Femme Fatale: A visual/textual reading of the figuration of Justine in Lawrence Durrell’s The Alexandria Quartet
Kreuiter, Allyson
the female character, Justine, in Lawrence
Durrell’s The Alexandria quartet. Adopting
a feminist Gothic position, I shall consider
how Justine’s portrayal as a femme fatale
makes her a vehicle for Durrell’s articulation
of a misogynistic perspective throughout
his tetralogy. Throughout the article, my
contention will be that Durrell’s deployment
of certain Gothic motifs, in this instance the
vampire, automaton, marionette and doll,
alongside the trope of the femme fatale,
fashion Justine’s embodiment as a monstrousfeminine
Other and the locus of masculine
fears. My reading will also adopt the rather
unconventional position of reading art images
into Durrell’s narrative, in order to become a
critical interpreter of his textual-visuality
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