White Rose of Avalon

Femme Fatale Friday

  • Brigitte Bardot, French Film Icon

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I have chosen to write about the great French film star and sex symbol Brigitte Bardot!    Bardot’s career in film began in the 1950s when she was still a teenager, and it would continue into the 1970s.   She retired from film at age 39, as she believed…

  • Gillian Owens, Practical Magic Vixen

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I have chosen to feature my favorite character from Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic!   This book was the first in a series of four novels, the second two being prequels and the fourth a direct sequel to the original.   Gillian Owens appeared in the first and last of…

  • Katherine Swynford, Mistress of Royalty

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I have decided to discuss the life of Katherine Swynford.    Swynford was the lover of John of Gaunt, and she would become his third wife.   She was also the mother of the Beaufort line through her relationship with him. Katherine Swynford is a unique figure in medieval…

  • Bridget Cleary: The Tragedy of Ireland’s Faery Wife

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I will be looking at the sad story of Bridget Cleary.   Her story takes place in Ireland just before the turn of the twentieth century.    This was a time and place when the belief in faeries was still widespread.   Bridget Cleary had the misfortune of having…

  • Colette, Rebel Author

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I have chosen to discuss the French author Colette!   She is a favorite of mine, and I adore reading her novels in the original French.   Colette was a writer who began to gain notoriety in France after she got recognized for her work, which had previously been…

  • Darla, Vamp Tramp

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I have chosen to take a look at Darla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.   I have always been a huge fan of fantasy and supernatural-based books, films, and television.   Specifically, as someone that was a child in the 1990s, I grew up watching these shows…

  • Megara, Hercule’s Sassy Bride

     For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I have chosen to discuss Megara, wife of Hercules.   In particular, I will be looking at her Disney version!   The Disney film Hercules takes a variation on the traditional Greco-Roman myths.   In order to make the myths palatable for younger viewers, they had to make the…

  • Esmeralda, Notre Dame Siren

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday, I have chosen to write about the female lead of Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Norte Dame.   Esmeralda was a Romani, more commonly referred to as Gypsy, who danced in the streets in order to gain enough money to live on.   She truly loves living amongst the Gypsies…

  • Serena, Bewitched Siren

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday I have chosen to discuss the character of Serena from the 1960s sitcom Bewitched.    Serena was the cousin of Samantha Stephens, and was also portrayed by the fantastic Elizabeth Montgomery!    In the credits there was a running joke of listing the actress playing Serena as “Pandora Spocks”…

  • Maeve: Irish Faery Queen

    For this week’s Femme Fatale Friday I have chosen to discuss the Goddess Maeve!   Maeve was a faery Queen and her name literally means “she who intoxicates.”   There are several versions of her name, as is common for Celtic deities.   One of her most common names is Medb.    I would also…