Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu - A Short Summary and Review
Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu - A Short Summary and Review
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review
Death, desire, and a vampire who has absolutely no respect for Victorian propriety.
A Short Summary:
Laura lives an isolated life with her father in a remote Styrian castle, where visitors are rare and excitement rarer still. That changes when a carriage accident leaves a beautiful young woman named Carmilla in their care for a time. Laura is immediately fascinated by their mysterious guest, though Carmilla's intense affection, strange habits, and unwillingness to discuss her past gradually become unsettling.
Meanwhile, young women in the surrounding countryside begin falling mysteriously ill. Laura herself grows weak and experiences disturbing dreams of a creature visiting her bedroom at night. As the truth about Carmilla's identity emerges, Laura discovers that her captivating companion is tied to a centuries-old horror, and that Carmilla's affection for her may be far more dangerous than it first seemed.
My Favorite Quote from the Book:
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Questions to ponder while reading:
Can affection still be called love when it depends upon possession?
Why do forbidden desires make such effective material for Gothic horror?
My Review:
Well. This was considerably more risqué than I expected from a vampire novella published in 1872.
Carmilla is wonderfully Gothic: an isolated castle, ruined aristocratic families, strange dreams, mysterious illnesses, moonlit encounters, ancient secrets, and a beautiful stranger who very obviously should not be invited into anyone's bedroom. Le Fanu creates an atmosphere that feels both dreamy and claustrophobic. Something is wrong almost immediately, but Laura is so fascinated by Carmilla that neither she nor the reader wants the mystery solved too quickly.
What makes the story especially interesting, however, is Laura's relationship with Carmilla. Their attraction is hardly subtle. Carmilla is possessive, affectionate, jealous, sensual, and occasionally startlingly direct about her feelings. Laura is both disturbed and captivated by her. Modern readers can argue endlessly about labels, but the sexual tension is unquestionably part of the horror, and part of what gives the novella its enduring fascination. Desire and danger become almost impossible to separate.
The vampire mythology is also interesting because Carmilla predates Bram Stoker's Dracula and contains many elements that would later become familiar parts of vampire fiction. Yet Carmilla herself feels different from the later aristocratic male vampire. She is intimate rather than commanding, seductive rather than grandiose. She enters Laura's life as a companion and becomes frightening precisely because affection provides her access.
Short, strange, eerie, and remarkably daring for its era, Carmilla is one of those classics that feels much less dusty once you actually read it. A risqué little Gothic tale, and an excellent reminder that Victorian literature wasn't nearly as prudish as we sometimes imagine.
If you liked Carmilla, you may also like:
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