Carmilla: Difference between revisions

Content added Content deleted
VisualWikitext
m (Mass update links)
m (Mass update links)
Line 21: Line 21:
* [[Cats Are Mean]]: Carmilla can [[Voluntary Shapeshifter|assume the shape]] of a monstrous cat.
* [[Cats Are Mean]]: Carmilla can [[Voluntary Shapeshifter|assume the shape]] of a monstrous cat.
* [[Evil-Detecting Dog]]
* [[Evil-Detecting Dog]]
* [[Evil Feels Good]]: Carmilla, although she did not become a vampire of her free will, obviously [[Fully Embraced Fiend|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 [[Genre Blindness|nobody gets it]]). Some of her strange fits of agitation ''could'' even be the effect of feelings of guilt.
* [[Evil Feels Good]]: Carmilla, although she did not become a vampire of her free will, obviously [[Fully-Embraced Fiend|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 [[Genre Blindness|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.
* [[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.
* [[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.
* [[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.
* [[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<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.
* [[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.
* [[Horror Hunger]]: And horrible it is.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Carmilla"