A literary character similar to Glenn Close's Alex in FATAL ATTRACTION is Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Like Alex, Sweeney is driven mad by his desire for revenge. There are some differences (Sweeney is a man seeking revenge on another man for having stolen away his wife) but the vengance angle is the same. I don't know in what literary work Sweeney Todd actually appears. I know the story mostly from the Sondheim show. Another similar character is Arabella in JUDE THE OBSCURE. Jude's foolish dalliance with this nasty woman, who, with some justification refuses to be tossed aside once Jude has had enough of her, sets off the novel's tragic events. Mary Kalfatovic, Washington, D.C.