The beautiful stranger The genetics of the femme fatale in cinema and literature

The femme fatale archetype, armed and venomous, was associated very early on with the crime genre, in Alexandre Dumas (Milady) and Maurice Leblanc (Joséphine Balsamo) alike. Film, for its part, seized on the figure and elevated her to the level of myth. This study will measure her presence in classic crime novels as well as her representation in several film productions from the early twentieth century.