University of Alberta 'That's Why the Lady is a Vamp' Discounes of Crirninality, Sexual Inversion and Vampirism in Fin-de-Siècle and Modemist Culhues April Miller A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Stucües and Research as partial fulnllment of the requirernents for the degree of Masters of Arts Department of English Edmonton, Alberta Spring 2000 National Liibrary Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions el Bbliographic Sewiees senrices bibliographiques 395 welltngton Street 395, Ne Welliigton Ortawa ON KIA W OEEawaON K1AW Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Liiof Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distri'bute or seii reproduire, prêter, distr'buer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfichdnim, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substântial extracts from it Ni Ia thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othenvise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Abstract This thesis hvestigates scientifïc discourses of criminality and homosexuality as indicators of public anxiety over the changing status of women in America and Bntain at the tum of the century. As women began to move beyond the confines of domesticity and the women's Bghts movement took hold, fernale social and sexual deviance was represented, in a myriad of cultural forms, as a dangerous source of social and racial decline. In criminological and evolutionary discomes, the criminal woman's body was constnicted as a physical and psychical illustration of atavistic reversion, an example of 'femininity' which, in overstepping the boundaries of acceptable female behavior, betrayed a dangerously primitive and overly masculine nature. Chapter one explores the rnasculinizing of exceptional women and the parallels between constmcts of female criminality and female sexual inversion as evidenced in Bram Stoker's Dracula. Chapter two considers the widespread appeal of the fernale semai predator and the multiple meanings of female vampirism by examining a wide range of popular representations, including paintings, pulp novels, silent fih and sheet music. By creating images of women that strongly Wed female sexual and social independence with perversion and monstrosity, the constmct of the 'mannish' female vampire was intended to wam against uncommonly independent 'femininity' and increasingiy uncontrollable women. Acknowledgements 1 would like to thank my advisor, JO-Ann Wallace, whose support and iosight made this essay much stronger. In particular, I would Like to thank her for encouraging me to tum my personal fascination with sheet music into a 'legitimate' academic pursuit. Thanks aiso to rny cornmittee members Pat Clements and Bill Beard for their input. And thanks to Erin Ward for being my 'ktreader' for this project and so many others. Contents List of Figures 1 Introduction: Recipe for a Vampire 3 1 Creating a Female Monster: Female Criminality and Socio-Sexual 8 Deviance in Bram Stoker's Dracula 2 Reproducing the Vampire: Women, Agency and Momtrosity in 49 Early-Tw entieth-Century Culture 3 Uncovering a Transgressive Potentiai and the Queer Meaning of 105 Top Hats and Sharp Teeth Appendix 1 115 Filmo graph y 116 Works Cited 118 List of Figures Figure 1. Head of a Crimind Figure 2. Head of a Criminal Figure 3. "Just By Way of a Change." Postcard, circa 190 1 Figure 4. "Popping the Question." Punch 1851 Figure 5. "Her First Masculine Attachent, Life magazine, 19 13 Figure 6. The criminal Gabrielle Bompard Figure 7. The female criminal, Louise C. Figure 8. "The Vampire". Edward Burne-Jones, 1897. Figure 9. Studio publicity photo of Theda Bara, circa 19 15. Figure 10. Studio publicity shot for La Belle Russe, 19 19. Figure 1 1. hblicity photo, circa 19 1 7. Figure 12. Publicity photo for Sin, 191 5. Figure 13. Publicity shot, circa 19 16. Figure 14. Advdsement fiom Photoplay magazine, June 1 9 18. Figure 1 5. Advertisement nom Photoplay magazine, March 19 17. Figure 16. A Fool niere Was song sheet, 19 13. Figure 17. I've Lost You So Why Should 1 Care song sheet, 1916 Figure 18. In the City of Broken Heurts song sheeî, 1916. Figure 19. Since Sarah Suw nteda Bara song sheeî, 19 17. Figure 20. Byron Gay's The Vamp song sheet, 1919. Figure 2 1. She's a Mean Job song sheeî, 1923. Figure 22. Just a Girl that Mm Forge? song sheet, 1923 99 Figure 23. Su& Green the Village Vamp Song sheeî, 1920 99 Figure 24. Rebecca Came Back From Mecca Song sheeî, 192 1 100 Figure 25. V~mpingSa1 Song sheet, 1922 100 Figure 27. Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel, 1930 Ill Figure 28. Marlene Dietrich in Morocco, 1930 111 Figure 29. Movie still from Queen Christha, 1933 111 Introduction: Recipe for a Vampire Mertrying, unsuccessfully, to summarize my thesis topic in ten words or les, 1 decided on a convenient, albeit ambiguous response to curious fiends: ?he vampire.' Wiîh startling fiequency, 1 found that the mere mention of vampires produced one of two results: a never-ending series of questions, or an uncordiortable silence. As 1 delved deeper into my subject matter, 1 began to realize that this aggregation of fear and fascination is characteristic of the public response to the vampire throughout history. Whether it be the lamia of Greek mythology, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Theda Bara's Vamp, or Fraa Rubel Kuzui's Bufi, the Vampire Shyer, the monstrous image of the vampire has captivated the popular imagination, inspiring both revolt and praise, for centuries. The vampire tnily is the monster we love to hate. While 1may have chosen the word 'vampire' to summarize my topic, this thesis investigates more than just the bloodsucking ghoul of ancient myth and folklore. Rather, 1 have chosen to explore how, through the deployment of discourses on degeneration, criminality and sexuak inversion, women went through a monstrous metamorphosis at the tum of the century as the New Woman, the sedinvert, the criminal and the sexually independent woman were assigned attributes of the vampire. As women began to move beyond the confines of domesticity and the women's rights movanent took hold, female social and sexual deviance was represented, in a rnyriad of cultural forms, as a cause of widespread social and racial decline. Finthemore, as dl women were deemed guilty by association, even seemingly 'normal' women were asmibed with distinctly vampinc physical and psychicd characteristics that challenged the conception of an idealized 'ferninitlet fom. During the fin-de-siècle, the public preoccupation with social degeneration, theories of evolution and changes to traditional gender roles both inspired and impacted a series of scientific discourses that served to link femaie sexual independence to semial perversion and social disease. Scientinc discourses of evolution and criminology sought to contain women within a haditional role by insisting that the woman who operated outside of the domestic realm threatnied the progress of the entire race. In criminological and evolutionary discourses, the criminal woman's body was constnicted as a physical and psychical illustration of atavistic reversion, an example of 'femininity' which, in oventepping the boundaries of acceptable kmale behavior, betrayed a dangerously primitive and overly masculine nature. Pseudoscientific discourses of crïminality insisted that as less evolved members of the race, al1 women harbored the potential for primitive reversion and criminal behavior, a criminality that manifested itself in a vampiric tendency to usurp the powers and privileges of the male. As has often been noted in analysis of the fernale offender, mord panic regarding women and crime often coincides with the periods when women make strides toward equality (Chesney Lind 2-3). At the tu.of the century, many people believed that sufnage and economic equality would render women incapable of Mlling their duties as wives and mothers, claiming that women who sought equality with men were fMgwith deviance and criminality. While women's naturaily primitive nature was viewed as the principle source of their deviant potentiai, the graduai increase in rights for women precipitated a fear of the complete dissolution of gender boundaries and the belief that women wodd increasingiy become participants in flagitious behavior. Just as the fin-de-siècle is often marked as a trirning point in popular understanding of gender relations, it is also fiequently highlighted as a pivotal moment in gay and lesbian history. As Glennis Byron explains, "this was not only the era of the New Woman, but also the tirne in which society became more aware of homosemrality," when the medical community cohed the term 'sema1 inversion' (19). Due to the link established between female criminaîity and chmging gender roles, the female offender was Unputed with many of the overly 'mannish' physical and cerebral characteristics associated with the female sexual invert. While the discourse of sexuai inversion may have been constnicted as a means of justifying the existence of the homosemial and denouncing the persecution of same-sex desire, theories of inversion, like Lombrosian theories of female criminaMy, aligned fmale independence with physicd and mental deviance and 'mannish' behavior. By suggesting that both sexuaiiy and socidly deviant women possess identifiably 'masculine' characteristics, discourses of crimuiaiity and sexual inversion atternpted to neutralize the dangerous potential of socidly dismptive types of women. My thesis, then, investigates scientinc and popular discourses of criminality and homosexuaiity as indicaton of public amiety over the changing status of turn-of-the- century women and the belief that changes to traditional gender roles threatened to stall, or even reverse, social and racial advancements.