Death In Carmilla

Though Laura has feelings of admiration towards Carmilla, Laura constantly feels a variety of emotions as well whenever she’s with Carmilla: “I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust. I had no distinct thoughts about her while such scenes lasted, but I was conscious of a love growing into abhorrence” (Le Fanu 31). Laura does not fully understand her own feelings towards Carmilla, but she knows some of those feelings were “tumultuous excitement” which means some sort of enthusiasm and eagerness. Though she is unaware of where this strange enthusiasm rises from, she understands that she feels fear and disgust. She probably feels fearful of these subconscious

As it is assumed that death is inevitable, there is emphasis on family roles as marriage is necessary in the Victorian era in order to have a heir and for the family to continue. As both characters are talking about death, Carmilla considers Laura too, despite Laura’s ignorance about Carmilla being a vampire: “‘You are afraid to die?’ ‘Yes, every one is.’ ‘But to die as lovers may--to die together, so that they may live together’” (LeFanu 39). As both characters talk about death, they release to each other their fears. Carmilla asserts that she would rather die together with Laura so even in death both she and Laura can be together. As vampires are often shown to be immortal and how humans are mortal, both cannot exactly die together. Vampires can be immortal unless they are killed through by the method of staking them through the heart and or cutting off their head. Though most often homosexual women would have to assimilate into a heteronormative society as it was uncommon for a woman to remain unmarried in the Victorian Gothic era, unless she was a prostitute. Similarity to same sex couples, relationships between an immortal being and a mortal being parallels the inconsistency of their way of being. The way how Carmilla and Laura cannot die together show how even an immortal being such as vampire would be able to be together with a human whether it is physically or with death, societal norms

In addition, Carmilla tells Laura that Laura will “know everything,” meaning the truth in which it contains cruel realities that Laura will soon come to understand. Carmilla does not want to reveal the truth because she knows that Laura would either react with hatred or with love, both with death involved in either scenario. Carmilla explains her love as “selfish” a word that means keeping to one’s self and not sharing. This emphasizes that Carmilla wishes to share her experiences with Laura, but is afraid of the consequences and of Laura’s reactions . Likewise, she states how there is a time that Laura will “know everything” meaning within time Laura will understand Carmilla as a vampire. Just like within time the social nature of marriages will change as familial structures are not strongly held in importance anymore, Laura would supposel accept and understand Carmilla as a vampire. Carmilla knows that revealing her vampirism would have unfortunate consequences that she will have to face. The ways that Carmilla is closeted figure shows how she keeps her information about her vampirism a secret as she understands that there would be oppression against her. Carmilla’s being serve as a homosexual force in which that it oppressed in the fear that society would be able to marginalized for Carmilla being such a