The Femme Fatale in American Literature By Ghada Sasa

Basically, the femme fatale is an archetype of an alluring, dangerous woman, determined to control and destroy. A typical femme fatale figure is best exemplified in John Keats’ ballad “La Belle Dame Sans Merci:”

I met a lady in the meads,

Full beautiful, a fairy’s child;

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

And her eyes were wild.

…

And there she lulled me asleep,

And there I dream’d—Ah! Woe betide!

The latest dream I ever dream’d

On the cold hill’s side.

…

I saw pale kings, and princes too,

Pale warriors, death pale were they all;

They cried—“La belle dame sans merci

Hath thee in thrall!”

Keats’ ballad tells the story of a knight destroyed by his love for the typical, archetypal femme fatale. The “knight at arms” has strayed in a world that has been toppled. He explains why he is alone and loitering. Having been lulled asleep by the enchantress, the knight has a dreadful vision in which a kingdom is held captive by an evil temptress. The poem is replete with anxiety as the woman destroys kings, princes, and warriors. She reduces the most powerful members of society to powerless, insignificant men, whereas she herself remains intact, powerful, and unaffected by her own doing.

But who exactly is the femme fatale? The femme fatale is typically classified as a siren, an irresistibly attractive woman, especially one who leads men into dangerous or disastrous situations.