Chapter 3: Sexuality and Gender Dynamics in Carmilla

As a novella, Carmilla put forward the never-ending question of the trope of lesbianism in nineteenth century Ireland. Le Fanu portrays Carmilla as a young, beautiful, harmless companion of Laura. However, she is an old creature that has existed for more than a century. She also embodies the figure of a more sexually experienced woman. As written and published in the nineteenth century, Le Fanu’s novella introduces us to the first lesbian vampire in gothic fiction. He uses the idea of retaining a vampiric figure, but what he has done in the novella is mind-blowing. The nineteenth century marked the period when gender roles started to become more fatal than ever, and even the notion of male and female sexuality became too much of a concern for the people, not just in Victorian England but even around the globe.