Cultural Constructions of the Femme Fatale [electronic resource] : From Pandora's Box to Amanda Knox /
Simkin, S.author.
The figure of the beautiful but lethal woman has haunted the Western imagination from ancient myth to contemporary film. Looking at news media, cinema, drama and other cultural forms, this study considers the interaction between representations of 'real life' 'femmes fatales' and their fictional counterparts.
Description based upon print version of record.
Cover; Contents; List of Figures; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Death in Perugia; From Pandora's box to Amanda Knox; The femme fatale; 'Actually evil. Not high school evil': The real and the fictive; 1 Defining the Femme Fatale; Introduction; The femme fatale: Opening Pandora's box; Early modern lethal women; The Victorian femme fatale: Fantasy and reality; Female criminality; The mask of beauty; 2 Frances Howard (1590-1632); The bride's still waiting at the altar: Two marriages; You will not die, it is not poison: The death of Sir Thomas Overbury
Ten thousand talkers: The circulation of the Overbury scandalJust like a woman: Early modern representations of femininity; She knows too much to argue: The querelle des femmes; One good deed before she died: The dangerous woman on stage; Power, greed and corruptible seed: The Duchess of Malfi; Inside the museums, the women go up on trial: The White Devil; Visions of Joanna: The Changeling; Images and distorted facts: Frances as malicious woman; How could they ever mistake you: The Witch and The True Tragicomedy; Drink up your blood like wine: Punishing the transgressive woman; Conclusion
3 Ruth Snyder (1891-1928)The murder of Albert Snyder; The woman in the case; Theatre of justice; The marble woman crumbles; 'Just a poor soul': Ruth by Ruth; Sentencing and execution; Ghosting: Picture Snatcher (1933); Tales told and retold; Versions of Ruth; Is nothing mine? Sophie Treadwell's Machinal (1928); Conclusion; 4 Amanda Knox; Introduction; Amanda Knox as celebrity murderess; You must remember this . . .; Devil or angel? The Amanda Knox show; Just a girl who can't say no? Knox's sexuality; Another grey area: Knox and her intertexts; Conclusion
'How long have I beheld the devil in crystal?'The laughing Medusa; 'Afraid of Losing Myself': Authoring identities; 'An Adventure of Selfhood'; Notes; References; Index
Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-224) and index.
The figure of the beautiful but lethal woman has haunted the Western imagination from ancient myth to contemporary film. Looking at news media, cinema, drama and other cultural forms, this study considers the interaction between representations of 'real life' 'femmes fatales' and their fictional counterparts.
Culture—Study and teaching.
Civilization—History.
Arts.
Cultural studies.
Communication.
Sociology.
Regional and Cultural Studies.
Cultural History.
Arts.
Cultural Studies.
Media Studies.
Gender Studies.