Supernatural Death by Gender The ideals and notations of vampires have evolved since the beginning of time. When looking back at stories, readers can begin to acknowledge a transformation from various texts to one another. J.S Le Fanu’s “ Carmilla” is centered on a lesbian relationship between vampire, Carmilla, and human, Laura. Preceding this story is Bram Stoker’sDracula.The premise of this novel is about a vampire, Count Dracula, and his relationships with the human world. Dracula ends up penetrating Lucy, ultimately conforming her into a vampire. The men, who were the other important characters of the novel, plan on killing the vampire race before more civilians get bitten. In both stories, humans kill the vampires. However, it is the way that they were killed that readers can notice a transformation from “ Carmilla” to Dracula. Together, both texts work with each other to allow one text to respond to another. In “ Carmilla”, the killing of Carmilla was not what the character Laura wanted. The desire to kill Carmilla was that of the old general, Laura’s caretaker. Laura had no intention of wanting to kill Carmilla. At first, Laura did not know if she was in love with the vampire, however, in the end, she fell in love with her. Carmilla’s death was unexpected and somewhat peaceful. The old general’s killing of not only showcased his dominance, but also showed how much love Laura had for Carmilla. Before I could utter a scream, he struck at her with all his force, but she dived under his blow, and unscathed, caught him in her tiny grasp by the wrist. He struggled for a moment in release his arm, but his hand opened the ace fell to the ground, and the girl was gone (LeFanu 332). Although Carmilla fought back, it was not a gruesome death. It seemed as though she accepted it and died at peace. Even though Carmilla was a vampire and the dominant one in the story, she was still dominated by a male when she was killed. Marisa Tancredi read this particular part in
the story in a similar way. About Camilla’s death, she states, “ Her death showed how vulnerable Carmilla was as a female even though she was as powerful as a vampire” (Tancredi 1). Even though we see Carmilla as the dominant male role to Laura, evidently it is a man that kills her and shows that she is weaker then the men. Our commonplaces show us that vampires are stronger then humans. However, LeFanu tested our commonplaces by showing that even though she is a strong vampire, she still can be depicted as weak. The way she was killed as a women was cruel, however she died at peace and did not fight back. After the death, Laura was lost and was still thinking about Carmilla. She may have been dead, but the general did not kill the desire that Laura still had for the vampire. When Carmilla died, it seemed as though a piece of Laura died with her. In the end, Laura still thought that Carmilla was with her, even if she was a vampire in the first place.
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