Reimagining Delilah’s Afterlives as Femme Fatale: The Lost Seduction
Reimagining Delilah’s Afterlives as Femme Fatale: The Lost Seduction

Reimagining Delilah’s Afterlives as Femme Fatale: The Lost Seduction

in Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies

by Caroline Blyth

Pages 208
Publisher T&T Clark
Published 2017
ISBN-13 9780567673121
The story of Samson and Delilah in Judges 16 has been studied and retold over the centuries by biblical interpreters, artists, musicians, filmmakers and writers. Within these scholarly and cultural retellings, Delilah is frequently fashioned as the quintessential femme fatale - the shamelessly seductive 'fatal woman' whose sexual treachery ultimately leads to Samson's downfall. Yet these ubiquitous portrayals of Delilah as femme fatale tend to eclipse the many other viable readings of her character that lie, underexplored, within the ambiguity-laden narrative of Judges 16 - interpretations that offer alternative and more sympathetic portrayals of her biblical persona.

In Reimagining Delilah's Afterlives as Femme Fatale, Caroline Blyth guides readers through an in-depth exploration of Delilah's afterlives as femme fatale in both biblical interpretation and popular culture, tracing the social and historical factors that may have inspired them. She then considers alternative afterlives for Delilah's character, using as inspiration both the Judges 16 narrative and a number of cultural texts which deconstruct traditional understandings of the femme fatale, thereby inviting readers to view this iconic biblical character in new and fascinating lights.

  • Table of Contents
  • List of Images
  • Acknowledgements
  • Abbreviations
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: The Femme Fatale: Cultural Icon
  • Chapter 2: Mind the Gap Part 1: Delilah's Afterlives as Femme Fatale in Biblical Interpretation
  • Chapter 3: Mind the Gap Part 2: Delilah's Afterlives as Femme Fatale in Popular Culture
  • Chapter 4: Alternative Afterlives: Deconstructing Delilah as Femme Fatale
  • Conclusions
  • Bibliography
  • Author Index
  • Index of Biblical Texts

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