Carmilla
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| Written by: | Sheridan le Fanu |
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| Central Theme: | the inherent sensuality and homosexuality of vampirism |
| Synopsis: | An English young lady in Austria befriends an enigmatic and beautiful woman, who seems to bring an ominous illness and death with her... |
| Genre(s): | Gothic Horror |
| First published: | 1872 |
| More Information | |
| Source: | Read Carmilla here |
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"Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood."
—Carmilla, chapter VI
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Written and published in 1872 by Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, this novella mixes authentic Middle- and Eastern European folklore and Gothic Literature. It formed the last story of five in the collection In a Glass Darkly, but it has since often been published separately.
Its heroine and narrator is Laura, an English girl who lives with her father and few servants in a secluded Austrian schloss[1]. Laura is suffering deeply from loneliness when a strange incident leads to a mysterious girl to stay as a guest at the schloss – the beautiful Carmilla. In Carmilla, Laura finally finds the friend she was looking for, but she is puzzled by Carmilla's odd habits and her unwillingness to reveal her true identity.
An unknown disease that only kills young women strikes the countryside. Eventually, Laura herself falls ill of the ominous sickness -- when by chance, a friend of the family shows up with a tale of news that leads to a horrible revelation.
Carmilla is a milestone in the Vampire genre: It includes a Haunted Castle, the Überwald (officially Styria), and tells you that Your Vampires Suck -- the latter when Laura compares Carmilla to "fictitious" vampires. Subtly, the striking beauty of the eponymous character suggests that Vampires Are Sex Gods. Yes, all these tropes are Older Than Radio.
Most notably though, the novella is the Trope Maker for the Lesbian Vampire. The trick here is that Carmilla's unmentionable secret echoes the taboo status of homosexuality in Victorian society, and Carmilla’s unholy appetite also evokes a different kind of forbidden desire. And while the story never ever talks about sex, the subtext is so obvious that Carmilla (or rather, the author through the mouth of Carmilla) can discuss homosexuality without actually naming it (have a look at the quotes page with this in mind).
The story has long been in the public domain, so feel free to check out the text or audiobook.
Tropes used in Carmilla include:
- Adult Fear: Even today, the idea that a predatory monster is threatening to kill your child without your knowledge and watching them slowly waste away in the process is realistically frightening.
- Ambiguously Gay: Literally – it is never resolved whether Carmilla’s passion is love … or hunger. Laura, although she feels embarrassed and even disturbed by Carmilla's passionate affection (or so she says), is nevertheless positively entranced by Carmilla and repeatedly remarks "how beautiful" Carmilla is; she also likes to play with Carmilla's hair.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: When a poor pedlar remarks in good will, but with little tact on Carmilla's fanged teeth, she flies in a rage and declares "we would had him whipped!" She also reacts very contemptuously on Laura's empathy on the death of a peasant girl that was (as is implied) killed by vampires (probably by Carmilla herself), stating she doesn't "trouble her head about peasants."[2]
- Cats Are Mean: Carmilla can assume the shape of a monstrous cat.
- Evil-Detecting Dog
- Evil Feels Good: Carmilla, although she did not become a vampire of her free will, obviously fully embraced her vampiric existence. She is, however, not totally without moral reflection, as she tries in fact in several instances to justify or rationalize her behavior (naturally nobody gets it). Some of her strange fits of agitation could even be the effect of feelings of guilt.
- Foreshadowing: Part of the fun in Carmilla is that the final reveal is hinted at countless times, but all the characters are just too clueless to get it.
- Genre Blindness: To some extent, Laura can be forgiven her naivete due to living in a time when the vampire genre barely existed. Still, she's overly willing to give Carmilla the benefit of the doubt even as her behaviour grows increasingly suspicious, showing fear and hatred towards religious symbols and ceremonies, disappearing from her room every morning and returning in the late afternoon, and even after Laura herself turns up with bite marks on her chest.
- Haunted Castle: Though it is technically not haunted before Carmilla shows up there.
- Hemo-Erotic: It is strongly implied that sucking blood is a lustful experience for Carmilla.
- Hide Your Lesbians: Technically played straight: The facts that Carmilla obviously only stalks women, preferable girls of her own age, and is eager to form a romantic relationship with Laura (instead of finishing her off within days, as she does with other victims), are superficially glossed over as just a peculiar manifestation of vampiric bloodlust. Carmilla is never defined as a lesbian[3], and this is justified insofar she does not seek satisfaction for sexual desires, but for her hunger for blood. However, because erotic connotations are inherent to the vampire genre to start with (and accordingly, literary vampires from the beginning in general prefer victims of the opposite sex), this could still be read as a clear implication of lesbianism on Carmilla's part (and most readers seem to take it as this). On the other hand, there is an alternative interpretation that Carmilla stalks young women because she herself died as a young woman, and therefore is cursed to drain the life of other young women out of desire to regain a taste of the life she herself was not allowed to live. So whether Carmilla is a lesbian or not is ultimately in the eye of the reader. The ambiguity between the two interpretations may very well be deliberate on the author's part.
- Horror Hunger: And horrible it is.
- Humanoid Abomination: Carmilla herself. sometimes when she feeds, she loses the 'humanoid' part.
- Ill Girl: What Carmilla appears to be at first; a lot of her seeming quirks are forgiven on that basis. Also what vampire victims slowly become if they happen to attract the vampire (otherwise the vampire kills them quickly).
- Left Hanging: Carmilla apparently converted Laura's cousin. What happened to her? Also, what happened to the Lady in black velvet supposed to be Carmilla's mother? Who was the old ugly woman that never left the coach that brought Carmilla? Who (or what) were the repulsive-looking servants that handled the coach? Who was the tall pale man in black that took Carmilla's mother away from the masquerade? If all these were vampires, why is the threat supposed to be ended, when only Carmilla has been destroyed?
- Lesbian Vampire: Trope Maker, if not Trope Codifier. Note that the novella never makes it clear whether Carmilla's attraction to Laura is erotic in nature ... or gastronomical. The ambiguity, however, is quite unambiguous.
- Masquerade Ball: The ideal opportunity for vampires to stalk potential victims.
- Not Using the V Word: The word "vampire" is never used until the last few pages. Before that, there is only ominous talk about the oupir, the North-slavic version of the vampire.
- Our Vampires Are Different: For the curious: Le Fanu's vampire facts. [4]
- Psycho Lesbian: If you subscribe to the interpretation that Carmilla actually is a lesbian, this is played straight in that Carmilla turns out to be a murderous, predatory undead monster, which could rise Unfortunate Implications, which would actually be considered Wholesome Implications in the 19th century. Fridge Logic, however, may make you realize that every vampire is a predatory monster [5], so lesbianism is actually not a crucial point to Carmilla's evilness. Whether LeFanu demonized lesbianism or slyly challenged the preconceptions of his time - it is still up to debate.
- Rasputinian Death: The method required to kill vampires, to completely prevent them from resurrecting, according to the local vampire expert: first they have to be impaled, then decapitated, burned, and then have their ashes thrown into a river. This is Carmilla's ultimate fate.
- Significant Anagram: Carmilla apparently creates new aliases for herself by anagramming her original name Mircalla; a previous victim knew her as "Millarca."
- Stalker with a Crush: Carmilla to Laura.
- Überwald: Styria.
- Vampires Are Sex Gods: Although there is no actual sex in the story, everyone is smitten by Carmilla's beauty and charm (well, until The Reveal). Also, her "mum" is definitely a looker.
- Vampire Hunter: Baron Vordenburg (likely the Trope Maker).
- Vampire Invitation: Pretending to be human, the vampires go to great lengths to trick their victims into actively inviting them into their houses. However, the same limitation seems not to apply to Carmilla's nightly feeding forays.
- Yandere: Although the story predates the term by over a century, this is definitely what Carmilla is in regards to Laura.
- Your Vampires Suck
- You Sexy Beast
- ↑ Doubtless you know that a schloss is a castle or château.
- ↑ A latent trope in most 19th century vampire stories, reflecting the “parasitic” existence of the traditional nobility in the "backwards" regions of Europe.
- ↑ ... which would have been scandalous in 1872 Victorian Britain, of course.
- ↑ Can walk around in daylight, but are "languid" and quickly exhausted physically (not mentally), and appear to be much more powerful during the night. They are able to shapeshift, pass through closed doors, and move too quick for the human eye to follow. They possibly can even turn invisible or dematerialize. The grip of their hands is unnaturally strong and can cause human limbs to grow stiff. Moonlight especially enhances their powers. They have to return to their grave at least for some hours every day and are unable to relocate their own gravesite on their own account, making their activities somewhat territorially restricted. Other than some special long, thin, pointy teeth that are hard to notice, they appear indistinguishable from living human beings, and have a faint pulse and respiration even in their dormant state. Suck blood only from sleeping victims. May kill a victim in a single night, but usually return to the same person for a few days till (rarely) up to several weeks. If not hindered, they always continue their visits until the victim dies, causing the victim to turn a vampire by default. Vampires are not peculiarly pale - on the contrary Carmilla is admired for her beautiful, brilliant, rosy complexion ... especially when she has fed on blood the previous night.
- ↑ Not counting Friendly Neighborhood Vampires, which were not invented at the time.