Her character as a woman is somewhat different from Effie's. Iva and Sam Spade once had a history together even though she was married to Miles. Iva said to Sam, "You killed my husband, Sam, be kind to me." She sets up a different role for woman because of her actions and of the characteristics that she possesses. In a way, she thinks that Sam Spade is in love with her and for that reason, she thought that he had killed her husband so that they could be together. Iva's role fits into the genre of female characters because of her femininity. She used her figure as a power tool and focused on her image to express the way she felt. Women in these cases were very distracting to the male characters in the film!.
Sam said to Iva, "You shouldn't have come here today, precious. It wasn't wise. You can't stay." This shows that Iva was in the way of Sam Spade's work. Iva was seen as a suspicious character in film as well. Effie said to Sam, "She kept me waiting at the door while she undressed, her clothes on a chair where she dumped her hat and coat underneath, her slip was still warm." This quote described the suspicions that Effie had about Iva on the night that Miles, Iva's husband was murdered. Sam could trust Effie, but both Effie and Sam had a hard time trusting Iva. This may have meant that some men may have a harder time trusting woman who are very feminine. .
A character that Sam Spade had a hard time trusting was a woman named Brigid O"Shaughnessy, who was also know as Miss Wonderly. Effie said to Sam, "She's a knockout." Not only did Effie and Sam Spade see that she was pretty, but so did his partner, Miles. Miles said to Sam, "She's sweet.Maybe you saw her first, but I spoke first." Brigid takes on the sexy woman figure whose voice is gentle, helpless, and manipulative all at the same time. She is very self-centered and tends to deceive others in order to get what she wants.