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Paulina Enck and Jade Murphy

Lit, Art, and Film of World War 1
Professor Rebecca Boylan
16 May 2021
The Life, Letters, and Press Coverage of Mata Hari

I, Mata Hari

Cinematic Analysis:

Mata Hari is infamous. Immortalized as a seductive, sexually manipulative spy and

traitor, the mere mention of her name conjures images of the prototypic femme fatale. However,

this one-dimensionally evil sex object is an oversimplified way to write off a real human being,

and it is as inaccurate as it is reductive. Historical scholarship has demonstrated that the famed

traitor was likely innocent of the crimes that led to her execution, as she was scapegoated by the

French government after her espionage career proved less fruitful than was hoped for initially. I,

Mata Hari is an attempt to reclaim the narrative of Marguerite Zelle, a dramatized opportunity

for the dancer, courtesan, and spy to tell her own story. 

To emphasize the connectivity between Zelle and the broader female experience during

the war, allusions were present throughout the script to four important World War I novels:

Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, Pat Barker’s Toby’s

Room, and Jean Echenoz’s 1914. Through these quotes, slightly altered to suit the changed

context, Zelle’s experiences are shown to be both comparable with and somewhat critical of the

portrayal of women in these works.

In A Farewell to Arms, Catherine is faced with a damaging judgement, as her innocence

and love are perceived as virtuous and pure, yet her premarital sexual activities find her labeled

as – and fearing she is – a whore. The word is used frequently throughout the pages of

Hemingway’s novel, and is likewise repeated several times in I, Mata Hari. Zelle faces similar,
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and far worse, scorn for her promiscuity. Further, Catherine and Zelle suffer and ultimately die

for their love of a soldier. Catherine’s passionate romance with Frederic Henry is marred with

tragedy, due to their temporary separation, the stillbirth of their baby, and her death due to

complications from that childbirth. Zelle’s involvement in the espionage that led to her death was

inspired by a drive to reunite with Vadim Maslov, the man she loved, who was wounded in

battle. Unlike Catherine and Frederic, however, Maslov was disloyal, abandoning her at the

outset of her trial. The film inverts romantic musings between Catherine and Frederic to

demonstrate the depth of her love and the heartbreak associated with its end. 

Zelle faces comparisons to two different women in Mrs. Dalloway, Sally Seton and

Clarissa Dalloway. Like Sally, Zelle has an awareness of the world that others lack. She is

comfortable flouting convention and lives by her own set of rules. Some find them shocking, but

others are understandably drawn in by her exciting behavior and charming personality. Clarissa

and Zelle each are far more interesting and nuanced than they appear at first glance. The two

women have an outward appearance of calm, frivolous, and fun, focused on parties and

appearances. However, underneath the surface, Clarissa faces a deep depression that nearly leads

to her suicide and a pervasive sense of emptiness. Zelle escaped an abusive marriage with a

violent alcoholic, was betrayed by the French government, and abandoned by her lover. Sadly,

all others notice about the respective women is the charming host of a successful party and the

manipulative traitor. 

The quotes from Toby’s Room saw parallels drawn from Zelle between Elinor Brooke

and Kit Neville. Elinor and Zelle both have a complicated relationship to their own sexuality.

Her traumatic first sexual experience was an incestuous encounter, which cast a pall over her

future romances and affairs. The film compared Elinor’s incestuous experimentation with Zelle’s
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horrific marriage by using a quote originally describing an unwanted kiss Elinor received from

her eponymous brother to discuss Zelle’s husband adultery. The similarities are further notable

through their subsequent romances. Elinor becomes deeply invested in a relationship with her

classmate Paul, one that was sustained by a sexual connection even when the emotional aspect

faltered. Zelle threw herself into countless affairs, similarly relying on sex rather than an

emotional connection until she met Maslov. Kit, in contrast, serves as a dark parallel to Zelle, the

crude, embittered traitor that the world perceives her. Yet, where Zelle is innocent of the crimes

that led to her death, Kit admits to the betrayal of Toby which led to his death. When the film

borrows language describing Kit, it highlights the falseness of this perception. 

In 1914, the only woman with any characterization is Blanche, a devoted girlfriend

waiting on the home front for her lover to return. The other women are predominately reduced to

the roles they inhabit, such as mother, wife, or prostitute. Like the women of Echenoz’s novel,

Zelle was and continues to be reduced to her femininity and sexuality, ignoring the complex

person underneath the notorious image.  

Rather than attempt to recreate her specific looks, the costuming in I, Mata Hari evokes

several periods of her life, to physically depict the complexities of her identity through wardrobe

choices. In the film, Zelle wears a sparkly floral metallic headband at all times, which serves as a

visual reference to the gorgeous, bejeweled headdresses she wore in her act, as well as an

allusion to the floral motif throughout the pages of Mrs. Dalloway. Her necklace likewise

references her jewel-encrusted breastplate that Zelle always wore in her act. 

The black button-down jacket worn at the film’s beginning and end has striking

similarities to the suit that Zelle was photographed as wearing several times, most notably during

her execution. The fur wrap is a reference to the scarves and drapes of fabric she used in her act,
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the more conservative wraps and scarves favored later in life, and a reference to the opulence of

her life as a courtesan. 

Zelle is depicted wearing a substantial amount of makeup, which serves to emphasize her

cognizance of enhancing her own allure with makeup, as well as reference the scapegoating

occurring in her trial. The French attempted to claim her makeup, a symbol of both her

femininity and sexual desirability, was being used as a means of espionage. This one lie by the

French symbolizes the crux of her betrayal and is emphasized on screen by the dark shadowed

and lined eyes, long lashes, and red lips. 

Artistic Choices:

Image 1 - “Dancer” (see page 14):

In the film, we strove to depict Mata Hari, or Marguerite Zelle as reclaiming her dignity.

By depicting her as serene in this image, I wanted to imply that despite the slander against her,

she remained unruffled and strong, like the powerful woman she was. I also strove to capture an

innocence in her features, specifically with her looking downwards, almost shyly. Her innocent

countenance counters the media’s proclamations that she was a conniving harlot-- my attempt to

restore her dignity.

A second important element of this piece is the text at the bottom of the picture. I clipped

this from the transcript of her interrogation by Sir Basil Thomson of Scotland Yard, where Mata

Hari says: “I hope I shall be given opportunities of proving my identity.” ("Margaretha Zelle") By

including this particular phrase, I was hoping to emphasize her desire to “prove her identity” as a

way in which she strove to prove her innocence. In emphasizing her resilience in spite of the

hostility she faced, I strove to reifying her dignity once again.

Finally, I added the flowers in her hair as an allusion to Mrs. Dalloway. Specifically, I

wanted to allude to how Sally Seton would cut off the heads of flowers and arrange them in
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bowls of water, and how Aunt Helena disapproved of “[treating] flowers like that” (Woolf).

Because flowers are a symbol of beauty and femininity both in Mrs. Dalloway and beyond, Sally

cutting the heads off of the flowers may symbolize a sort of corruption of femininity, at least

according to Aunt Helena. However, to me, at least, the flowers still retain their beauty, and thus,

their aforementioned symbolism, even though they are arranged differently. In the Mata Hari

drawing, I depicted the flowers so that their heads were presumably cut from the stems as well,

emphasizing that a non-traditional femininity, like that of Mata Hari, is still beautiful. 

Image 2 - “Mugshot” (see page 14)

I depict Marguerite here at her lowest point-- prior to her execution, at least. She is far

from her prime that I depicted in “Dancer.”  In the rightmost drawing, she looks older, and there

is a tiredness in her face. However, she is unapologetic and has not given up-- she still stares into

the camera with strong, dark eyes, almost defiantly. 

As for the text clippings, I took the left clipping from the title of an official memo from

Marguerite’s case, alerting MI5 of her whereabouts when she was staying at the Ritz Hotel in

Madrid. I also specifically the reference number of the memo because it reminded me of an

arrest identification number-- making the overall image an atypical mugshot. The right clipping

is from a newspaper article from the Daily Mail, which emphasizes how Marguerite’s smarts

truly threatened national security. I chose a clipping of that particular article because instead of

completely demonizing her as a traitorous harlot, the writer instead honored her intelligence.

Finally, although there have not been many women quite like Mata Hari in the literature

we have read this semester, she and Elinor Brooke from Toby’s Room share some

commonalities. Elinor is strong-willed and certainly not contrite, just like Mata Hari was, and I
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aimed to capture that common unapologetic quality in Marguerite’s stare in the rightmost

depiction. 

Image 3 - “Execution” (see page 14)

In this drawing, I recreated the scene of Mata Hari’s execution by the French firing

squad. I wanted to play with levels-- specifically, situating Mata Hari as higher up than the firing

squad to imply her innocence, in comparison with the firing squad below her, to imply their

moral corruption for killing her in cold blood. 

I layered a clipping of another MI5 memo regarding Mata Hari’s case, this one pertaining

to Captain Ladoux deceiving Marguerite to establish her guilt. The final sentence: “he would be

glad to hear that her guilt had been clearly established” in juxtaposition with the execution scene

creates an eerie melancholy (Lt. Colonel G. S). The sentence indicates the extent to which MI5

and Le Deuxième Bureau wanted to exterminate her, and it being overlaid over the execution

scene shows the regrettable truth that the military men got what they had wanted. 

Finally, I made an artistic allusion to George Bellows’ “Edith Cavell 1918.” There are

parallels between Edith Cavell and Mata Hari, specifically with both being accused of treason

and executed despite their innocence, and I wanted my drawing to reflect that. In George

Bellows’ painting, she is situated at the top of the scene-- a beacon of light in the darkness. In my

drawing, I purposefully made Marguerite’s face white, and included a white, gleaming shadow

beneath her to parallel Edith Cavell’s brightness.

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Script: 

The screen is black. The final verse in Matt Doyle’s cover of “You Made Me Love You (I

Didn’t Want to Do It)” plays. Titles Read: “I, Mata Hari;” “An Enck/Murphy

Production;” “Based on a true story.” Then the music fades out. Fade in on a woman,

sitting in front of the camera, looking right at it, as if addressing the audience directly.

Behind her is a sparse wall, belying nothing of her situation or location. She begins to

speak.

Hello viewers. My name is Marguerite Zelle, although you probably are more familiar with my

stage name, Mata Hari. Yes, I am she, the famed dancer turned infamous spy. If you’ve been

following my very public and high-profile trial, you know I was recently found guilty of

espionage by the French government and am set to be executed very shortly. 

Before my untimely death, I wanted the opportunity to dispel the slander and lies following me.

You’ve all heard by now that I am a traitress, the harlot who took down France and led to the

deaths of thousands of innocent Frenchmen. But all of this is a lie. 

I, Mata Hari, am an innocent woman, scapegoated by a government I served, betrayed by a

public who once adored me, and written off as a punchline or a villainous archetype. I am so

much more than that. This is my story, before I no longer have a chance to tell it. 

Cut to - Press Clipping

Growing up in the Netherlands, women were “mainly wives and whores.”[1] I tried the former,

but found it never suited me. I was just 18 and had answered this ad from a captain in the

colonial army, Rudolph McLeod, who was serving in the East Indies.
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Our time together was not a success. He had a mistress, which was apparently completely

acceptable for me over there, “men had access to sexual experiences that girls like me knew

nothing about.”[2] And then there was the drinking. And how he would behave while drinking. 

Despite Rudolph, I loved the East Indies. I studied dance and fully immersed myself in the

culture and language. It’s where I forged my identity and found my name. 

The name ‘Mata Hari’ came from the local language. It means the sun, and that sun would shine

on my new life. I took my training and my name to France. I wanted a life of “journeys; rides;

quarrels; adventures; parties; love affairs,”[3] and that’s what awaited me in Paris. 

Cut to - Jade’s Art – “Dancer”

Many now write off my dancing as cheap sensationalism, mindless exhibitionism, but I was an

artist, with the skill and importance of Isadora Duncan or Ruth St. Denis, or Ted Shawn. Culture

is in no short supply of tasteless girls who try to parlay a little skin into a little money, but you

don’t gain my level of fame on sex alone. I had real talent.

Of course, a career in the arts only last a girl so long, as age inevitably sets in. So… I parlayed

my fame into a bohemian lifestyle. “I had a lovely life,”[4] being taken care of by charming and

powerful men. “I loved parties, I loved dressing up,”[5] I would travel across Europe with

politicians, high ranking officers, men of considerable influence and position. 

I was never the most beautiful, but I was so desirable, because I had a sensuality, a spark and I

knew how to use it. Most women, “knew nothing about sex—knew nothing about social

problems,”[6] how to both be engaging and erotic.  Some wrote me off as “coarser, less

scrupulous; and with behavior verging, at times, as predatory,”[7] but others understood “Man

cannot live on love alone,” and “even at the most difficult moments… sex had never failed

me.”[8]
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Cut to - Press Clipping

That’s probably enough of my backstory. Isn’t this meant to be a tale of espionage? Well, yes

and no. When the war broke out, my international liaison had suddenly become far more

suspicious, but my loyalty was to France. It had welcomed me, become my home.

I never actually wanted to be a spy. I wasn't inspired by a rush of patriotic fervor, although I do

love France and did feel incredibly loyal, my interests in the war did not go beyond the personal.

I was involved with several military men, of variable rank and position on both sides of the

conflict, and they were the closest I came to caring about the war. 

No, my brief and fruitless career in espionage was inspired by one thing: love. I get what you’re

thinking, “Oh, so it’s a love story now, is it?”[9] Well, yes, it is. 

I had found myself in a relationship with a man named Vadim Maslov. We only had a few short

weeks together, but “When I saw him, I was in love with him.”[10] Even after everything that

happened between us, I’d still consider him the love of my life. He was Russian, but like me, had

adopted France to be his home, and volunteered to fly planes on their side in the war.

Cut to - Press Clipping

And then, Maslov’s plane was shot down. He was injured and blinded, and I had to see him, but,

as a Dutch citizen, I was not allowed near the front, where he was in hospital. I went to the

French embassy, pleaded with them to help me find a way to get to my love. They had a

suggestion

They proposed that if I could spy on the Germans for them, they would get me to the frontline.

The plan was that I would seduce Prince Wilhelm, the son of the German Kaiser, who was

believed, at the time, to be a strategist of great military importance. He was an empty-headed

playboy who spent his days and his father's money drunkenly running around with showgirls and
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far right thinkers. Making him the perfect mark for me. They offered me one million francs for

my efforts. One million francs. 

I had spent over a decade as the mistress of various powerful men. When my dance career ended,

these relationships had been my primary means of income, and some French politicians and

German officers had been very generous, but one million francs for one affair and a handful of

military secrets…  

I already had the contacts from my courtesan days. This was going to be a breeze. Or so I

thought.

Cut to - Press Clipping

So… it turns out that a citizen of a neutral country who has made France her home for a decade

and has slept with men on both sides of the war was not immediately trusted by anyone other

than the Deuxième Bureau. On my way to Madrid, where I was meant to rendezvous with my

German contact, I was stopped by Scotland Yard. Counterterrorism. I had to tell them the truth

about the French, and they eventually let me pass. At the time, the interrogation seemed

terrifying. After what happened next, it was nothing. 

When I made it to Madrid, my German contact was similarly hesitant to bring me to the prince.

My admittedly dubious motives became suspect. I needed some means by which to demonstrate

my loyalty, so I did the one thing I could think to engender trust: I offered to turn on France. 

Cut to - Press Clipping

This obviously was a ploy to belie my ill intent, and I told them nothing but petty, useless

information, little more than could be found in the newspaper. Yes, I took money from the

Germans, but only so as not to arouse suspicion. I needed to build trust, and it’s not as if I knew
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important French military secrets myself. I was a dancer, not a tactician. The only secrets I knew

involved who was in whose bed. 

Eventually, the Germans were tired by my lack of actionable intelligence. They put it all

together, discovered my one true allegiance to France, but rather than justly execute me

themselves for my actual espionage, they exposed me as a German spy, the crime for which I

was innocent. 

The French based their entire case on the coincidence of Germans executing a double agent

shortly after I was made aware of his betrayal, as if I was the only means by which the German

military could determine betrayal. There are times I wonder if I had been set up, to hide my

failures as a spy. 

It would have been easy. I had no power, no connections. No means to fight them. Did they do

this to me?

Cut to - Jade’s Art – “Mug Shot”

I was arrested in my hotel room in February and interrogated for months before my July trial. It

was grueling, relentless. 

I was faced with lie after lie after lie about myself. Since I was innocent, there wasn’t a shred of

evidence against me, so France and England had to fabricate anything to use against me. It

resorted to slander, insinuation, and downright fabrication. 

Captain Pierre Bouchardon, the man responsible for my brutal interrogation and prosecution,

revealed the shocking twist that my Mata Hari persona was not my true background, that the

demonstrably Dutch woman was not actually a Hindu Javanese Princess from the East Indies, as

if that called my character into question. All performers have a fabricated persona as part of the
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act, to add an air of mystery and excitement to the dance. It was no more a lie than any actress

onstage.

They claimed my makeup was a tool for spying. They rewrote my history, painting my every act

I made for the Deuxième Bureau as suspect, even going so far as to make things up. 

I didn’t stand a chance. I was just a dancer and could not successfully combat the entire French

government, who seemed set on betraying me. So, I was found guilty of espionage and sentenced

to death by the country I had risked my life to serve.  

The only thing I was able to say for myself was, “Am I a harlot? Yes. But a traitress? Never.”

Cut to - Jade’s Art – “Execution”

Do you know what the worst part of it was? It wasn’t the trial or the public shame. It wasn’t the

destruction of my reputation or being betrayed by the country I had chosen to become my home.

Not even the cutting short of my life, although that wasn’t welcomed. No. No, the worst part was

Maslov denouncing me, refusing to testify. saying he did not care whether or not I was

convicted, whether or not I lived or died. That was too much to bear. 

I loved him. I loved him more than any love I had known. “He was so lovely and sweet, I

thought he wouldn’t go away in the night.”[11] The only reason I agreed to spy for France was so I

could see him again. My death is for him, and he abandoned me. “If he really loved me, would it

have been like that?”[12]

I’m sorry, I-I can’t do this right now. I’m- I can’t. I’m sorry.

Marguerite turns off the camera, and it goes dark. The camera comes back on.

Marguerite is more composed, and has on a jacket, half-buttoned.

This comes to the end of my story. Soon, I will put on my best suit and be led out of my cell for

the last time. I’m going to be executed by firing squad. They won’t have to tie me up or restrain
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me; I’ll be brave. Face death with dignity. Besides, I don’t want to leave this world shackled and

fighting. In fact, I’ve decided right before they give the order, I’ll blow my killers a kiss. That

feels a more fitting end.

Thank you for listening to my story. Thank you for letting me tell my side, bringing the truth to

light. History may write me off, condemn me as a harlot or a whore, a traitress. My name may

become famous, synonymous with art and beauty, or betrayal, sex, glamour or I could just fade

into obscurity, a footnote in the history books. 

‘Dutch dancer betrays French and German, executed as traitor.’ That’s not me. That's not the

truth. Now you know I am no traitress. I am Marguerite Zelle. I am Mata Hari. I’m a dancer, a

lover, and I am a woman, and I think I can die knowing my story will be told. It’s almost time. 

Marguerite begins buttoning her jacket. 

Thank you all for giving me the gift of my legacy, letting truth be known. Goodbye. 

Once again, the image of Marguerite is shown in her full glory, before fading out to

dark. The music fades in as the credits roll.

[1]
“Mainly the wives and whores,” (Echenoz 78)
[2]
“Young men had access to sexual experiences that girls like her knew nothing about,” (Barker 29)
[3]
“Journeys; rides; quarrels; adventures; bridge parties; love affairs,” (Woolf)
[4]
“I have a lovely life,” (Hemingway 676)
[5]
“She loved parties, she loved dressing up,” (Barker 140)
[6]
“She knew nothing about sex--nothing about social problems,” (Woolf) 
[7]
“Coarser, less scrupulous; his behavior verged, at times, on the predatory,” (Barker 197)
[8]
“Even at the most difficult moments in their long, wrangling love affair, sex had never failed them,” (Barker 242)
[9]
“Oh, so it’s a love story now, is it?” (Barker 561)
[10]
“When I saw her I was in love with her,” (Hemingway 215)
[11]
“You're so lovely and sweet. You wouldn't go away in the night, would you?” (Hemingway 453)
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[12]
“If I really loved some woman would it be like that?” (Hemingway 171)

Artwork Reference:
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Works Cited

Barber, Nicholas. “Who Was the Real Mata Hari?” BBC Culture, BBC, 24 Oct. 2017,
www.bbc.com/culture/article/20171020-who-was-the-real-mata-hari. 

Barker, Pat. Toby's Room. Doubleday, 2012. 

Bellows, George. File:Bellows George Edith Cavell 1918.jpg. Wikimedia Commons,

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bellows_George_Edith_Cavell_1918.jpg.

Calvert, Albert. "Woman Spies - To the Editor of the Daily Mail." The Daily Mail, 30 July 1917.
UK National Archives, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/filesonfilm/mata-hari-
alias-mcleod-margaretha-geertruida-marguerite-gertrude-kv-2-1.pdf.

Cavanaugh, Ray. “Mata Hari 100 Years Later: Was She Really a Spy?” Time, Time USA LLC, 13
Oct. 2017, time.com/4977634/mata-hari-true-history/. 

Echenoz, Jean. 1914: A Novel. The New Press, 2014. 

Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New House Book Inc, 1929. 

Maranzani, Barbara. “Was Mata Hari a Spy or Scapegoat?” Biography.com, A&E Networks
Television, 29 May 2020, www.biography.com/news/mata-hari-spy-scapegoat. 

Lt. Colonel G. S. "Madame Zelle Macleod." 11 Nov. 1916. UK National Archives,

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/filesonfilm/mata-hari-alias-mcleod-margaretha-
geertruida-marguerite-gertrude-kv-2-1.pdf. Letter.

Stainer, Hazel. “Mata Hari the Dancing Spy.” Hazel Stainer, WordPress, 17 July 2020,
hazelstainer.wordpress.com/tag/vadim-maslov/. 

The Passport Office, British Embassy, Madrid. "Zelle, Margueritha Geertruida, DUTCH."
Received by The Secretary, M. I. 1c War Office, 18 Dec. 2016. UK National Archives,
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/filesonfilm/mata-hari-alias-mcleod-margaretha-
geertruida-marguerite-gertrude-kv-2-1.pdf. Memo.

Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway. Project Gutenberg Australia, 2002.

"Margaretha Zelle MACLEOD - Interrogation Notes." UK National Archives,

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/filesonfilm/mata-hari-alias-mcleod-margaretha-
geertruida-marguerite-gertrude-kv-2-1.pdf. Memo.

"Marguerite Zelle: Spy and Dancer." Evening News, 31 July 1917. UK National Archives,
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/filesonfilm/mata-hari-alias-mcleod-margaretha-
geertruida-marguerite-gertrude-kv-2-1.pdf.

“Mata Hari Is Executed.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 Nov. 2009,

www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mata-hari-executed.
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Spy, temptress or victim? The mystery of Mata Hari. The Economic Times,
m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/spy-temptress-or-victim-the-
mystery-of-mata-hari/matamuseum2-jpg/slideshow/61150873.cms?from=desktop.

"Woman Spy: Dancer Sentenced to Death by French Court-Martial." Evening Standard, 26 July
1917. UK National Archives, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/filesonfilm/mata-
hari-alias-mcleod-margaretha-geertruida-marguerite-gertrude-kv-2-1.pdf.