A Vision of the “Femme Fatale”:

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  • 「宿命の女」幻想
  • 「宿命の女」幻想--『みをつくし』から『邪宗門』へ
  • シュクメイ ノ オンナ ゲンソウ ミ オ ツクシ カラ ジャシュウモン エ
  • ―『みをつくし』から『邪宗門』へ
  • from <i>Miwotsukushi</i> to <i>Jyashumon</i>

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Abstract

<p>　In Jyashumon, published by KITAHARA Hakushu in 1909, love is often not sweet, but painful. In this article, I will focus on the women that appear in Jyashumon, defining them as one of the earliest representations of the “femme fatale” in Japanese literature.</p><p>　To begin with, I will examine Miwotsukushi of UEDA Bin, since this book greatly influenced the author of Jyashumon. We can find the appearance of fatal women in Miwotsukushi, a translation of selected passages. In II Trionfo della Morte by G. D’Annunzio, Ippolita, the heroine, is an invincible woman. Another female, Isolde, is also described as a woman with fatal attraction. In another passage, La Bûche of Maupassant, the woman is also very seductive. Throughout these passages, men can never resist these women, although they despise their coquetries.</p><p>　After being influenced by this kind of love, KITAHARA Hakushu wrote about corrupt love in Jyashumon. The women he writes about are often very seductive. Although the man hates the women’s coquetry, he doesn’t escape from them. They aren’t the traditional evil women found in Japanese literature. The only way the man can relieve himself is by death. In the end, the man kills his “femme fatale” and himself, just as Giorgio, the main character of D’Annunzio’s novel, did.</p><p>　Thus, the decadent love of seductive women in Jyashumon comes to an end with murdered women.</p>

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