Carmilla: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood."''|'''Carmilla''', chapter VI}}

 

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.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

The story has long been in the public domain, so feel free to check out the [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/10007 text] or [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/28917 audiobook.]

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* [[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 [[Horror Hunger|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.

* [[Cats Are Mean]]: Carmilla can [[Voluntary Shapeshifter|assume the shape]] of a monstrous cat.

* [[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.

* [[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<ref>... which would have been scandalous in 1872 Victorian Britain, of course.</ref>, 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.

* [[Not Using the Z Word|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. <ref> 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.</ref>

* [[Significant Anagram]]: Carmilla apparently creates new aliases for herself by anagramming her original name {{spoiler|Mircalla}}; a previous victim knew her as "Millarca."

* [[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]]). {{spoiler|Also, her "mum" is definitely a looker.}}

* [[Vampire Hunter]]: Baron Vordenburg (likely the [[Trope Maker]]).

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Vampire Fiction]]

[[Category:Gay and Lesbian Fiction]]

[[Category:Horror Literature]]

[[Category:Literature]]