From an overall and superficial standpoint, Barbara Stanwyck's character is portrayed as a gold-digging, manipulating, home-wrecking, attractive and irresistible woman.  Double Indemnity is a typical film noir, as it is centered around an initially honorable male character who meets a seductive, attractive woman with her own dark agenda.  It almost seems too easy how Phyllis is able to get Walter to fall for her. Essentially, she is an object of desire, from the moment that Walter enters her house, and she is shown in only a towel with a glittering anklet on her bare leg to the end when Mr. Seketti comes to the house in hopes of finally being with her.

Phyllis is presented in a very stereotypical feminine way; she wears skirts and dresses that flatter her figure, her hair is always perfectly curled, and lipstick graces her lips.  She is often shown in seductive lighting; it is softer and brighter when she is in the picture.  The lighting also enhances the shadows in the scene, which creates a suspenseful mood. Phyllis is often shot from the side or straight on, and the light seems to fall over her face. When she is trying to seduce Walter, such as when she first invited him back to the house, she tends to be positioned lounging on a chair and is shot from the side, as to showcase her seductive nature.  The contrast with the bright lighting and the eerie mood is a representation of Phyllis's duality.  She appears to be this soft, desirable woman, but her personality is dark.

I found it hard to judge Phyllis's character until when Lola revealed that Phyllis had killed her mother. At first, she seems like a bored housewife who just wants relief from her husband who does not seem to value her.  I feel bad for her in that aspect.  However, she seems to lose all sense of morality when the money becomes involved.  Though Walter is the one who creates the plan and insists that it be put into action, Phyllis is the driving force behind the whole operation.  A good, moral person does not orchestrate the killing of two people for money.

Phyllis tends to portray herself as vulnerable when she is around Walter in order to get him to do what she wants, constantly bringing up how miserable she is with her husband and how she needs help.  She also uses a mix of playing hard to get and being aggressive to keep him interested.  The first time he meets her, she plays hard to get, but then later invites herself over to his apartment.  Phyllis lets Walter come up with the plan and volunteer himself to help her so that he seems as though he is in control, but she is Lady Macbething him so hard!  She is manipulating him to get what she wants.

Double Indemnity. along with other films in the film noir genre, shows that women in the 1940s were viewed as objects of desire who use their looks to achieve their goals.  They have the ability to corrupt good, honest men.  However, this film also shows that women were viewed as inferior and vulnerable. While Phyllis derives her desired end result, Walter (the man) is the mastermind with the plot, showing that he is the smarter one.  Phyllis comes off as incredibly vulnerable in the end when she throws herself at Walter in hopes of living.  Walter is the one who kills her in the end, though, a way of exerting male dominance.