Knowledge Bank

In Dorothy L. Sayers', Strong Poison, Harriet Vane is accused of being a poisoner and a femme fatale by the minor characters of the novel. While her case is similar to accounts of the historical trials of Madeleine Smith, Florence Maybrick, and Adelaide Bartlett, as well as to previous fictional femme fatales, the portrayal of Vane differs in important ways. Unlike the way her historical and fictional predecessors are richly described, Vane's appearance is not emphasized in the novel, and she escapes most of the usual punishments reserved for the fictional femme fatales whose sexual affairs are revealed. Through research and text analysis, the thesis aims to show how the novel situates Vane against the femme fatale tradition, by subverting or doing away with the usual tropes of the femme fatale, not punishing Vane for her affair and not questioning her innocence, and portraying Vane as a person rather than a victim to be saved.