The Femme Fatale in American Literature By Ghada Sasa

Because realism is often seen as a precursor to naturalism, I begin by examining a number of wives in realistic texts. The wives that I examine in American realistic texts are Mrs. Lapham in William Dean Howells’ The Rise of Silas Lapham, Mrs. Adams in Booth Tarkington’s Alice Adams, and Mrs. Bart in Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth. These wives play a pivotal role in the destruction of their husbands and that wives such as these are paving the way for and giving birth to the stronger, more dangerous and threatening women in naturalistic writing the same way in which American realism has given birth to American naturalism.

In The Rise of Silas Lapham, the dominating effect Mrs. Lapham has on her husband becomes immediately visible as the interviewer is talking with Mr. Lapham in his office: “If my wife wasn’t good enough to keep both of us straight, I don’t know what would become of me” (7). This is the first time the reader is introduced to Mrs. Lapham, and as Mr. Lapham continues his life story to Bartley, he mentions the control his wife, Persis, has had over his life. Most important, Mrs. Lapham was his school teacher, a factor which is indicative of the controlling relationship she would later have on her husband. Being above him in education gives her more control over Mr. Lapham, and Mrs. Lapham never ceases to forget this factor in their marriage by constantly reminding him of his unworthiness and foolishness whenever she has the chance to do so.

Because of having the upper hand in this marriage, the wife manipulates her husband under the pretense of giving advice. For example, she urges him to take on a business partner in the paint business. We hear Silas explaining to Bartley, “My wife was at me all the time to take a partner—somebody with capital; but I couldn’t bear the idea” (14). Yet, the reader senses her greed in the acquisition of wealth that this paint may incur for them: “Well, you hain’t got a paint-mine, Silas Lapham; you’ve got a gold-mine” (9).