A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a

stock character A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a fictional character in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film whom audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of st ...

of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of literature and art. Her ability to enchant, entice and hypnotize her victim with a spell was in the earliest stories seen as verging on supernatural; hence, the femme fatale today is still often described as having a power akin to an enchantress, seductress, witch, having power over men. Femmes fatales are typically villainous, or at least morally ambiguous, and always associated with a sense of mystification, and unease.

Mary Ann Doane Mary Ann Doane (born 1952) is the Class of 1937 Professor of Film and Media at the University of California, Berkeley and was previously the George Hazard Crooker Professor of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University. She is a pioneer in the ...

, ''Femme Fatales'' (1991) pp. 1–2 The term originates from the French phrase ''

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 ...

'', which means 'deadly woman' or 'lethal woman'. A femme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, or sexual allure. In many cases, her attitude towards sexuality is lackadaisical, intriguing, or frivolous. In some cases, she uses

lie A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the purpose of deceiving or misleading someone. The practice of communicating lies is called lying. A person who communicates a lie may be termed a liar. Lies can be inter ...

s or

coercion Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

rather than charm. She may also make use of some subduing weapon such as sleeping gas, a modern analog of magical powers in older tales. She may also be (or imply that she is) a victim, caught in a situation from which she cannot escape. A younger or underage version of a femme fatale is called a fille fatale, from the French phrase for 'deadly girl'. In American early 20th-century films, a ''femme fatale'' character was referred to as a vamp, a reference to ''The Vampire'', Philip Burne-Jones's 1897 painting, and Rudyard Kipling's later 1897 poem, and the 1909 play and 1915 film ''

A Fool There Was A Fool There Was may refer to: * ''A Fool There Was'' (1914 film) or ''She Wanted a Car'', a comedy directed by Frank Griffin and featuring Oliver Hardy * ''A Fool There Was'' (1915 film), a melodrama directed by Frank Powell and starring Theda B ...

''. Female mobsters (including Italian-American Mafia or

Russian Mafia Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) Gr ...

) have been portrayed as femmes fatales in films noir. Femmes fatales appear in James Bond films.

History

Ancient archetypes

The femme fatale archetype exists in the culture, folklore and myths of many cultures. Ancient mythical or legendary examples include

Inanna Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, Divine law, divine justice, and political p ...

, Lilith, Circe, Medea, Clytemnestra, Lesbia, Tamamo no Mae, and Visha Kanyas. Historical examples from classical times include

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

and Messalina, as well as the biblical figures Delilah, Jezebel, and

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...

. An example from Chinese literature and traditional history is Daji.

Early Western culture to the 19th century

The ''femme fatale'' was a common figure in the European Middle Ages, often portraying the dangers of unbridled female sexuality. The pre-medieval inherited biblical figure of Eve offers an example, as does the wicked, seductive enchantress typified in Morgan le Fay. The Queen of the Night in Mozart's '' The Magic Flute'' shows her more muted presence during the Age of Enlightenment. The ''femme fatale'' flourished in the

Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

period in the works of

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

, notably " La Belle Dame sans Merci" and " Lamia". Along with them, there rose the

gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...

'' The Monk'' featuring Matilda, a very powerful femme fatale. This led to her appearing in the work of Edgar Allan Poe, and as the vampire, notably in ''

Carmilla ''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...

'' and '' Brides of Dracula''. ''The Monk'' was greatly admired by the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusat ...

, for whom the femme fatale symbolised not evil, but all the best qualities of women; his novel ''

Juliette Juliette is a feminine personal name of French origin. It is a diminutive of Julie. Notable people *Juliette (Canadian singer) (1926-2017), full name Juliette Augustina Sysak Cavazzi, Canadian singer and TV personality of the 1950s-1970s. known ...

'' is perhaps the earliest wherein the femme fatale triumphs. Pre-Raphaelite painters frequently used the classic personifications of the femme fatale as a subject. Franz von Stuck 010

In the Western culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the ''femme fatale'' became a more fashionable

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

, and she is found in the paintings of the artists

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's prim ...

, Franz von Stuck, and Gustave Moreau. The novel '' À rebours'' by Joris-Karl Huysmans includes these fevered imaginings about an image of Salome in a Moreau painting: In 1891,

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, in his play ''

'': she manipulates her lust-crazed uncle, King Herod, with her enticing Dance of the Seven Veils (Wilde's invention) to agree to her imperious demand: "bring me the head of John the Baptist". Later, Salome was the subject of an opera by Strauss, and was popularized on stage, screen, and peep show booths in countless incarnations. She also is seen as a prominent figure in late 19th- and 20th-century opera, appearing in

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's '' Parsifal'' ( Kundry),

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

's "

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

' "

Samson et Delilah ''Samson and Delilah'' (french: Samson et Dalila, links=no), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater (n ...

" and

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

's " Lulu" (based on the plays "

Erdgeist Erdgeist is the Spirit of the Earth whom Johann Wolfgang von Goethe describes in ''Faust, Part 1''. 'Du, Geist der Erde, bist mir näher; schon fühl ich meine Kräfte höher,...Goethe depicts Erdgeist as a timeless being who endlessly weaves at t ...

" and " Die Büchse der Pandora" by Frank Wedekind). Other considerably famous ''femmes fatales'' include Isabella of France, Hedda Gabler of Kristiania (now Oslo),

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

of Austria, and, most famously,

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...

20th-century genres

Early 20th century

Silent film actress Alice Hollister (SAYRE 3236)

Mrs Patrick Campbell, George Bernard Shaw's "second famed platonic love affair", (she published some of his letters) and Philip Burne-Jones's lover and subject of his 1897 painting, ''The Vampire'', inspired Burne-Jones's cousin Rudyard Kipling to write his poem "The Vampire", in the year

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

was published. The poem, which began: "A fool there was ...", inspired

Porter Emerson Browne Porter Emerson Browne was an American playwright (June 22, 1879 – September 20, 1934), born Beverly, Massachusetts. History He was the author of numerous plays, including ''A Fool There Was'' (1909), which was adapted for film twice, in 1915 ...

to write the play, ''A Fool There Was'', becoming a 1909 Broadway production, and leading to the 1915 film, ''A Fool There Was'' starring Theda Bara, as "The Vamp". The short poem may have been used in the publicity for the 1915 film. 1910s

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

slang for ''femme fatale'' was ''vamp'', for ''vampire''. Another icon is Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. While working as an exotic dancer, she took the stage name Mata Hari. She was accused of German espionage during World War I and was put to death by a French firing squad. After her death she became the subject of many sensational films and books. The 1913 film '' The Vampire'' by Robert Vignola, contains a "vamp" dance. Protagonist Alice Hollister was publicised as "the original vampire". Femmes fatales appear 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 ...

, especially in its 'hard-boiled' sub-genre which largely originated with the crime stories of Dashiell Hammett in the 1920s. At the end of that decade, the French-Canadian villainess

Marie de Sabrevois Marie de Sabrevois is the antagonist in two of Kenneth Roberts' Arundel novels—''Arundel'' and ''Rabble in Arms'' (1929 and 1933). Conducting what we would now call psyops together with various males in the British North American establishment ...

gave a contemporary edge to the otherwise historical novels of Kenneth Roberts set during the American Revolution. Film villainess often appeared foreign, often of Eastern European or Asian ancestry. They were a contrast to the wholesome personas of actresses such as

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

and Mary Pickford. Notable silent-cinema vamps include Theda Bara, Helen Gardner, Louise Glaum, Valeska Suratt, Musidora, Virginia Pearson, Olga Petrova, Rosemary Theby, Nita Naldi, Pola Negri, Estelle Taylor, Jetta Goudal, and, in early appearances, Myrna Loy.

Post World War II

During the film-noir era of the 1940s and early-1950s, the femme fatale flourished in American cinema. Examples include Brigid O'Shaughnessy, portrayed by Mary Astor, who murders Sam Spade's partner in '' The Maltese Falcon'' (

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

); manipulative narcissistic daughter Veda (portrayed by

Ann Blyth Ann Marie Blyth (born August 16, 1928) is an American retired actress and singer. For her performance as Veda in the 1945 Michael Curtiz film ''Mildred Pierce'', Blyth was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is one of ...

) in ''Mildred Pierce'' who exploits her indulgent mother Mildred (portrayed by Joan Crawford) and fatally destroys her mother's remarriage to stepfather Monte Barragon (portrayed by Zachary Scott); Gene Tierney as Ellen Brent Harland in '' Leave Her to Heaven'' (

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

), and the cabaret singer portrayed by Rita Hayworth in '' Gilda'' (

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

), narcissistic wives who manipulate their husbands; Phyllis Dietrichson (

Barbara Stanwyck Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...

) in ''

Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American crime film noir directed by Billy Wilder, co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The screenplay was based on James M. Cain's 1943 novel of the same ...

'' (

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

), Ava Gardner in '' The Killers'' and Cora ( Lana Turner) in '' The Postman Always Rings Twice'', based on novels by Ernest Hemingway and

James M. Cain James Mallahan Cain (July 1, 1892 – October 27, 1977) was an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. He is widely regarded as a progenitor of the hardboiled school of American crime fiction. His novels ''The Postman Always Rings Twice ...

respectively, manipulate men into killing their husbands. In the Hitchcock film '' The Paradine Case'' (

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

), Alida Valli's character causes the deaths of two men and the near destruction of another. Another frequently cited example is the character Jane played by Lizabeth Scott in '' Too Late for Tears'' (

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

); during her quest to keep some dirty money from its rightful recipient and her husband, she uses poison, lies, sexual teasing and a gun to keep men wrapped around her finger. Jane Greer remains notable as a murderous femme fatale using her wiles on Robert Mitchum in '' Out of the Past'' (

). In Hitchcock's 1940 film and Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel ''Rebecca'', the eponymous femme fatale completely dominates the plot, even though she is already dead and we never see an image of her. '' Rocky and Bullwinkle'' Natasha Fatale, a curvaceous spy, takes her name from the ''femme fatale'' stock character.

1980s to the present

The femme fatale has carried on to the present day, in films such as '' Body Heat'' (1981) and '' Prizzi's Honor'' (1985) – both with

Kathleen Turner Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and two Tony Awards. Turner became widely k ...

, '' Blade Runner'' (1982) with Sean Young, '' Blue Velvet'' (1986) with Isabella Rossellini, ''

Fatal Attraction ''Fatal Attraction'' is a 1987 American psychological thriller film directed by Adrian Lyne from a screenplay by James Dearden, based on his 1980 short film '' Diversion''. Starring Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer, the film centers ...

'' (1987) with Glenn Close, '' The Witches'' with

Anjelica Huston Anjelica Huston ( ; born July 8, 1951) is an American actress and director. Known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as no ...

, '' Basic Instinct'' (1992) with Sharon Stone, '' Damage'' (1992) with Juliette Binoche, '' The Last Seduction'' (1994) with Linda Fiorentino, '' To Die For'' (1995) with Nicole Kidman, '' Lost Highway'' (1997) with Patricia Arquette, '' Devil in the Flesh'' (1998) and ''

Jawbreaker Jawbreaker may refer to: * Gobstopper, a hard candy with multiple layers Arts and entertainment * ''Jawbreakers'' (album), an album by Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Harry "Sweets" Edison * Jawbreaker (band), an American rock band * Jawbreakers (duo) ...

'' (1999), both with Rose McGowan, ''

Original Sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...

'' (2001) with Angelina Jolie, ''

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 ...

'' (2002) with Rebecca Romijn, and '' Jennifer's Body'' (2009), with Megan Fox. In 2013, Tania Raymonde played the title role in '' Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret''. In 2014, Eva Green portrayed a

in '' Sin City: A Dame to Kill For'' and Rosamund Pike starred in '' Gone Girl''. Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard has frequently played femmes fatales, in such films as '' A Private Affair'' (2002), '' A Very Long Engagement'', '' The Black Box'', '' Inception'', '' Midnight in Paris'', '' The Dark Knight Rises'' and ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''. Nicole Kidman has also played a few femmes fatales in films as '' To Die For'', '' The Paperboy'' and '' Moulin Rouge!''. The archetype is also abundantly found in American television. One of the most famous femmes fatales of American television is Sherilyn Fenn's

Audrey Horne Audrey Horne is a fictional character from the ABC television series ''Twin Peaks'', played by Sherilyn Fenn. The character was created by David Lynch. She was introduced in the pilot. The daughter of Ben and Sylvia Horne, sister of Johnny Horn ...

of the

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

cult series '' Twin Peaks''. In the TV series '' Femme Fatales'', actress

Tanit Phoenix Tanit Phoenix (born 24 September 1980) is a South African fashion model, actress and makeup artist. She is known for her swimwear and lingerie photo shoots after appearing in a ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 2003 and in '' GQ'' magazine ...

played Lilith, the host who introduced each episode

Rod Serling Rodman Edward Serling (December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975) was an American screenwriter, playwright, television producer, and narrator/on-screen host, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his anthology television series ' ...

-style and occasionally appeared within the narrative. In the Netflix TV series ''

Orange Is the New Black ''Orange Is the New Black'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''OITNB'') is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir '' Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Wo ...

'', actress Laura Prepon played Alex Vause, a modern femme fatale, who led both men and women to their destruction. Femmes fatales appear frequently in comic books. Notable examples include

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

's long-time nemesis Catwoman, who first appeared in comics in 1940, and various adversaries of The Spirit, such as P'Gell. This stock character is also often found in the genres of opera and

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

, where she will traditionally have a

mezzo Mezzo is the Italian word for "half", "middle" or "medium". It may refer to: Music *Mezzo-soprano or mezzo, a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices *Mezzo forte ("medium-loud") ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

or contralto range, opposed to the ingénue's

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

, to symbolize the masculinity and lack of feminine purity. An example is Hélène from ''

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 ''Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812'' (or simply ''The Great Comet'') is a sung-through musical adaptation of a 70-page segment from Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel ''War and Peace'' written by composer/lyricist Dave Malloy and directed by Rach ...

''.

Use in criminal trials

The term has been used by the media in connection with highly publicised criminal trials, such as the trials of

Jodi Arias Jodi is a feminine given name which may refer to: People * Jodi Albert (born 1983), English actress * Jodi Anasta (born 1985), Australian actress and model * Jodi Anderson (born 1957), American heptathlete * Jodi Appelbaum-Steinbauer (born 1956), ...

and Amanda Knox.