Laura’s Love, Carmilla’s Lust: Character Disparities in Le Fanu's Fiction Grace E Cornelius College

In Sheridan Le Fanu’s short story, “Carmilla”, innocent love and deceitful lust are intertwined throughout the tale, so much that it is difficult for the narrator, Laura, to distinguish between the two, even years after the events of the story. Because she was isolated and sheltered for most of her life, without a mother (only two governesses and her father), Laura is a little naïve to emotions such as love and lust. Carmilla, on the other hand, driven by her vampire needs, knows exactly how to entrap Laura into thinking she loves her, when it is really only a deep lust or fascination. This entanglement between love and lust is one of the main themes of “Carmilla”.

From the beginning, before Laura and Carmilla officially meet, Carmilla displays an unruly fascination with Laura, almost like a lover’s interest. In Chapter 1, Laura recalls, “I saw a solemn, but very pretty face looking at me from the side of the bed… She caressed me with her hands, and lay down beside me on the bed, and drew me towards her,” (297). Several years later, when Carmilla and Laura officially meet, it does not take Carmilla long to pronounce her love for Laura. After kissing her, Carmilla tells Laura, “I have been in love with no one, and never shall…...