My old (not electronically updated) OED gives the earliest citation for femme fatale as 1912, George Bernard Shaw writing in a letter, and therefore it has to be much earlier. I would guess, 1860s? Possibly much earlier, circa Romanticism?
My OED lumps all the "femme" constructions together, which is extremely annoying.
ETA: the new edition 3 online has a citation from 1879, which is better, and dates it back to "1800 or earlier" in the French French (rather than the English French) usage.
1879 St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat 21 July 2/3 It has intensified the disposition of most people here to regard the unhappy lady as essentially a femme fatale, a woman whose influence brings a curse to all within its range.
A 1954 citation seems to be in the context of a film noir type of thing being reviewed.
M. F. Rodell Myst. Fiction ix. 56 Whirling in a high-powered car from Monte Carlo to Cap d'Antibes on the trail of an exotically beautiful femme fatale.
However, with only four citations, it is difficult to track nuance and application.
I have no real expertise in this area, whatever it is, but it's a very old concept (Eve) aimed at pushing off responsibility for misdeeds onto women. But it's also crossed with sirens of various styles---irresistibly sexually attractive women---and thus the woman herself is not a person, really, she has no control over her magick sexiness either. The better appearances of the trope in film noir are the ones with agency, motive, and purpose, and that sets the cardboard ones at a disadvantage.
I think I have a book about this in a box somewhere.
ETA2: The Google ngram viewer is not particularly helpful, but does peg some uses in French to the 1820s and shows English usage racing upward from the Roaring '20's. But given the quality of their scanning, and the 1800 cutoff, not so useful.
no subject
My OED lumps all the "femme" constructions together, which is extremely annoying.
ETA: the new edition 3 online has a citation from 1879, which is better, and dates it back to "1800 or earlier" in the French French (rather than the English French) usage.A 1954 citation seems to be in the context of a film noir type of thing being reviewed.However, with only four citations, it is difficult to track nuance and application.
I have no real expertise in this area, whatever it is, but it's a very old concept (Eve) aimed at pushing off responsibility for misdeeds onto women. But it's also crossed with sirens of various styles---irresistibly sexually attractive women---and thus the woman herself is not a person, really, she has no control over her magick sexiness either. The better appearances of the trope in film noir are the ones with agency, motive, and purpose, and that sets the cardboard ones at a disadvantage.
I think I have a book about this in a box somewhere.
ETA2: The Google ngram viewer is not particularly helpful, but does peg some uses in French to the 1820s and shows English usage racing upward from the Roaring '20's. But given the quality of their scanning, and the 1800 cutoff, not so useful.