Fatal Women: Lesbian Sexuality and the Mark of Aggression

Lynda Hart

Published by Princeton University Press 1994

Fatal Women

Lesbian Sexuality and the Mark of Aggression

Lynda Hart

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691261188

Overview
Contents

About this book

A groundbreaking and provocative look at how violent women have been represented in literature, plays, film, and performance

Fatal Women builds a complex and original theory of how the shadow of the lesbian animates representations of violent women, from the Victorian novel to films depicting women who kill. Starting from the historical link between criminality and sexual deviancy, Lynda Hart critiques constructions of gender, race, class, sexualities, and the cultural politics of the 1990s. Her introductory chapter constructs a theory of female violence across the discourses of sexology, criminology, and psychoanalysis. Subsequent chapters detail this theory in the Victorian novel and stage sensation Lady Audley’s Secret; Frank Wedekind’s Lulu Plays, which introduced the “invert” to the European stage; the films Thelma and Louise, Mortal Thoughts, and Basic Instinct; the political intersection of race and gender in Single White Female; the performance art of Karen Finley in the context of the censorship debates; the fate of Aileen Wuornos, dubbed the first “female serial killer” by the FBI; and the Split Britches’ performance Lesbians Who Kill.

A major contribution to lesbian theory and cultural studies, Fatal Women is certain to be read widely by scholars, students, and anyone interested in the politics of representation.

Author / Editor information

Lynda Hart (1953–2000) was professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. Her books include Sam Shepard’s Metaphorical Stages, Making a Spectacle: Feminist Essays on Contemporary Women’s Theatre, and (with Peggy Phelan) Acting Out: Feminist Performances.

Reviews

"A key event in the study of women and sexuality. Linda Hart's discussion of the paradox of lesbianism in modern culture offers the most important contribution to lesbian studies to date. Its smooth negotiations among sexology, legal discourses, psychoanalytic theories of desire, and sexual politics in relation to class and race yield a brilliant view of lesbianism as what Hart calls the ghost in white heterosexual patriarchy."—Julia Epstein, Haverford College

"It is a female-centered, deeply thoughtful and provocative work, a most original contribution to lesbian readings of popular culture that is sure to inspire further lesbian theory."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	C
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
1. Introduction: The Paradox of Prohibition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
2. The Victorian Villainess and the Patriarchal Unconscious Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
3. Enter the Invert: Frank Wedekind's Lulu Plays Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
4. Chloe Liked Olivia: Death, Desire, and Detection in the Female Buddy Film Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
5. Reconsidering Homophobia: Karen Finley's Indiscretions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
6. Race and Reproduction: Single White Female Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
7. Why .The Woman Did It: Basic Instinct and Its Vicissitudes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
8. Surpassing the Word: Aileen Wuornos Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
9. Afterword: Zero Degree Deviancy – Lesbians Who Kill Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197

Language: English
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 224

eBook

Published: November 14, 2023
ISBN: 9780691261188