Honors Theses and Capstones

Date Completed

Fall 2023

Abstract

From the instant Catherine Tramell stepped on screen with shaven, glossy legs and a perfectly curled, bouncy, blonde bob, Basic Instinct (1992) became a cult classic, centered around the dangerous and seductive femme fatale who makes the movie tick. Nearly 25 years later, a new monstress steps on screen as a suited, quirky, slicked-back assassin with a penchant for curly-haired women and a destiny to reform the femme fatale trope: Villanelle of Killing Eve.

The co-lead and resident femme fatale of Killing Eve, Villanelle, subverts the traditional role of the femme fatale in a decentering of the patriarchy through her queer identity, desexualization, and particular use of violence. In this paper, I will explore the ways in which Villanelle disrupts the heteronormative and patriarchal stereotypes typically accredited to the femme fatale. I will begin by establishing Killing Eve’s representation of the femme fatale in comparison to an elemental representation of the traditional femme fatale, Catherine Tramell of Basic Instinct. Then, I will move into the discussion of how Villanelle queers the trope through her emotional intimacy with another woman, her desexualization, and her denial of the abject. I will also explore the ways in which Killing Eve abandons the male gaze through Villanelle’s relinquishment of sexually commodified and objectified violence. Lastly, I will conclude with the ways in which Villanelle provides an opportunity to move forward with the femme fatale trope in a queered world.

First Advisor

Robin Hackett

College or School

COLA

Department or Program

English

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

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