] Femme Fatale (band) , an American hard rock band Albums [ edit ] Femme Fatale (Akina Nakamori album) , 1988 Femme Fatale (Britney Spears album) , 2011 Femme Fatale Tour , a 2011 concert tour Femme Fatale (Femme Fatale album) , 1988 Femme Fatale (Gábor Szabó album) or the title song, 1981 Femme Fatale (Miki Howard album) , 1992 Femme Fatale: The Aura Anthology , by Nico , 2003 Songs [ edit ] "Femme Fatale" (The Velvet Underground song) , 1966 "Femme Fatale", by Evdokia Kadi representing Cyprus at Eurovision 2008. "Femme Fatale" by G-Eazy featuring Coi Leray and Kaliii , 2024 Other uses [ edit ] Femme fatale fireflies or Photuris ,

264-582: A creative writing professor and prolific fiction author, all characters begin as stock characters and are fleshed out only as far as needed to advance the plot. E. Graham McKinley says "there is general agreement on the importance to drama of 'stock' characters. This notion has been considerably explored in film theory, where feminists have argued, female stock characters are only stereotypes (child/woman, whore, bitch, wife, mother, secretary or girl Friday , career women, vamp , etc.)." Ulrike Roesler and Jayandra Soni analyze "not only with female stock characters in

308-953: 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. Sexual Personae (1990) by Camille Paglia 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 , The Hunger (1983) with Catherine Deneuve , Blue Velvet (1986) with Isabella Rossellini , Fatal Attraction (1987) with Glenn Close , Basic Instinct (1992) with Sharon Stone , Damage (1992) with Juliette Binoche , Final Analysis (1992) with Kim Basinger , Dream Lover (1993) with Madchen Amick , The Last Seduction (1994) with Linda Fiorentino , To Die For (1995) with Nicole Kidman , Lost Highway (1997) with Patricia Arquette , Devil in

352-695: A few femmes fatales in films as To Die For , The Paperboy , Moulin Rouge! and The Northman . 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 TV series Femme Fatales , actress Tanit Phoenix played Lilith , the host who introduced each episode Rod Serling -style and occasionally appeared within

396-549: A genus of lampyrid beetle Femmes Fatales , an independent women's professional wrestling promotion Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Femme Fatale . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Femme_Fatale&oldid=1219012482 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

440-689: 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. In early 20th-century American films, a femme fatale character was referred to as a vamp , a reference to The Vampire , Philip Burne-Jones 's 1897 painting, and Rudyard Kipling 's later 1897 poem, and the 1909 play and 1915 film A Fool There Was . Female mobsters (including Italian-American Mafia or Russian Mafia ) have been portrayed as femmes fatales in films noir . Femmes fatales appear in James Bond films. The femme fatale archetype exists in

484-544: A sense of mystification, and unease. The term originates from the French phrase femme fatale , which means 'deadly woman' or 'lethal woman'. A femme 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 is lackadaisical , intriguing, or frivolous. In some cases, she uses lies or coercion rather than charm. She may also make use of some subduing weapon such as sleeping gas ,

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528-717: Is Daji . 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 . The femme fatale flourished in

572-471: Is also often found in the genres of opera and musical theatre , where she will traditionally have a mezzo , alto or contralto range, opposed to the ingénue 's soprano , to symbolize the masculinity and lack of feminine purity. An example is Hélène from Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 . The term has been used by the media in connection with highly publicised criminal trials, such as

616-410: Is an archetype 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, the femme 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

660-520: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages femme fatale A femme fatale ( / ˌ f ɛ m f ə ˈ t æ l , - ˈ t ɑː l / FEM fə- TA(H)L , French: [fam fatal] ; lit.   ' fatal woman ' ), sometimes called a maneater , Mata Hari , or vamp , is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She

704-402: 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: 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

748-479: Is that basic archetypes (such as " hero " or " father figure ") and stock characters (such as " damsel in distress " and " wise fool ") are the raw source material that authors use to build on and create fleshed-out, interesting characters. In contrast, stereotypes and clichés are generally viewed as signs of "bad writing or shallow thinking". Some stereotypes, such as racial stereotype characters, may be offensive to readers or viewers. According to Dwight V. Swain ,

792-423: Is that, as with films, these stock characters can incorporate racial stereotypes , and "prejudicial and demeaning images". One concern raised with these gay stock characters is they tend to be shown as just advice-giving "sidekicks" who are not truly integrated into the narrative; as well, the gay character's life is not depicted, apart from their advice-giving interactions with the main characters. This also echoed

836-539: The Marquis de Sade , for whom the femme fatale symbolised not evil, but all the best qualities of women; his novel 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 19th and early 20th centuries, the femme fatale became a more fashionable trope , and she

880-516: The Romantic period in the works of John Keats , notably " La Belle Dame sans Merci " and " Lamia ". Along with them, there rose the gothic novel The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis, 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

924-405: The 1990s with the " street-smart Brother " and the "camera-happy Japanese tourist". Other groups more frequently represented as stock characters include women, Native Americans, Hispanics, Arabs, Gays/Lesbians, Jews, and Italians. Other briefly popular stock characters include the 1950s "overweight Communist cell leader" and the 1970s " Black Panther revolutionary". Even in timeless occupations,

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968-1173: The Flesh (1998) and Jawbreaker (1999), both with Rose McGowan , Cruel Intentions (1999) with Sarah Michelle Gellar , Original Sin (2001) with Angelina Jolie , 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 femme fatale in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and Rosamund Pike starred in Gone Girl . In Babylon (2022), Margot Robbie plays character with femme fatale tendencies. Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard has frequently played femmes fatales, in such films as A Private Affair (2002), A Very Long Engagement , The Black Box , Inception , Midnight in Paris , The Dark Knight Rises and Macbeth . Nicole Kidman has also played

1012-504: The Past ( 1947 ). In Gun Crazy (1950), the femme fatale lures a man into a life of crime. In Hitchcock's 1940 film and Daphne du Maurier's 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. Rocky and Bullwinkle 's Natasha Fatale, a curvaceous spy, takes her name from the femme fatale stock character. Blonde Ice (1948) features

1056-683: 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 booths in countless incarnations. She also is seen as a prominent figure in late 19th- and 20th-century opera, appearing in Richard Wagner 's Parsifal ( Kundry ), Georges Bizet 's " Carmen ", Camille Saint-Saëns ' " Samson et Delilah " and Alban Berg 's " Lulu " (based on

1100-411: The audience. In the late 1990s, there was a trend for screenwriters to add a gay stock character, which replaced the 1980s era's "African-American workplace pal" stock character. In the 1990s, a number of sitcoms introduced gay stock characters with the quality of the depictions being viewed as setting a new bar for onscreen LGBT depiction. One challenge with the use of stock characters in TV shows

1144-671: The cabaret singer portrayed by Rita Hayworth in Gilda ( 1946 ), narcissistic wives who manipulate their husbands; Ava Gardner in The Killers and Cora ( Lana Turner ) in The Postman Always Rings Twice , based on novels by Ernest Hemingway and James M. Cain respectively, manipulate men into killing their husbands. In the Hitchcock film The Paradine Case ( 1947 ), Alida Valli 's character causes

1188-488: The character and their motivations. Furthermore, stock characters can be used to build an audience's expectations and, in some cases, they can also enhance narrative elements like suspense, irony, or plot twists if those expectations end up subverted. There is often confusion between stock characters, archetypes , stereotypes , and clichés . In part this confusion arises due to the overlap between these concepts. Nevertheless, these terms are not synonyms. The relationship

1232-853: The crime stories of Dashiell Hammett in the 1920s. At the end of that decade, the French-Canadian villainess Marie de Sabrevois gave a contemporary edge to the otherwise historical novels of Kenneth Roberts set during the American Revolution . Film villainess often appeared foreign, often of Eastern European or Asian ancestry. They were a contrast to the wholesome personas of actresses such as Lillian Gish and Mary 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

1276-406: The culture, folklore and myths of many cultures. Ancient mythical or legendary examples include Inanna , Lilith , Circe , Medea , Clytemnestra , Lesbia , Tamamo no Mae , and Visha Kanyas . Historical examples from classical times include Cleopatra and Messalina , as well as the biblical figures Delilah , Jezebel , and Salome . An example from Chinese literature and traditional history

1320-558: 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 ); 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

1364-469: The era of classic film-noirs of the 1940s and 1950s, the femme fatale flourished in American cinema. The archetypal femme fatale is Phyllis Dietrichson , played by Barbara Stanwyck (who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for this role) in the 1944 film Double Indemnity . This character is considered one of the best femme fatale roles in film noir history. The character

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1408-540: The narrative. In the Netflix TV series Orange Is the New Black , actress Laura Prepon played Alex Vause , a modern femme fatale , who led both men and women to their destruction. Femmes fatales appear frequently in comic books . Notable examples include Batman 's long-time nemesis Catwoman , who first appeared in comics in 1940, and various adversaries of The Spirit , such as P'Gell. This stock character

1452-574: The person in the job has changed, reflecting cultural and demographic changes. In the 1990s, a hairdresser (previously French) was often depicted as a gay man, a gardener (previously White) as Asian or Hispanic, a bartender (previously White) as Black, and a maid (previously Black) as Hispanic. Due to the scheduling constraints on television production, in which episodes need to be quickly scripted and shot, television scriptwriters often depend heavily on stock characters borrowed from popular film. TV writers use these stock characters to quickly communicate to

1496-619: The plays " Erdgeist " and " Die Büchse der Pandora " by Frank Wedekind ). Other considerably famous femmes fatales include Isabella of France , Hedda Gabler of Kristiania (now Oslo), Marie Antoinette of Austria, and, most famously, Lucrezia Borgia . Mrs Patrick Campbell , George Bernard Shaw 's "second famed platonic love affair", (she published some of his letters) and Philip Burne-Jones 's lover and subject of his 1897 painting, The Vampire , inspired Burne-Jones's cousin Rudyard Kipling to write his poem "The Vampire", in

1540-519: The plays' comic business and royal pomp." Tara Brabazon discusses how the "school ma'am on the colonial frontier has been a stock character of literature and film in Australia and the United States. She is an ideal foil for the ill mannered, uncivilised hero. In American literature and film, the spinster from East – generally Boston – has some stock attributes." Polly Welts Kaufman shows that

1584-527: The publicity for the 1915 film. 1910s American slang for femme fatale was vamp , for vampire . Another icon is Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. While working as an exotic dancer, she took the stage name Mata Hari . She was accused of German espionage during World 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 in detective fiction , especially in its 'hard-boiled' sub-genre which largely originated with

1628-406: The schoolma'am's " genteel poverty , unbending morality, education, and independent ways make her character a useful foil for the two other female stock characters in Western literature: the prostitute with the heart of gold and the long-suffering farmer's wife.'" Stock characters can be further identified as an alazon , the "impostor and self-deceiving braggart" in a story, or an eiron ,

1672-530: The sense of typical roles in the dramas, but also with other female persons in the area of the theatrical stage..." Andrew Griffin, Helen Ostovich, and Holger Schott Syme explain further that "Female stock characters also permit a close level of audience identification; this is true most of all in The Troublesome Reign , where the "weeping woman" type is used to dramatic advantage. This stock character provides pathos as yet another counterpoint to

1716-417: The trials of Jodi Arias and Amanda Knox . Stock character There are several purposes to using stock characters. Stock characters are a time- and effort-saving shortcut for story creators, as authors can populate their tale with existing well-known character types. Another benefit is that stock characters help to move the story along more efficiently, by allowing the audience to already understand

1760-415: The way that Black and Latino characters were used in 1980s and early 1990s shows: they were given a stock character role as a police chief, which in put them in a position of power, but then these characters were used as minor characters, with little narrative interaction with main characters. In the 2000s, with changing views on depicting race, Latino/a characters are both typecast into stock characters and

1804-681: 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. In 1891, Oscar Wilde , in his play Salome : she manipulates her lust-crazed stepfather, King Herod, with her enticing Dance of

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1848-490: The writers play with viewer expectations by making a seemingly stock Latino/a character act or behave "against type". Southern sheriff stock characters are depicted with a negative stereotype of being obese, poorly trained, uneducated, and racist, as was done with Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazzard . In the United States , courts have determined that copyright protection cannot be extended to

1892-528: The year Dracula was published. The poem, which began: "A fool there was ...", inspired Porter Emerson Browne to write the play, A Fool There Was . The poem was adapted to become a 1909 Broadway production. This was followed by The 1913 film The Vampire by Robert Vignola , containing a "vamp" dance. Protagonist Alice Hollister was publicised as "the original vampire". The 1915 film, A Fool There Was , starring Theda Bara , as "The Vamp" followed. The short poem may have been used in

1936-1075: Was ranked as the #8 film villain of the first 100 years of American cinema by the American Film Institute in the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains . In a classical film noir trope, she manipulates a man into killing her husband for financial gain. Other examples of femme fatale include Brigid O'Shaughnessy, portrayed by Mary Astor , who murders Sam Spade's partner in The Maltese Falcon ( 1941 ); manipulative narcissistic daughter Veda (portrayed by Ann Blyth ) in Mildred Pierce who exploits her indulgent mother Mildred (portrayed by Joan Crawford ) and fatally destroys her mother's remarriage to stepfather Monte Barragon (portrayed by Zachary Scott ); Gene Tierney as Ellen Brent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven ( 1945 ), and

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