The Femme Fatale in American Literature By Ghada Sasa

She mingles with the aristocrats and the rich and powerful leaders of high society. When she tries to keep up with these wealthy acquaintances by drifting from one party to another, she accumulates gambling and dressmaking debts. When her aunt Julia Peniston learns of her debts, she disowns her. As a result, Lily is forced to earn her living first as a secretary and then as a seamstress, only to fail in both jobs because she lacks adequate training and physical endurance. She is unable to survive economically by her independent efforts as a wage earner. Like her father’s death, Lily’s suicide at the end of the novel is a result of her mother’s influence.

Mrs. Lapham, Mrs. Adams, and Mrs. Bart are three examples of controlling, demanding wives who play a significant role in the destruction of their husbands. Given the fact that all three wives are mainly concerned with the money that can be generated from their husbands’ labor, all three wives are what I label as “deadly wives.” They care more about the financial aspect of their marriages than they do about the well being of their husbands and children. The destructive wives in American realism discussed in this introduction serve as a preliminary version of more dangerous and deadly women that appears in American naturalism.

The Femme Fatale and American Naturalism

This book takes a closer look at some of the women produced in American naturalistic writings. These women are facing a dilemma as to their place in the universe. They are enslaved to their determinism, and yet at the same time, they are searching for their freedom and individuality. They want to rebel against their surrounding environment, to break free from dominance, and to have a will of their own.