"Carmilla"...so many possibilities

Carmilla written by Le Fanu was a very interesting story that had some components of a typical vampire story of present day. Apparently this “coincidence” is in part due to Le Fanu’s writings influence on this genre, most notably Bram Stoker's Dracula according to a biography website for Le Fanu written by Petri Liukkonen (http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/lefanu.htm). In addition to this site, I reviewed the Wikipedia website for additional information on Le Fanu’s background. I personally think that so much of what an author writes is related to their own personal experiences whether they consciously know it or not.

One of the first things I found of interest regarding Le Fanu was that he was Irish born into a family of Huguenot origins. I was not familiar with this term but a web search found that it is a term that is used to describe someone who is a “Calvinist” or Protestant. The origins of the word Huguenot were varied with some sites linking it to the German word for the French Calvinists.

I found all of this interesting because Le Fanu’s father was a clergyman for the Church of Ireland and according to Wikipedia “His father was a stern Protestant churchman and imbued his family with a religious sense that bordered on Calvinism”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheridan_Le_Fanu). Two major components of Calvinism are “the doctrines of predestination and total depravity, stressing the absolute sovereignty of God” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism). This is essentially stating that a human has no control over their destiny and God has already made His plan. Therefore, if you are a “fallen” human; only God can chose to save you and His plan can not and should not be altered unless by His will.

Le Fanu grew up in a locality that was affected by the Tithe Wars and ultimately, I think this and perhaps his father’s role in the Church of Ireland may have shaped some of his political views later in life; leading to the topics and undertones in many of his writings.

I found it interesting that Le Fanu chose “Styria”, an Austrian state, as a setting for Carmilla because Germany (Prussia) and Switzerland were two of the places the “Huguenots” fled to in order to escape persecution after their religion was deemed illegal in France
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenot). In addition, Le Fanu makes the main character a girl of English descent who lives quite nicely in her castle. Le Fanu writes, “…I really don't see how ever so much more money would at all materially add to our comforts, or even luxuries.” He also describes Laura in the quote, “My gouvernantes had just so much control over me as you might conjecture such sage persons would have in the case of a rather spoiled girl, whose only parent allowed her pretty nearly her own way in everything” (Le Fanu). And finally in the quote, “I was not frightened, for I was one of those happy children who are studiously kept in ignorance of ghost stories, of fairy tales, and of all such lore as makes us cover up our heads when the door cracks suddenly,…” (Le Fanu). I think that all three of these quotes provide insight into what Le Fanu is trying to portray in his view of the “English”, implying wealth, no lack of comforts, and spoiled behaviors. In addition, is it possible that in his quote about remaining ignorant of “fairy tales” and such “lore” he is implying a derogatory view of these things, which ironically are a significant part of Irish culture?

Looking back to Le Fanu’s biography, I found, “In 1847 he supported John Mitchel and Thomas Meagher in their campaign against the indifference of the Government to the Irish Famine” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheridan_Le_Fanu). Interestingly both Thomas Meagher and John Mitchel were members of “Young Ireland” which was essentially a group campaigning/fighting to decrease or cease control of Ireland from the British government as well as Catholic Emancipation. In understanding Le Fanu’s views on the Irish Famine, I’m inclined to think that perhaps he used a role reversal in Carmilla. Meaning that Carmilla could represent the Irish Famine or the British indifference to it while it literally “sucked the life blood” out of the Irish people and the nation portrayed as Laura and Bertha before her. In addition, there are times when Carmilla doesn’t seem to be all bad or evil, could this be seen as Le Fanu’s frustration or struggles with his past experiences with his religion and the British government.

I’ve no idea if this is correct, but I thought it was an interesting premise. Another concept I found interesting was that according to Jim Donnelly in his article “The Irish Famine” on the BBC website, during the Irish Famine, “There was a very widespread belief among members of the British upper and middle classes that the famine was a divine judgment-an act of Providence-against the kind of Irish agrarian regime that was believed to have given rise to the famine” (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/famine_01.shtml). This idea of divine judgement is very similar to the Calvinist belief in predestination and absolute sovereignty of God.

Finally, regarding Le Fanu’s writings in Carmilla as well as many of his others, there seems to be an underlying theme of “potential supernatural” events that could also be due to an overactive imagination, anxiety, or hysterics. Not surprisingly, Le Fanu’s wife suffered from “increasing neurotic symptoms”, “anxiety”, and died after a “hysterical attack” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheridan_Le_Fanu). Again, perhaps these experiences play a role in Le Fanu’s horror or gothic writings.

Honestly, I’ve no idea if I’m even close with many of these ideas, but I found them all interesting. Sorry to be so long winded, I didn’t even get to discuss the definite homosexual undertones seen in this writing as well. Maybe next time.