Seductresses

[stillill]

Hello, for a paper I am writing I need to disscuss the representation of women through a range of texts. The novel I have chosen is Tess of the d'Urbervilles and I'll be looking at Tess as both the seductress and the seduced. Tess is quite unaware of the power her beauty and femininity hold, an unwilling seductress, if you will.

For my other text I would like to use a poem in which the female character is a very powerful seductress; a siren of sorts- a woman who is very aware of her seductive powers and uses them for evil / 'bad' purposes.

Thank you to anyone who replies!

[Whifflingpin]

Two relevant poems that spring to mind are:

"Lamia" by Keats, and

"Christobel" by Coleridge.

Lots of juicy discussion stuff in those. Enjoy

.

And, according to T H White, the whole of Morte d'Arthur pivots around the evil seduction of Arthur by his half-sister, Morgause.

[~Maude~]

Siren Song
by Margaret Atwood

This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is irresistable:

the song that forces men
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see the beached skulls

the song nobody knows
because anyone who has heard it
is dead, and the others can't remember.

Shall I tell you the secret
and if I do, will you get me
out of this bird suit?

I don't enjoy it here
squatting on this island
looking picturesque and mythical

with these two feathery maniacs,
I don't enjoy singing
this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you,
to you, only to you.
Come closer. This song

is a cry for help: Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are unique

at last. Alas
it is a boring song
but it works everytime.

[thevintagepiper]

Vivien from Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" is a very good example.