Femme Fatale” in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites

“Femme Fatale” in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites

by Mario Vazquez-Morillas

Mario Vazquez-Morillas

“Femme Fatale” in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites

Introduction

The first time I heard about the concept of femme fatale in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the

Carmelites (1956) I was sitting in a repertoire class. Our professor stated that, in French Opera,

there are three different kinds of femme fatale, women who are destructive in different ways. He

mentioned that these three kinds of lethal women were featured in Poulenc’s piece. His first type

of femme fatale was represented by female figures who were victims of the circumstances;

women who do not possess any intention of destroying anyone or anything, but accidentally end

up destroying everything around them. According to his thinking, Blanche de la Force, the main

character of Carmelites, belongs to this first type.

Even when his points were not academically supported, the class seemed to accept them

immediately. Nevertheless, the veracity of this statement is easily arguable. Femme fatale is a

very striking, degrading concept that is misapplied to Blanche, who certainly possesses no evil

intentions, conscious or unconscious. Rather than just a victim of circumstance, Blanche decides

to choose her own fate, and to die with conviction. This is one of the reasons why she does not

suit the image of the fatal woman stereotype.

The idea of a femme fatale originated in the mid-nineteenth century and opposed the

image of the docile, innocent Victorian woman who was not even considered an individual.

According to Clayborne, the virtues of a Victorian woman included “physical weakness, mental

incapacity, and universal ignorance.”1 By contrast, the femme fatale image revolves around

women who use seductiveness and cunning to achieve their ultimate goals—women that lead

men into emotional or economic destruction, danger, and even death. Certainly, none of these

1 Joseph Clayborne, “The Victorian Femme Fatale: Mirror of the Decadent Temperament” (PhD diss., TTC, 1968), 11.


concepts seems flattering to womankind, especially in the light of the fact that the concept of

femme fatale in opera is not only related to men’s destruction, but also to the deaths of the fatal

women themselves.

Women in opera have died for many reasons and in many different ways; it is not

surprising that the source that leads these women to death is usually a man. Men in opera are so

often related to women’s death that it seems surprising no one has ever considered creating the

concept of an homme fatale. Nevertheless, in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, it is

possible to find an exception to the rule of death caused by a male agent; this exception is

represented by Blanche. While it might be appropriate to blame God (the ultimate male figure of

power in the history of humanity) or even Robespierre himself for the historic decapitation of the

Carmelite order, it is easily noticeable that Blanche’s intentions, motivations, and fears would

lead her to death whether any male figure was involved in the plot or not.

Blanche does not represent the figure of a femme fatale. In her, Poulenc created a

fascinating character that has the potential to take this concept in a different direction: one that is

literal and ultimately dignified. Blanche is a heroine and a self-destructive agent at the same

time; she does not intend to destroy anyone, but her pathological fear of death is ultimately lethal

for herself. In other words, Blanche is not outwardly deadly at all, but her psychological profile,

actions, and decisions reveal that she is self-destructive.

The main purpose of this research is to disassociate the concept of femme fatale from its

traditional associations with manipulation, seduction, and cruelty and, instead, to analyze it from

a literal and humanistic point of view. Creating a clear distinction between the classic femme

fatale and self-destructiveness will set the basis to evaluate Blanche not simply as a woman, but

as a human being: one who faces a tragic paradox as her biggest fear in the world. The avenue


for overcoming that fear is represented by the same idea: death. Blanche has to face death in

order to stop fearing it.

Content

I. Historical antecedents of Dialogues of the Carmelites—An introduction to the historical

background involved in the creation of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites

A. The Martyrs of Compiègne

B. Gertrude von le Fort and Georges Bernanos

II. Francis Poulenc and the opera’s genesis—A brief description of Poulenc’s personal

circumstances which led into the creation of the opera, as well as a general description of

its musical style.

A. Poulenc’s personal approach to Bernanos’s text

B. Musical Style in Dialogues of the Carmelites

III. Femme Fatale vs. Self-destructive agent: Blanche’s unique fatalness—An analysis of

Blanche’s personality, including psychological perspectives and musical examples.

A. Brief origins of a stereotype

B. Involuntary self-destruction: Fear of death and redemption through others

C. Musical representations of fear and Blanche’s personality

IV. Conclusions


Historical antecedents of Dialogues of the Carmelites

The Martyrs of Compiègne

Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites relates the story of Blanche de la Force, a fictional

character placed into the historical decapitation of sixteen Carmelite nuns during Robespierre’s

Reign of Terror. In Poulenc’s opera, Blanche becomes a nun after realizing that her own fears

and weaknesses prevent her from having a normal life in the real world. As the plot develops,

Blanche overcomes her fears and voluntarily dies on the guillotine with the other sisters.

The beginning of the French Revolution (1789) emblematized the ideals of universal

freedom and equality. However, as the revolution went on, these ideals not only disappeared, but

also slowly transmuted into Robespierre’s Reign of Terror.

Toward the end of the Revolution, sixteen Carmelite nuns were executed at the Place du

Trône. The order of the Carmelites of Compiègne offered their lives in order to restore peace in

France, and chose to remain in their habits when the privileges of the clergy were removed. All

religious vows seemed to oppose “the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and the ultimate

authority of human reason.”12

Most women in France were opposed to the suppression of the

values of Catholicism, and they expressed their discontent towards the new resolutions of the

Republic through active participation. The Carmelite order, headed by the Prioress Madame

Lidoine, chose to manifest their rebelliousness through pacifist resistance.

Five years after the Revolution began, the order of the Carmelites was arrested and

condemned to the guillotine. The chronology of their martyrdom transcended the years thanks to

1 Steve Payne and Phyllis Zagano, The Carmelite Tradition (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2011), 105.


documents such as Sister Marie’s memoirs (as she escaped the execution), the Carmelites’s

declaration to the tribunal, and recent works that include individual biographies for each sister.23

Gertrude von Le Fort and Georges Bernanos

The German author Gertrud von Le Fort found inspiration in the story of the Martyrs of

Compiègne to create her novel Die Letzte am Schafott (1931). She created Blanche’s character so

as to portray her own fears and concerns about the upcoming World War II and the loss of

Christian values, she also gave Blanche a French version of her own last name, but their personal

connection goes further beyond. Le Fort herself explained: “her existence came from inside me .

. . Born of a time of impending doom she became the embodiment of fear.”34

Le Fort’s Blanche is a victim of the world’s instability, a noblewoman whose mother died

in childbirth. She seeks protection in the Carmelite convent, and comfort in God’s grace.

Nevertheless, Blanche is not mature enough to face her new religious life and returns to her

father. After witnessing his execution and being forced to drink his blood, she enters a state of

astonishment. Meanwhile, the Carmelites had been condemned to death. Blanche still embodies

a trance-like state of absence when she decides to join her sisters on the scaffold; by this point

she has become a symbol of the world’s fear, uniquely driven by divine grace. Thus, Le Fort

“annihilates Blanche’s personality as the character surrenders her own will to Christ’s grace.”45

In 1947, Father Brückberger and Philippe Agostini commissioned the French author

Georges Bernanos to create a screenplay version of Le Fort’s novel. Bernanos’s Catholic faith

2 Cynthia C. Beard, “Opera at the Threshold of a Revolution: Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites (1953-1956)” (PhD diss.,

UNT, 1968), 24–25. 3 Quoted in Jeremy Sams, “From the Scaffold to La Scala,” Opera 50, no. 5 (May 1999): 513. 4 Astrid Heyer, “The Bernanosian Metamorphosis of Blanche de la Force,” Renascence 48, no. 1 (Fall 1995): 29.


and fascination for the topic made him take on the commission.

Bernanos was dying of cancer; he knew this would be his last work. Unsurprisingly, he

took a personal approach to the plot. In his Dialogues, he emphasized the importance of the

character of Mme. Croissy, the dying Prioress. She is a devoted Carmelite with strong

convictions who feels a special connection with Blanche. Mme. Croissy dies earlier in the plot;

she experiences a death framed by agony, humiliation, and blasphemy as she loses her mind.

Bernanos touches the subject of transference of grace as Mme. Croissy experiences the kind of

death that would better suit Blanche. This phenomenon of “exchange of deaths” allows Blanche

to face death with dignity and serenity when she mounts the scaffold.

Bernanos also turned Blanche into a credible and human character who finds her own

way to salvation. She is concerned about honor; she knows that her fears are not well suited for

the noble family she comes from. Thus, she tries to find honor in serving God. She overcomes

her fears and accepts her own destiny rather than waiting for God’s grace to motivate her.56

5 Heyer, “The Bernanosian Metamorphosis of Blanche de la Force,” 32.


Francis Poulenc and the opera’s genesis

Poulenc’s personal approach to Bernanos’s text

Francis Poulenc began the composition of Carmelites in 1953. The subject of the Martyrs

of Compiègne was originally suggested by Valcarenghi, the head of Ricordi. Poulenc became

completely convinced of the project after reading Bernanos’s text; “Obviously, it is made for

me,” he wrote.1 Poulenc, who suffered fits of manic-depression, was aware that his precarious

emotional stability and nervous collapses could negatively affect the creation of the opera.

Nevertheless, he had a confident start. He was emotionally motivated by his relationship with a

young man named Lucien Roubert. Roubert was dying of tuberculosis, and Poulenc seemed to

find joy in taking care of someone who was “even more needy than himself.”2

Two thirds of Bernanos’s Dialogues were cut for staging purposes. Poulenc focused his

attention on two main subjects, fear and the transfer of grace. The spiritual dimensions of the

original work were exalted and the final outcome is even more emotional than Bernanos’s.

Scenes including political or religious debates were excluded from the libretto.

Poulenc worked with great difficulty. He faced copyright problems, and health issues; in

addition, his relationship with Roubert ended by 1954. Roubert, now diagnosed with cancer, was

still an important part of the composer’s life. The day Carmelites was completed, Lucien died.

Poulenc believed the creation of the opera was linked to his former partner’s fate.

Unsurprisingly, Poulenc portrayed himself in Blanche de la Force. Poulenc’s Blanche is a

strong character who manages to choose her own fate after overcoming her fears. She is a mirror

————————— 1 Quoted in Sams, “From the Scaffold to La Scala,” 515.

2 Sams, “From the Scaffold to La Scala,” 515–16.


of Poulenc’s religious faith, anguish for death, spiritual desires, and existentialist beliefs. The

precepts of existentialism establish that it is necessary to confront extreme situations—conflict,

guilt, suffering, and death—to accomplish the existential purpose of humanity.3 Thus, while

facing their own conflicts, Blanche and Poulenc merged in their spiritual search. Poulenc wrote:

“When my time comes, I hope I will know how to die like Blanche.”4

Musical Style in “Dialogues of the Carmelites”

Musical style in Carmelites is defined by the use of motifs which are representative of the

main characters and their emotions. Poulenc, in contrast to Wagner, never developed his

leitmotifs, using them exclusively to portray dramatic associations. Musicologists have identified

over thirty musical motifs in Carmelites. Music is shared as much as suffering in this opera; the

characters borrow each other’s motifs in order to make references to someone else or to express

emotions that originally would be representative of some other character. As the opera is

strongly text-based, Poulenc’s orchestration is built around the importance of the words. Full

choruses are used to give a voice to the crowds of people during the Revolution. Smaller

ensemble singing is exclusively used in the three prayers of the Carmelites (Ave Verum, Ave

Maria, and Salve Regina); this approach of ensemble singing has the purpose to emphasize the

comforting and relieving power of prayer. Solo singing is featured in the form of recitatives and

arioso; its purpose is that of communicating specific emotions and delivering the intensity of the

text while preserving melodic simplicity. In Poulenc’s own words, the musical style of

Carmelites was influenced by composers such as Verdi, Mussorgsky, Debussy, Monteverdi,

Bach, and neoclassical Stravinsky.

————————— 3 Linda Hutcheon and Michael Hutcheon, Opera: The Art of Dying, (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 2004), 17. 4

Quoted in Sams, “From the Scaffold to La Scala,” 517.


Femme Fatale vs. Self-destructive agent: Blanche’s unique fatalness

Brief origins of a stereotype

The concept of the femme fatale was first articulated by artists and writers in the mid-

nineteenth century. It did not only oppose the submissive figure of the Victorian woman, but it

also represented the fear of its creators during times in which women rebelled against sexual

repressiveness and clamored for rights such as political freedom, equality of treatment, and

control of their own sexuality. The idea of female emancipation and the emergence of feminism

turned into the creation of exotic female characters in poetry, literature, and painting. These

characters featured attributes such as seductiveness, charm, and barrenness; they were also

inaccessible and irresistible. In general, the femme fatale represented the source of men’s misery.

By these times, “all women were considered metaphorical daughters of Eve”;1 this term reflected

the evilness attributed to any woman who showed the most minimal desire for equal treatment.

Blanche’s character does not suit the stereotype of the femme fatale. In order to

understand her unique fatalness, which lies on the realistic concept of self-destruction, it is

necessary to evaluate her death’s psychological and religious background.

Involuntary self-destruction: Fear of death and redemption through others

Psychologically, the idea of death produces three different responses: fear, anxiety and

terror. Fear of death is considered a multidimensional concept that can be intrapersonal (fear of

dying), interpersonal (fear of separation), and transpersonal (fear of life losing its meaning).

Blanche’s fear is both intrapersonal and interpersonal: she is afraid of dying, but she is also

concerned about her family’s honor. She tries to find honor, refuge, and a sense to her life in the

————————— 1

Elizabeth K. Menon, Evil by Design: The Creation and Marketing of the Femme Fatale, (Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press, 2006), 17.


Carmelite convent. According to studies on the Terror Management Theory2, Blanche’s

personality lacks three elements which could be helpful in acceptance of death: positive self-

esteem, self-control, and a strong support group. Blanche does have a loving support group in her

family, but it is ambiguous. Her father denies her precarious mental health, and her brother

seems to profess a somewhat incestuous love which Blanche reciprocates. The same studies

suggest that a high socioeconomic status and strong religious beliefs can also be helpful in

overcoming fear. Nonetheless, Blanche’s social status represents a barrier from the real world

rather than a source of stability, and her religious beliefs bring her anxiety instead of comfort.

But why is fear of death self-destructive? According to Yalom, “the defense against

death is itself a partial death.”3

Blanche certainly experiences a partial death every day as, in her

own words, “each night feels like the Agony of Christ.”

Blanche eventually overcomes her fears. From a religious point of view, this is achieved

through grace. Grace represents the idea that God manifests himself in any ordinary thing:

equally in a simple water drop (which Blanche notices in act 1) as in acceptance of death. In the

opera, shortly after Blanche has arrived at the convent, the Republic has turned against the

Church and the Carmelite nuns understand their order is in danger. They decide to take the vow

of martyrdom for the restoration of peace. Blanche takes the vow as well, but she regrets her

decision immediately and flees home in a burst of panic. Shortly after, the nuns are arrested,

accused of crimes against France, and condemned to the guillotine. In their dying scene, after

fourteen of them had already faced the scaffold, the only one left is Sister Constance, a novice.

Blanche emerges from the crowd and takes her place behind Constance to die with her sisters.

————————— 2

Victor G. Cicirelli, “Fear of Death in Older Adults: Predictions from Terror Management Theory.” Journal of Gerontology 57, no. 4

(2002): 360-64. 3

Linda Hutcheon and Michael Hutcheon, Opera: The Art of Dying, 19.


Now she is fearless, and faces her fate with both ecstasy and conviction. Her decision to die is a

result of transference of grace, a concept that explains the religious sense of her death.

What is transference of grace? Let’s go back to previous events to answer this question.

As an audience, we learn from Sister Constance that Blanche is originally destined to an awful

death. Constance is a peasant girl from Tilly that became a novice shortly before Blanche came

into the Carmelite convent. In contrast to Blanche, Constance experiences fascination for death;

she is a simple and joyful girl with a lot of deep thoughts. Poulenc referred to Constance as “that

adorable handmaiden of God.”3

Her importance in understanding transference of grace lies in

her interpretation of Mme. Croissy’s death. Croissy was the prioress who accepted Blanche into

the convent. Just as in Bernanos’s script, Poulenc’s Croissy dies in front of Blanche in an awful

scenario of agony, suffering, and blasphemy. Later on, just like a prophet, Constance would

share with Blanche her thoughts on the prioress’s death. She believes the prioress’s terrible

ending would allow someone else to experience a peaceful death, just like the one Croissy

deserved. When Blanche asks her to explain herself, Constance replies:

This means that this other, when her time comes, will be surprised to see how simple and

comfortable it will be to enter into it [death]. Perhaps we do not die for ourselves, but for

each other, or even instead of each other. Who knows?

Thus, grace “has come to Blanche through the offering of the death agony of the prioress, who

made the conscious sacrifice of her fearful, utter desolation in order to spare Blanche a similar

spiritual fate.”4

————————— 3

Quoted in Gail Elizabeth Lowther, “A Historical, Literary, and Musical Analysis of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des

Carmélites,”(MM thesis, BGSU, 2010), 45. 4

Donald Spoto, “Dialogue on Carmélites II: A Roman Catholic’s Perspective,” Opera News 67, no. 7 (Jan 2003): 26.


Musical representations of fear and Blanche’s personality

In Carmelites, there are several musical motifs associated with Blanche’s personality. For

the purposes of this research, only three of them will be examined.

According to Solliers and Rauhut, there are three motifs related to Blanche’s fear. These

motifs can be labeled as fear, anxiety, and anguish.7

The fear motif is a chromatic progression of five unrelated triads. It is a sequence of two

major chords, immediately repeated a half step lower and followed by a resolution to a minor

triad. This motif expresses uncertainty and fear but is not consistently used to depict Blanche

alone; it portrays other characters’s fears, but it is also used as a reference to Blanche (such as

her traumatic birth circumstances and her emotional instability). Blanche is accompanied by this

chord progression when she chooses her religious name, Sister Blanche of the Agony of Christ.

The anxiety motif is represented by a sequence of seventh chords which are not tonally

related. Its basic form is a major-minor seventh chord and a minor seventh chord. This motif

represents Blanche’s most vulnerable side; it is used when she sings about the darkness that

makes her afraid and when she feels deserted after the prioress’s death. Nonetheless, the most

remarkable use of this motif occurs when Mother Marie requests the other sisters vote secretly

————————— 7 Siglind Bruhn, Saints in the Limelight: Representations of the Religious Quest on the post-1945 Operatic Stage (Hillsdale:

Pendragon , 2003), 170.


about taking the vow of martyrdom. When Marie explains that a single vote against martyrdom

is enough not to take the vow, the anxiety motif becomes present, as if she was speaking directly

to Blanche. After the sisters have voted, Marie reveals that there was only one vote against

martyrdom. The motif returns, suggesting that, in her silence, Marie blames Blanche. Sister

Constance reveals immediately that she was the one who voted against martyrdom and asks her

sisters for permission to change her mind.

The anguish motif is an atonal chromatic descent in the soprano voice, accompanied by

chromatic contrary motion in the bass. The motif begins with the Tristan chord, and then

compresses rather than expands. Even when the motif is constantly used within the opera to

depict Blanche’s instability, several variations are more intensely used after Blanche flees the

convent and returns home. Mother Marie appears to tell her that she must flee Compiègne and

find a safer place as the Carmelites have just been arrested. Blanche, who has just witnessed her

own father’s execution, is embarrassed by her behavior; she lost all sense of honor, and accepts

her disgrace. As Blanche confesses to Mother Marie that she would rather remain hidden from

the world, the motif becomes more present, violent, and agitated.


Conclusions

The only realistic difference between Blanche de la Force and the rest of humankind lies

in the fact that she is not able to repress her fear of death. Becker states that, if fear of death is

not turned unconscious, it becomes paralyzing.1

We are not that different from Blanche: we all share her fear, but our minds are able to

suppress it. According to Klein and Zilboorg, death anxiety is the root of all human anxieties and

neurosis, but we are able to channel it through other fears which are more bearable and allow us

to have a normal life.2 From a psychological perspective, Blanche experiences death every single

day through her fear. From a religious perspective, Blanche chooses to come to terms with her

fear and to die with her sisters thanks to the transference of grace, and she achieves redemption

through Mme. Croissy. In any case, Blanche was destined to die, and her real fatalness lies in her

self-destructiveness. Both her biggest fear and the path to overcome that fear are represented by

death. But how different is our own fate from Blanche’s? One of the reasons why Le Fort,

Bernanos, and Poulenc found themselves attracted to Blanche’s figure is her capacity to portray

the world’s fears. Blanche is Poulenc himself (as he stated), but she also represents the fear

inside each one of us. She is an everyman.

Fear is a self-destructive emotion by nature, and it prevents us from living freely.

Therefore, we are all deadly in different ways. It does not seem likely that the degrading concept

of femme fatale will be eradicated soon. Still, it has the possibility to evolve into a realistic

concept: that of fatal humankind. The true fatalness lies in fear, and we are all potentially deadly

to ourselves. Ideally, the path to overcome our own fears should not be as fatal as Blanche’s.

————————— 1 Linda Hutcheon and Michael Hutcheon, Opera: The Art of Dying, 18. 2 Ibid.


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Femme Fatale” in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites

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