''Cherchez la femme'' () is a French phrase which literally means 'look for the woman'. It is a cliche in

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

, used to suggest that a mystery can be resolved by identifying a

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

or female love interest.

Origin of the phrase

The expression comes from the novel ''The Mohicans of Paris'' ''( Les Mohicans de Paris)'' published 1854–1859 by Alexandre Dumas (père). The phrase is repeated several times in the novel; the first use reads:

''Cherchez la femme, pardieu! cherchez la femme!''

Look for the woman, by God! Look for the woman!

Dumas also used the phrase in his 1864 theatrical adaptation:

''Il y a une femme dans toutes les affaires; aussitôt qu'on me fait un rapport, je dis: « Cherchez la femme ! »''

There is a woman in every case; as soon as someone brings me a report, I say, 'Look for the woman!'

Significance

The phrase embodies a

cliché A cliché ( or ) is an element of an artistic work, saying, or idea that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being weird or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was consi ...

of detective

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

: no matter what the problem, a woman is often the root cause. The phrase has thus come to refer to explanations that automatically find the same root cause, no matter the specifics of the problem. In his 1963 detective novel ''The Chill'', Ross Macdonald's sleuth

Lew Archer Lew Archer is a fictional character created by American-Canadian writer Ross Macdonald. Archer is a private detective working in Southern California. Between the late 1940s and the early '70s, the character appeared in 18 novels and a handful of ...

offers a wry analysis of the concept, stating: "When a woman is murdered, you ask her estranged husband where he was at the time. It's the

corollary In mathematics and logic, a corollary ( , ) is a theorem of less importance which can be readily deduced from a previous, more notable statement. A corollary could, for instance, be a proposition which is incidentally proved while proving another ...

of ''cherchez la femme''."Macdonald, Ross (1963), ''The Chill'', p. 175 of Vintage Books reissue edition In the 1974 film ''

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

'', Mrs. Mulwray,

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Faye Dunaway, many accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden ...

's character, attempts to suss out J. J. Gittes (

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

's character) by murmuring "''cherchez la femme''" to him in bed, insinuating that a woman is why he left the LAPD. A character (a mud turtle) in the comic strip ''Pogo'' is named "Churchill 'Churchy' LaFemme".

References

External links

* {{wikiquote-inline, Alexandre Dumas French words and phrases Quotations from literature 1850s neologisms Detective fiction Alexandre Dumas

Origin of the phrase

Significance

See also

References

External links