Carmilla and Dracula - 1362 Words

Gothic Essay o A querying of normative gender behaviour and sexuality pervades the 19th century gothic fiction text. What does this reveal about the cultural context within the tale exists? This essay will attempt to discuss the two gothic tales ‘Carmilla’ and ‘Dracula’ in relation to cultural contexts in which they exist as being presented to the reader through the gender behaviour and sexuality that is portrayed through the texts. Vampire stories always seem to involve some aspect of sexuality and power. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu wrote Carmilla. It was first published in 1872 as part of the collection of short stories titles ‘In a Glass Darkly.’ Carmilla predates the publishing of Dracula by 25 years. Laura, who is also one of the†¦show more content†¦This then poses the question that is there feelings involved in the friendship? This could be describes as the character of Laura being in a ‘dreamlike’ state and not being able to clearly define the boundaries of their friendship. Later in the story it is discovered that Carmilla is in fact a vampire. The vampire is a phenomenon that has appeared in literature of different epochs. (Klà ¼sener, 2010). She never is seen to consume any food only drinks, and Laura’s father has described Carmilla as a ‘late sleeper’ as she never rises too early in the morning. It would be fair to say that she is a ‘creature of the night’ or nocturnal. Gender and sexuality is portrayed in this text as though the female plays a weak role in society at the time. Like many gothic texts the female protagonist is seen as portraying the repressed femininity. As Laura lost her mother at an early age it is very clear to the readers the Carmilla has taken on this role as she became involved in Laura life from when she was such a young age. Bertha was a lady sent to look after Laura as a child but she had an unfortunate encounter with Carmilla and died soon after. This killing off of Bertha can be seen as Camilla’s battle to have all control so as that she is not found out to be a vampire, but this does not all go to plan as the father findsShow MoreRelatedThe Role of Characters in Dracula and Carmilla1574 Words   |  7 PagesThe Role Of Characters In Dracula and Carmilla February 16th, 2009 EN-102-69 Professor Kaplan Essay 1 – Final Draft Acknowledgements This paper would not have been possible without the help of many people. Firstly, I would like to thank my classmates for all of their inputs and perspectives, in class discussions, thread discussions and their papers, which helped me gain a complete understanding of the two stories. I would also like to thank my peer edit partners Joey and Michele who provided meRead More Intertextual Exchange in Carmilla, Dracula and the Historian1639 Words   |  7 Pagesby other writers or generic conventions, but vary aspects of it in significant ways† (Friedman 155). 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By analysing Bram Stoker’s, Dracula (1897) and Sheridan Le Fanu’s, Carmilla (1872), as both novels are very important as they both helped mainstream vampire literature and created charact ers that have remained popular for over a century. An examination into these texts and the significance of the vampireRead MoreThe Influence and Meaning of Gothic Literature1385 Words   |  6 PagesBalkans, 75).Supernatural and unexplainable events are crucial to the plot of a gothic story. Often, they act as the backbone of the plot and many of the circumstances and coincidences rest upon them. After reading Goldworthys piece and Stokers Dracula I intend to prove that the setting and the idea of a supernatural being are the most crucial parts to a gothic story. Most of the settings choose in gothic tales tended to be in the Eastern half of Europe, because the Eastern part of Europe was