The Femme Fatale in American Literature By Ghada Sasa

Paradoxically, they are controlled by their surrounding environment, they are dominated in every possible way, and they do not have a will of their own. These irreconcilable oppositions are what give birth to the femme fatale—the kind of woman who, by using her sexuality, is simultaneously determined, yet free. She lacks freedom of the will, yet, at the same time, she controls freedom of the will. She is a victim, yet she is also a victimizer. She is a slave to circumstances, yet she aspires to be free. She is an innocent, harmless, dominated individual in society, yet she is devilish and domineering. All of these contradictions found in this femme fatale are the product of this literary movement. It has created this type of woman—the femme fatale who is caught in the tension between the need to be free and the necessity of being determined. In this way, the femme fatale in American naturalism may well be read in the context of Elaine Showalter’s influential article “Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness.” Showalter argues, “[T]he ways in which women conceptualize their bodies and their sexual and reproductive functions are intricately linked to their cultural environments” (259). The cultural environment is what compels the women in this study to decide to use the power of their femininity.

In my analysis of the femme fatale figure in American naturalism, I deliberately choose Trina Sieppe, Caroline Meeber, Edna Pontellier, and Helga Crane as representatives of this figure created because of this literary movement. I show, in my study, how these four women, despite their differences, share common ground. Therefore, throughout the chapters of this book, point by point comparisons between these women will be made. All the female protagonists have harsh battles to fight against heredity and environment. However, they refuse to become puppets of these dominating factors and emerge, as a result, as femmes fatales. Trina Sieppe is a victim of hereditary traits, Sister Carrie is a victim of the cruel materialistic city, Edna Pontellier is a victim of patriarchy, and Helga Crane is a victim of the color of her skin.