Carmilla, Chapter 6 summary

What happens

1. The narrator’s father refuses to let Carmilla leave without her mother’s direction, especially while a mysterious disease spreads nearby.
2. Carmilla says vows prevent her from sharing her history and insists that her companion must accompany her into death.
3. Carmilla recalls a ball and an attack in bed that nearly kills her, connecting the wound with a cruel love.
4. The narrator notes Carmilla’s absence from prayers and adopts her habits of searching the bedroom and locking its door.
5. During a dream, a huge black catlike animal approaches the narrator, who feels two sharp pains in her breast.
6. She wakes, sees a female figure leave, and discovers that her door remains locked from inside.

In this chapter

What to notice

Carmilla presents attachment as compulsory rather than freely chosen. Her language makes affection inseparable from threat and death.

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