The Femme Fatale in American Literature By Ghada Sasa

In addition, Lee Clark Mitchell, in Determined Fictions: American Literary Naturalism, argues that protagonists in realistic writings assume a sense of responsibility; the naturalistic characters, on the other hand, lack the sense of will and responsibility associated with realistic characters, hence their impulsiveness and irresponsible actions (3).

Furthermore, John J. Conder, in Naturalism in American Fiction: The Classic Phase, examines American literary naturalism as a movement and traces the idea of “the free-will determinist” in this literary movement (16). In his introductory chapter, Conder outlines the various interpretations of naturalism and asserts, “[T]here does exist an important body of fiction, once called naturalistic, that does indeed possess philosophic coherence, and that such coherence depends on the evolution of a concept of questioning man’s freedom” (4). However, Conder suggests that this movement does not only question man’s freedom,

By examining certain naturalistic texts, Conder’s strategies for interpreting the actions of these characters have helped me in validating my own theories with regard to the femme fatale. Is she a determined character, or is she a free agent with a will of her own? This book attempts to provide an answer as to whether or not the femmes fatales discussed in this study give way more to the free will or submit to the deterministic constraints present in their worlds.