Back to: Vampires, Literature, Gothic Horror, Eroticism,

Carmilla’s transgression lies in erotic unease, not romantic queerness

Carmilla’s horror stems not from queerness, but from its framing of queer desire as simultaneously erotic, invasive, and psychically destabilising.

Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla is not necessarily good in a technical sense (fight me), but it is certainly transgressive in how it merges eroticism with psychological overwhelm. Laura’s narration feels simultaneously repressed and violated. The novella elicits discomfort, not just titillation.

Carmilla works not because it’s sapphic, but because it’s uncomfortably sapphic. There is no soft queer yearning or cute kisses. There’s only seduction, hunger, and possession.

The reader is positioned as voyeur — aware of Laura’s overwhelm, yet implicated in it. This adds a meta-layer of discomfort that deepens its transgressiveness.

"I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust."

Simply being queer is not transgressive, but Carmilla is not simply queer.

Ideas that stand in opposition

Further reading

References

Enter your search text in the box above

Select a result to preview