The Character of Femme Fatale and Homme Fatal in 18th and 19th Century Literature

The aim of this Bachelors thesis is to introduce the most well known literary renditions of male and female predestined protagonistic types, specifically focusing on gothic fiction of the second half of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Unique attention will paid to the English gothic novels (Lewis, Maturin, Brontë); with an upper limit in regard to era defined by fin de siécle. The comparison of the chosen works discussed allows for the observation of the developmental changes and maturation of these characters for each individual author in context to esthetics of romanticism and decadence. Overall the aim of this work is to formulate and address the changes, if any, in the perception of the above mentioned character types, including their roles in English gothic literature