The+Femme+Fatale

__The Femme Fatale__ 

She is dark, mysterious, irresistable, and she could quite possibly kill you. The Femme Fatale, or deadly female, is a sexual and finacial archetype. She seduces men for the sake of her own personal gain, and is usually drawn to money and power. This character is typically villainous, like Adams first wife, Lilith, and the Rusalka from Slavic mythology. She can also be an antiheroine, like Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. Today, the Femme Fatale remains and example of female independence, and a threat to traditional female gender roles. The first example of a Femme Fatale is Lilith, Adams first wife, from Jewish Legend. She was both sexual and powerful. She felt that since she was created out of clay, she was Adams equal. He wished to rule over Lilith, but she was both proud and willful. When she had taken enough, Lilith fled the garden and refused to return to Adam. Talmudic writings tell stories of Lilith as an irresistibly seductive demoness with long hair and wings. In these legends she seduces unwary men, then savagely kills the children she bears for them. In these writings, Lilith is a perfect example of a villainous Femme Fatale. The second example of a Femme Fatale is the Rusalka from Slavic mythology. A Rusalka is a female ghost, water nymph, or mermaid-like demon that dwells in waterways. In most traditions, the Rusalka were fish women who lived at the bottom of rivers. At midnight, they would walk out to the bank and dance in the meadows. If they saw a handsome man, they would mesmerize them with songs and dancing, and lead them to the river floor. Their primary dwelling was in the water, but at night the Rusalka would come out, climb trees, sing songs, and dance. In some versions of the myth, they are very pale, with green eyes and wet green or golden hair. In all of these myths, it is said that if their hair were to dry out, they would die.  My modern Femme Fatale example that I have chosen is Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction, played by Uma Thurman. Mia Wallace as a character, represents mystery, temptation, and the unknown, much like an older version of the Femme Fatale. Mia is married to Marsellus Wallace, a rich and powerful mob boss. Throughout the film, she subtly uses her sexuality to get what she wants. Mia is not classified as a villainous Femme Fatale, but one would call her a modern anti-heroine, simply because she unknowingly puts Vincent Vega in a dangerous position. Mia's look was modeled after many Film Noir actresses, who were also of the Femme Fatale archetype. The psychology of the Femme Fatale has evolved throughout the years. Originally her story was meant to scare men away, to build a moral foundation, to tell boys and men alike that women were out to strip them of their power. Over time, the Femme Fatale has become a symbol of power and liberation to the female sex. In many situations, the Femme Fatale is the dominant one in her story, which is not usually the case, or wasn't, in mythology. Carl Jung suggests that the Femme Fatale, also known as the Temptress, is part of the males unconcious called Anima. Anima is an inner female personality, one that Jung believe every male had, while every female has an inner male personality called Animus. The reason that we still see the Femme Fatale in entertainment today, is because her archetype combines two things that humans today are most interested in; sex and murder. Now where would we, or the entertainment industry, be without this archetype? In a drab, boring world with no baby killing demoness' or deadly mermaid-ghosts, that's where.

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