=Feltham= (_Black_), a highwayman with Captain Colepepper or Peppercull (the Alsatian bully).—Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.). =Femmes Savantes= (_Les_), women who go in for women’s rights, science, and philosophy, to the neglect of domestic duties and wifely amenities. The “blue-stockings” are (1) Philaminte (3 _syl._) the mother of Henriette, who discharges one of her servants because she speaks ungrammatically; (2) Armande (2 _syl._) sister of Henriette, who advocates platonic love and science; and (3) Bélise, sister of Philaminte, who sides with her in all things, but imagines that every one is in love with her. Henriette, who has no sympathy with these “lofty flights,” is in love with Clitandre, but Philaminte wants her to marry Trissotin, a _bel esprit_. However, the father loses his property through the “savant” proclivities of his wife, Trissotin retires, and Clitandre marries Henriette, the “perfect” or thorough woman.—Moliere, _Les Femmes Savantes_ (1672). =Fenella=, _alias_ Zarah (daughter of Edward Christian), a pretended deaf and dumb fairy-like attendant on the countess of Derby. The character seems to have been suggested by that of Mignon, the Italian girl in Goethê’s _Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship._—Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.). Let be _tableaux vivants_, and I will appear as “Fenella.” Percy Fitzgerald, _Parvenu Family_, iii. 224. _Fenella_, a deaf and dumb girl, sister of Masaniello the fisherman. She was seduced by Alfonso, son of the Duke of Arcos; and Masaniello resolved to kill him. He accordingly headed an insurrection, and met with such great success that the mob made him chief magistrate of Portici, but afterwards shot him. Fenella, on hearing of her brother’s death, threw herself into the crater of Vesuvius.—Auber, _Masaniello_ (an opera, 1831). =Fenris=, the demon wolf of Niflheim. When he gapes one jaw touches the earth and the other heaven. This monster will swallow up Odin at the day of doom. (Often but incorrectly written FENRIR.)—_Scandinavian Mythology_. =Fenton=, clever fellow who makes caricatures while Browning is read, and when called upon for the substance of his notes by the president of the Club, rises with perfect coolness and pronounces opinion upon the poem.—Arlo Bates, _The Philistines_ (1889). _Fenton_, the lover of Anne Page, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Page, gentle-folks living at Windsor. Fenton is of good birth, and seeks to marry a fortune to “heal his poverty.” In “sweet Anne Page” he soon discovers that which makes him love her for herself more than for her money.—Shakespeare, _Merry Wives of Windsor_, act iii, sc. 4 (1601).