Carmilla

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of death and graphic violence.

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. When you reflect on Carmilla as a whole, what elements of the story lingered with you most powerfully? Were you more affected by the Gothic atmosphere, the complex relationship between Laura and Carmilla, or the underlying themes of repressed desire?

2. Carmilla predates Bram Stoker’s Dracula by 26 years and established many vampire tropes we still see today. If you’ve read other vampire classics, like Dracula or Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, what distinguishes Le Fanu’s approach to vampirism?

3. The story unfolds through multiple narrative frames, including Laura’s account, Doctor Hesselius’s collection, and an unnamed prologue narrator. Did this layered storytelling approach enhance the mystery or make you question the reliability of Laura’s account?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Laura describes experiencing both love and abhorrence toward Carmilla simultaneously. Can you recall a time when you felt contradictory emotions toward someone in your life?

2. Throughout the novella, dreams reveal what conscious minds refuse to acknowledge. What role do you think dreams play in processing our unacknowledged thoughts or desires? Have your own dreams ever revealed something meaningful about your waking life?

3. The schloss in the story represents both luxury and confinement for Laura. Think about spaces in your own life that have felt similarly dual-natured.

4. Female friendships and relationships are central to the narrative of Carmilla. How important have same-gender relationships been in your own development? What qualities do you value most in these connections?

5. At the novella’s end, Laura admits that she still sometimes imagines Carmilla’s footsteps at her door. What relationships or experiences from your past continue to haunt you long after they’ve ended?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Carmilla was published in 1872, during the Victorian era, when strict social norms governed female behavior and sexuality. In what ways might the relationship between Laura and Carmilla have been interpreted differently by Victorian readers compared to modern audiences?

2. The novella presents a contrast between the aristocratic schloss dwellers and the “superstitious” rural peasants, yet the vampire emerges from the nobility. What commentary might Le Fanu be making about class assumptions and where true danger resides?

3. Parental figures in the novel range from absent (Laura’s mother) to ineffectual (Laura’s father) to malevolent (Carmilla’s “mother”). What critique of Victorian family structures might be embedded in these portrayals? How do these representations compare to our contemporary views of parental responsibility?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. The vampire Carmilla is restricted to using anagrams of her original name (Mircalla/Millarca/Carmilla). What might this limitation symbolize about her character and existence?

2. Throughout the novella, Laura experiences a paradoxical attraction and repulsion toward Carmilla. What literary purpose does this ambivalence serve? How does it develop the novella’s psychological themes?

3. Le Fanu juxtaposes descriptions of the picturesque natural world with the confined, luxurious interiors of the schloss. What thematic purpose might this environmental contrast serve in the overall story?

4. The narration switches from Laura to General Spielsdorf during crucial parts of the story, particularly when describing the destruction of Carmilla. Why might Le Fanu have chosen to distance Laura from these violent scenes?

5. Carmilla’s predatory nature is often expressed through language of love and possession, as when she tells Laura “you are mine, you shall be mine” (33). What does this conflation of love and predation contribute to the vampire mythology Le Fanu creates?

6. Baron Vordenburg explains that vampires are prone to fascinations with particular persons, resembling the passion of love. Does this suggest that Carmilla has authentic feelings for Laura or merely a predatory compulsion? How does this blur the line between monster and lover?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. If you were to adapt Carmilla for a contemporary setting, what elements would you retain and what would you modify? Consider how modern technology, social media, or current attitudes toward sexuality might transform the narrative.

2. The Prologue mentions Laura’s death but never explains how she died. Create an epilogue that explains what happened to Laura in the years following her encounter with Carmilla.

3. Carmilla’s “mother” remains a mysterious and shadowy figure throughout the novella. Develop a backstory for this character that explains her relationship to Carmilla and her motivations for helping the vampire find new victims.

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