Sheridan Le Fanu

homosexuality of any kind is a sinful and undiscussed act. Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel, Carmilla, was published in 1872 as one of the first pieces of vampiric fiction in British Literature. Carmilla was the concluding short story from a collection of stories…

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla displays the theme of attraction versus repulsion throughout the novella, but particularly emphasizes these contradicting ideas in the passage on page 44-45. This passage depicts Laura’s sickness as she begins to turn into a vampire. While the idea of Laura becoming a creature that thrives off blood should be repulsive, her intrigue at the thought of death creates a more impactful scene. Within the first few sentences of the passage we hear of Laura’s ill…

In Sheridan le Fanu’s Carmilla there happens to be three different aspects of a person’s personality that the three main characters take up. Which happen to be the id, the ego and the superego. Carmilla as the id, Laura as the ego, and Laura’s father as the superego. This shows us even through fiction, Freud’s ideas of how a person’s personality is made up can still be applied to literature. The id. The id works directly with the ego sometimes even referred to as the id-ego to…

The Similarities Between Vampires Diverge Vampires mirror the image of normal human beings, besides their unnatural abilities they choose to love or not to love, to hate or not to hate, and at last they choose who they wish to focus their energy on. Sheridan Le Fanu’s vampire Carmilla shows likeness too Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s vampire Geraldine at the same time having different personal motives of their own. Carmilla with all her likenesses to Geraldine shows more empathy to Laura than…

In the nineteenth century, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s texts present varying circumstances of inexplicable terrors situated in Gothic tradition to explore the political and social ideals fundamentally inherent in the Victorian age, particularly surrounding imperialism and sexuality. However, Le Fanu’s method of exploring and critiquing Victorian ideology of imperialism and sexuality are cleverly concealed under the prevalent supernatural elements present in his works. This is a concept that is…

Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla Analyzed Through Freud’s Psychoanalytic Criticism. In Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla we can see Freud’s Psychoanalytic Criticism in use with Laura and Carmilla. As the story unfolds Fanu’s slowly reveals more about Carmilla and Laura and we get a better understanding of the girls secret unconscious desires and anxieties. Through Freud’s Psychoanalytic Criticism the story takes on deeper meaning, from the conscious to the unconscious. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla explores…

often adores in sexual terms. Matilda, who initially disguises herself as a man but reveals herself to look exactly like the effigy, becomes the object of the monk’s desires and awakens his transgressive passions. Matilda’s doubling with the beautiful Virgin Mary unveils the illuminating differences between one and the other: whereas the effigy represents a woman that is beautiful, pure, and virginal, Matilda is unveiled as a sensual, seductive, and demonic character. Similarly, in Carmilla, the…

Darkness the Vampire’s Double: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla Darkness in Le Fanu's Carmilla serves as its own monster since it is a representation of negativity, mystery, and fear. Darkness like the vampire creates an unsettling sensation for the narrative because it allows the uncanny to manifest and generate feelings of uncertainty and terror. For the main protagonist Laura, the overwhelming experience of darkness places the character in a state of distress which creates problems for…

The concept of vampirism has been around for centuries now. Whether it is the word vampire or under another different name, these perceptions all have similarities dating back to the origin of mystical creature. This individual is viewed as an immortal or someone who lives off human blood and has a unique beauty. One particular adaptation of the supernatural world is Dracula. Dracula defined the form of vampirism gaining it an important part of how societies look at the vampire’s world, from…

Pertaining to American history it is vital to educate yourself about two symbolic men that put their differences aside so the Civil War could come to an end. Two men named Grant and Lee were able to do just that. In the reading “Grant and Lee: A Study of Contrast” by Bruce Catton, the author writes a compare and contrast essay detailing their backgrounds, personalities, and aspirations. When evaluating all of these contributing factors it is clear that Lee was vastly a more impressionable…