FEMME FATALE REPRESENTATION IN THE CONTEXT OF GENDER; BECKY SHARP (1935) MOVIE

Abstract

In the history of literature and art, the representation and construction of women is often characterized by their gender by male artists and writers. Until the 19th century, the representation of women in western culture was characterized by intensely hegemonic cultural creations, traditionally struggling with the power of the unequal sex, within male-defined spaces. Cultural creations, and more specifically representations of women, are based on or serve to recreate ideologies that are accepted but not questioned by society, such as the assumed power and superiority of men over women. The function of ideology is to curb overt power relations in a society at a given point in history and to portray them as part of the natural, eternal order of things. The representation of women in Victorian literature and art was closely linked to broader themes of femininity, gender roles and social expectations. The femme fatale is seen as a symbol of power against male-dominated ideologies and goes beyond normative female sexuality. In this respect, Becky Sharp (1935) is one of the films in which the ideological function is reproduced
and the femme fatale representation emerges. In the film, Becky Sharp is often associated with sexuality, manipulation and power. Through her sexual appeal and manipulative actions, she controls her chosen victims and bankrupts them by causing them to break away from society. This article examines the characterization of Vanity Fair in nineteenth-century England, particularly in Victorian art and literature, as depicted in William Thackeray’s Vanity Fair: A Novel Without a Hero by William Thackeray and the film Becky Sharp (1935) adapted from the book by Rouben Mamoulian, this article examines the representation of the femme fatale from an ideological perspective with visuals from the film and excerpts from the book. The aim of this study is to trace the major social and historical changes of the Victorian era in the context of film and literature, and to examine how they affected the construction of the femme fatale in the context of gender. The study explores the concept of femme fatale in a feminist context, demonstrating that while women use female sexuality to challenge the dominant ideology of men, they are still bound by the limitations and expectations of society. Holistically, this article aims to explore the construction and development of the femme fatale representation in film, and the formal and historical transformations of this image.