Résumé
Résumé de Carmilla
À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
For readers who love Gothic atmosphere, vampire lore and close, troubling friendships, and anyone curious about the roots of Dracula.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Carmilla is a short Gothic novel by the Irish writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It first appeared in a magazine in 1871 and 1872, and it was later gathered into his collection In a Glass Darkly. It is a vampire story, and it came out twenty-five years before Bram Stoker wrote Dracula. Stoker knew the tale, and many of the habits of later vampire fiction can be found here in an early form.
The story is told by a young woman named Laura, who lives in a lonely castle in the Austrian region of Styria. Her life is quiet until a mysterious girl arrives as a guest and becomes her dearest friend. Le Fanu does not hurry to shock you. He builds a mood of dread through small oddities, strange dreams and a sickness that spreads through the countryside. You get a tale of fear, a study of a close and troubling friendship, and a look at how a ghost story can work on the nerves. Let us begin with the castle where Laura grows up.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A lonely castle in the Styrian forestFree
- 2A carriage accident brings a guest
- 3A friendship that grows strange
- 4Nightmares, illness and a spreading sickness
- 5Desire, loneliness and fear of the unknown
- 6How Le Fanu tells it and what followed
Point clé 1 sur 6
A lonely castle in the Styrian forest
The story opens with Laura, who writes years after the events she describes. She lives with her father in a schloss, which is the German word for a castle or large country house, in Styria. Her father is an English widower who once served the Austrian empire, and his money lets him live in comfort. Laura's mother died when she was a baby, so she has grown up with few companions.
The household is small. A French governess, Madame Perrodon, and a Swiss lady, Mademoiselle De Lafontaine, look after Laura and keep her company. The castle stands in a wide, wooded landscape with a ruined village nearby. The nearest neighbours live many miles away, and visitors are rare and welcome.
Laura tells us at once about a strange memory from childhood. When she was about six, she woke in her nursery and saw a beautiful young woman beside her bed. The woman soothed her and lay down next to her, and Laura fell asleep happily. Then she woke with a sharp pain, as if two needles had pierced her chest. The servants searched the room and found nothing, and the adults treated it as a child's bad dream.
Laura never forgets it, and Le Fanu uses this early scene to plant a seed of unease. Laura is lonely, and she longs for a friend. That longing makes her open to the stranger who is about to arrive, and the reader already senses that something has marked her life.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
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Who’s who
- Laura
- Laura is the lonely young narrator, living with her father in Styria and longing for companionship.
- Carmilla
- Carmilla is a mysterious young guest whose affectionate friendship brings excitement and unease into Laura's sheltered life.
- Laura's father
- Laura's father is an English widower and former Austrian serviceman who welcomes Carmilla into their household.
- Madame Perrodon
- Madame Perrodon is Laura's cheerful French governess, providing companionship and helping oversee life in her father's household.
- General Spielsdorf
- General Spielsdorf is a friend of Laura's father whose family loss shadows a planned visit.
- Doctor Hesselius
- Doctor Hesselius is an investigator of unusual illnesses whose collected papers provide the frame for Laura's account.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 28,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 55 min
- Listening time3 h 10 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 13 other languages
Questions about Carmilla
What is Carmilla about?
Carmilla is about Laura, a young woman living in a remote castle in Styria, who befriends a mysterious girl taken in by her father. As Laura sickens, strange events suggest a vampire is near.
Did Carmilla come before Dracula?
Yes. Carmilla appeared in a magazine in 1871 and 1872, about twenty-five years before Dracula in 1897. Bram Stoker knew it, and it shaped later vampire fiction, especially the figure of the female vampire.
Is Carmilla a true story?
No, it is a work of fiction by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. He drew on central European vampire folklore and set the tale in Styria, but the characters and events are invented.
Is Carmilla hard to read?
Not really. It is clearly told. Most readers find it easy to follow.
What does the name Carmilla mean in the story?
Carmilla is the name the guest gives when she arrives at Laura's home. Le Fanu uses names with care, and the story hints that her names hide something about her family and past.