Celebrate Poe
Celebrate Poe
Leaving Me Trembling
Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 344 - Leaving Me Trembling
Hope you are doing well, and I will just jump right into it -
One of the most explicit passages in Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla that hints at lesbian desire, within the constraints of Victorian Gothic literature, is as follows:
"Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardor of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet overpowering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.' Then she has thrown herself back in her chair, with her small hands over her eyes, leaving me trembling”.
Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Poe.
Welcome to Celebrate Poe - This is episode 344 - Leaving Me Trembling
Hope you are doing well, and I will just jump right into it -
One of the most explicit passages in Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla that hints at lesbian desire, within the constraints of Victorian Gothic literature, is as follows:
"Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardor of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet overpowering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.' Then she has thrown herself back in her chair, with her small hands over her eyes, leaving me trembling”.
This passage captures the intense physical intimacy between Carmilla and Laura, blending romantic and predatory undertones. Carmilla’s actions—holding Laura’s hand with "fond pressure," kissing her cheek passionately, and whispering declarations of eternal possession—are described with language that evokes both eroticism and unease. Such moments reflect the novella's exploration of same-sex desire within the framework of Gothic horror. These moments blend physical intimacy, emotional obsession, and unsettling undertones.
Laura describes Carmilla's behavior as "like the ardor of a lover," recounting moments when Carmilla would gaze at her with "languid and burning eyes" and kiss her cheek passionately. In one of the most explicit passages, Carmilla whispers to Laura, "You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one forever," while her "hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses" and she held Laura in a trembling embrace. The physical closeness and fervent declarations evoke romantic and erotic undertones that were extremely bold for the time period.
"Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardor of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet overpowering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, 'You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.' Then she has thrown herself back in her chair, with her small hands over her eyes, leaving me trembling”.
Now Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla includes several key scenes that strongly hint at lesbian desire, but again, expressed through the Gothic lens of the 19th century. These moments blend physical intimacy, emotional obsession, and unsettling undertones.
Laura describes Carmilla's behavior as "like the ardor of a lover," recounting moments when Carmilla would gaze at her with "languid and burning eyes" and kiss her cheek passionately. In one of the most explicit passages, Carmilla whispers to Laura, "You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one forever," while her "hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses" and she held Laura in a trembling embrace. The physical closeness and fervent declarations evoke romantic and erotic undertones that were bold for the time period.
During a moonlit walk, Carmilla tells Laura, "I live in you; and you would die for me, I love you so." This line captures Carmilla's obsessive and consuming love for Laura, framed in both romantic and vampiric terms. Laura is simultaneously drawn to and unsettled by these intense expressions of affection, reflecting her confusion about Carmilla's intentions and her own feelings.
Carmilla often expresses her love for Laura in dramatic, almost poetic terms: "If your dear heart is wounded, my wild heart bleeds with yours. In the rapture of my enormous humiliation I live in your warm life, and you shall die—die, sweetly die—into mine." These declarations are accompanied by physical intimacy, such as holding hands or embracing, which further blur the lines between friendship and romantic attraction.
At one point, Laura wonders if Carmilla might be a man disguised as a woman because she cannot reconcile Carmilla's overt romantic advances with societal norms about female sexuality. This internal conflict highlights both Laura's naivety and the repressive attitudes toward same-sex desire at the time.
As their relationship deepens, Laura begins to feel physically weaker and experiences "strange melancholy" and dreams of death. This illness is framed as a metaphor for the dangerous allure of Carmilla’s love—both intoxicating and destructive. The connection between Laura’s declining health and her attraction to Carmilla underscores the Gothic trope of forbidden desire leading to ruin.
These scenes collectively illustrate Carmilla's exploration of same-sex desire through Gothic horror, with the language of longing, physical closeness, and emotional intensity leaves little ambiguity about Carmilla's romantic intentions toward Laura.
Now Carmilla often uses passionate and romantic language to captivate Laura. She professes her love with statements such as, “I have been in love with no one… unless it should be with you,” creating an intense emotional bond. Her words are carefully chosen to make Laura feel special and desired, which confuses Laura’s understanding of their relationship, caught between friendship and romantic attraction.
Carmilla frequently engages in physical gestures that blur the line between platonic affection and romantic desire. For instance, she kisses Laura’s cheek with “hot lips” and holds her hand with “fond pressure.” These actions evoke both attraction and discomfort in Laura, leaving her emotionally vulnerable and unable to resist Carmilla’s advances.
Carmilla uses possessive language to assert control over Laura, saying things like, “You are mine, you shall be mine.” This creates a dynamic where Laura feels both cherished and trapped. The possessiveness is heightened by Carmilla’s insistence on exclusivity, claiming she will love no one else but Laura.
Carmilla subtly isolates Laura from others by encouraging secrecy about their relationship and monopolizing her time. This isolation increases Laura’s reliance on Carmilla for emotional support while diminishing her ability to seek help or perspective from others.
Laura’s confusion about her feelings—both attraction and fear—makes her susceptible to Carmilla’s manipulation. Carmilla exploits this by oscillating between tenderness and dominance, keeping Laura off balance emotionally. This dynamic mirrors the predatory nature of their relationship, where Carmilla feeds on both Laura’s blood and her affection.
Carmilla masterfully intertwines fear with passion in their interactions. For example, Laura experiences rapid breathing and a quickened heart rate during their encounters—reactions she attributes to fear but which also suggest arousal or excitement. This ambiguity keeps Laura emotionally conflicted and unable to fully resist Carmilla’s influence. This also creates a powerful hold over Laura that is both seductive and destructive. This dynamic reflects the Gothic themes of forbidden desire and emotional entrapment that permeate the novella.
The kisses and embraces in Carmilla carry layered symbolic meanings, reflecting themes of sexuality, power, and societal transgressions. These acts are central to the novella's exploration of forbidden desires and the subversion of Victorian norms.
Carmilla's physical intimacy with Laura—through kisses, caresses, and embraces—symbolizes intense homoerotic desire. The descriptions of these moments often carry overtly sensual undertones. For example, Laura describes Carmilla's "hot lips" traveling along her cheek, accompanied by fervent declarations like "You are mine... you and I are one forever"
Such moments underscore the sexual tension between them, portraying Carmilla as a figure of seduction. Laura’s conflicted feelings—both attraction and repulsion—highlight her struggle to reconcile her desires with the societal taboos of her time.
Victorian society viewed female sexuality, particularly homosexuality, as deviant and threatening to its rigid moral structure. Carmilla’s kisses and embraces thus symbolize a broader challenge to these norms, embodying fears of female sexual autonomy and lesbian relationships. Her predatory nature as a vampire further complicates this dynamic, blending eroticism with danger.
Moreover, Carmilla’s feeding on Laura can be interpreted as a metaphor for sexual penetration or an exchange of power. - Again - there is that exchange of energy. The act is described with language that evokes both pleasure and pain: "warm lips kissed me... my heart beat faster... but then a sobbing... turned into a dreadful convulsion". This duality reinforces Carmilla's role as both lover and predator, blurring the lines between consensual intimacy and violation.
Carmilla’s interactions with Laura also subvert traditional familial and romantic dynamics. At times, she adopts a maternal role, comforting Laura with caresses that evoke nurturing imagery. However, this maternal connection is perverted when Carmilla feeds on Laura’s blood—a reversal of the natural mother-child dynamic where nourishment flows from mother to child. Instead, Carmilla takes sustenance from Laura at her expense, symbolizing a twisted dependency.
Additionally, Carmilla’s kisses and declarations of love disrupt societal norms by suggesting an alternative form of intimacy that excludes m
Laura's naivety significantly influences her perception of Carmilla's advances in Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla. Having led a sheltered and isolated life, Laura is inexperienced in matters of love, sexuality, and the complexities of human relationships. This lack of worldly knowledge makes her vulnerable to Carmilla's seductive and manipulative behavior.
Laura’s innocence is both a defining characteristic and a source of danger. Her sheltered upbringing, with limited exposure to the world beyond her father and governesses, leaves her unprepared for Carmilla's advances. This naivety allows Carmilla to exploit Laura’s longing for companionship and emotional connection. Laura is drawn to Carmilla’s beauty and charm but struggles to understand or process the nature of their relationship. Her initial feelings toward Carmilla are a mix of attraction and repulsion, reflecting her confusion about the intensity and intimacy of Carmilla’s behavior
Laura’s perception of Carmilla’s advances is clouded by her limited understanding of love and sexuality. She interprets Carmilla’s affection as both flattering and unsettling but lacks the framework to recognize it as predatory or overtly romantic. For example, Laura questions whether Carmilla might be a man in disguise or suffering from insanity, showing her inability to reconcile Carmilla’s behavior with societal norms of the time.
This ambiguity is compounded by Laura’s internal conflict: she feels "drawn" to Carmilla yet simultaneously repelled by her intensity, which she cannot fully articulate or resist.
Carmilla’s experience and supernatural nature create a significant power imbalance in their relationship. While Laura passively receives Carmilla's advances, she often feels powerless to resist them. For instance, during moments of physical closeness, Laura describes feeling entranced or lulled into submission, highlighting her lack of agency. This dynamic underscores how Laura's naivety not only affects her understanding of the relationship but also leaves her susceptible to manipulation.
Laura's basic naivety shapes her perception of Carmilla’s advances by rendering her unable to fully grasp their nature or implications. This innocence makes her susceptible to Carmilla’s manipulation while also complicating her emotional response to their relationship. The interplay between Laura's naivety and Carmilla's predatory charm drives much of the tension in the novella, ultimately serving as a catalyst for Laura's maturation.
Another reading of Carmilla is that her vampirism is closely tied to her attraction to women, particularly Laura. Her predatory yet romantic behavior mirrors the societal view of same-sex attraction as unnatural and dangerous. The vampire's craving for blood parallels repressed sexual desire, with Carmilla's longing for Laura described in terms that are both erotic and unsettling. This duality—of desire and danger—reflects Victorian fears of homosexuality as both alluring and corruptive.
Many scholars believe that Carmilla's queerness is portrayed as monstrous through her vampirism. Her same-sex attraction is framed as a threat to societal norms, symbolizing the fear of female sexual agency outside male control. The story demonizes her desires by linking them to her supernatural nature, suggesting that her love for women is both unnatural and destructive. This aligns with Victorian attitudes that pathologized and marginalized homosexuality.
Laura's conflicted feelings toward Carmilla—simultaneous attraction and repulsion—highlight internalized homophobia and societal repression. Laura struggles to reconcile her feelings for Carmilla with the expectations of a society, which views such relationships as deviant. This tension reflects how individuals internalized societal condemnation of same-sex attraction during the period.
Carmilla's independence from male authority and her exclusive focus on women challenge the heteronormative patriarchal structure. Unlike male vampires in other Gothic literature, Carmilla does not prey on men but instead disrupts traditional female roles by forming intimate bonds with women. This subversion makes her a threat to the established social order, further demonizing her character in the narrative.
The novella blurs the lines between love and lust in Carmilla's relationship with Laura. While Carmilla expresses genuine affection, her predatory nature complicates this dynamic, suggesting that same-sex love is inherently dangerous or excessive. This ambiguity reflects Victorian discomfort with distinguishing between platonic female friendships and romantic or sexual relationships.
Carmilla's ultimate destruction by male characters signifies society's need to eradicate what it deems deviant or threatening. Her death serves as a cautionary tale about the consequences of transgressing societal norms, reinforcing homophobic ideologies prevalent at the time.
In other words, Carmilla uses vampirism as a metaphor for same-sex attraction to explore themes of forbidden desire, societal repression, and patriarchal control. While it reflects Victorian anxieties about homosexuality, it also offers a nuanced portrayal of queer desire, making Carmilla both a tragic figure and a symbol of resistance against societal norms.
Vampire stories frequently center on relationships that are both alluring and perilous. The act of a vampire feeding on a human is often depicted as intimate and sensual, symbolizing forbidden or transgressive love. This dynamic reflects cultural anxieties about sexuality and desire, particularly when such relationships challenge societal norms or moral boundaries. For example, Bram Stoker's Dracula - and Celebrate Poe will be delving into Stoker’s novel soon - the act of drinking blood is portrayed as both violent and passionate—a "kiss of death" that combines seduction with danger. This duality underscores the tension between love and destruction, making the vampire an ideal figure for exploring the complexities of forbidden relationships.
The allure of vampires often lies in their dangerous nature. Their immortality and need for blood place them outside human morality, creating a stark contrast between their monstrous instincts and their capacity for deep emotional connections. This duality is central to many vampire romances, where love transcends societal norms but comes at great personal risk. For example, in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga, Edward's love for Bella defies both human and vampire conventions. His struggle to suppress his predatory instincts while protecting Bella captures the essence of forbidden love—passionate yet fraught with peril.
Vampires also serve as metaphors for broader themes of otherness and liberation from societal constraints. In Gothic literature, vampirism has been used to explore repressed desires, including queer relationships. Works like Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla delve into homoeroticism through the lens of vampirism, allowing authors to address taboo subjects under the guise of supernatural horror. The vampire’s deviance from societal norms mirrors the transgressive nature of forbidden love, offering both empowerment and critique of restrictive moral frameworks.
In conclusion, through their inherent connection to danger, sensuality, and societal transgression, vampires provide a rich metaphor for exploring forbidden love. Whether through their seductive allure or their struggle against destructive instincts, vampires embody the complexities of relationships that defy conventional boundaries. These narratives invite readers to reflect on themes of desire, identity, and the consequences of pursuing love that challenges societal norms.
Join Celebrate Poe for episode 345 Stirring Sexual Desire (Victorian Style)
Sources include: Carmilla and Other Tales of Torment: An Annotated Edition by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
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