guardians_song (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
guardians_song) wrote2013-08-16 11:30 am
guardians_song) wrote2013-08-16 11:30 am
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Let's Read: Carmilla [Chapter 4, Pt. 1]
And now we hit the does-this-even-count-as-subtext part of the story. *wolf whistle*
Chapter 4: Her Habits - A Saunter
Alternatively: Tsun TSUN TSUN
The first lines set the tone for the chapter:
She was above the middle height of women. I shall begin by describing her. She was slender, and wonderfully graceful. Except that her movements were languid—very languid— indeed, there was nothing in her appearance to indicate an invalid. Her complexion was rich and brilliant; her features were small and beautifully formed; her eyes large, dark, and lustrous; her hair was quite wonderful, I never saw hair so magnificently thick and long when it was down about her shoulders; I have often placed my hands under it, and laughed with wonder at its weight. It was exquisitely fine and soft, and in colour a rich very dark brown, with something of gold. I loved to let it down, tumbling with its own weight, as, in her room, she lay back in her chair talking in her sweet low voice, I used to fold and braid it, and spread it out and play with it. Heavens! If I had but known all!
Get used to the word "languid". It's like "dazzling" for Edward Cullen.
Also note Laura injecting a note of protest after raving about Carmilla. Out-of-universe, this was probably Sheridan Le Fanu trying to reduce the chance of anyone tapping him on the shoulder and asking him what a respectable man was doing, writing sapphic love stories. In-universe, it comes off as Laura going 'It's not gay if I regret it! D: '
One of the things Laura doesn't like is that Carmilla won't tell her anything about her past, save that she's fromthe Most Ancient and Noble House of Black and that her home is over thatway (*waves vaguely*). Laura is hurt at Carmilla's lack of trust and sounds a bit, subtextually, like she's whining 'Why don't you liiiike me?'
And this part sounds very amusing out of the Victorian context.
You are not to suppose that I worried her incessantly on these subjects. I watched opportunity, and rather insinuated than urged my inquiries. Once or twice, indeed, I did attack her more directly. But no matter what my tactics, utter failure was invariably the result. Reproaches and caresses were all lost upon her.
*cough* *snicker, snicker* Yes, I know "caress" is meant in its platonic sense, but... well. My mind just wants to ask leering questions about exactly how she's attempting to cajole this information out of Carmilla.
And, in response, we get a rather memorable passage...
"Better than Twilight" is cliched, and comparing apples to oranges a good deal of the time. Carmilla beats Twilight at its own plotless-vampire-romance (with plot tacked on at the end) game, and it does it by giving Carmilla super-human emotions rather than sub-human emotions.
I'd like vampire novels a lot more if they used THIS characterization for vampires.
Of course, Laura continues to be determinedly oblivious.
Her agitations and her language were unintelligible to me.
Dear, the only way she could get less ambiguous is if she started stripping you down. And even then, you'd probably keep going obliviously, 'Are we going for a swim, Carmilla? Is this a custom from your country?'
Having achieved her quota of obliviousness for the page, she now moves on to her tsundere quota. Behold:
From these foolish embraces, which were not of very frequent occurrence, I must allow, I used to wish to extricate myself; but my energies seemed to fail me. Her murmured words sounded like a lullaby in my ear, and soothed my resistance into a trance, from which I only seemed to recover myself when she withdrew her arms.
In modern translation, she collapsed into a happy hormonal fog whenever Carmilla was actually in contact with her, and only went all tsun when Carmilla let go of her. Look, I'm not a creepy shipper making excuses. It's right there on the page.
Now, the official version is probably that Carmilla's ~vampire powers~ made her unable to resist. Naturally. It's awfully funny how these vampire powers just happen to look like Laura actually not minding as much as she claims, eh?
And in case you're still doubting my interpretation:
In these mysterious moods I did not like her. I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust. I had no distinct thoughts about her while such scenes lasted, but I was conscious of a love growing into adoration, and also of abhorrence. This I know is paradox, but I can make no other attempt to explain the feeling.
I can, Laura. It's called "tsundere love". 'That's disgusting. Keep doing it.'
I'll play Captain Obvious and note again that Laura is clearly falling for her while simultaneously growing hostile. Strictly speaking, that's probably supposed to be Carmilla's vampiric nature subconsciously repelling her. In the blatant subtext? I'm going to call it repression and internalized homophobia. 'Stop making me feel like this, damn you! I'm enjoying it too much!'
In fact, she's so passionate over the memories that she makes a continuity error, claiming that "I now write, after an interval of more than ten years, with a trembling hand" when she previously stated that her account was being written EIGHT years after the events. So 8 > 10... Perhaps Laura is an English major?
*dodges nuclear missiles* I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't kill me until after the commentary! D8
And the lesbianism continues:
Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet over-powering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, “You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.” Then she had thrown herself back in her chair, with her small hands over her eyes, leaving me trembling.
"Like the ardour of a lover"? Thank you, Captainess Obvious. And I think "It was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet over-powering" is the best description of the tsundere mentality you will ever see, and that is not sarcasm.
...What do I even say? That this is better than most scenes where the characters actually make-out? Sorry, the text is like a sledgehammer. A very passionate sledgehammer.
Unless you're Laura, apparently.
In more seriousness, I have to say that's very well-written. I can almost hear the desperate hostility and confusion in Laura's voice in those lines.
She used to sigh at my vehemence, then turn away and drop my hand.
Possibly she was sighing at the sheer bizarreness of "ARE WE RELATED"...
But this is what I'm talking about when I mention Carmilla's persistence. Laura is clearly flustered (and, from the descriptions of her involuntary reactions, somewhat interested), but bewildered by it all and doing her best to push Carmilla away. The vampire, meanwhile, is overwhelmingly besotted, and thus we get "poor lady" feelings towards the undead predator. Contrast this to Twilight, where everyone got what they wanted posthaste and so we had no sympathy for anyone. (Except, possibly, New Moon!Jacob and entire-series!Leah, who most definitely didn't get what they wanted.)
And, for all that the "it's all an act" theory is supposed to be a legitimate reading, I think Laura contradicts it in the next paragraph (bolding mine):
Respecting these very extraordinary manifestations I strove in vain to form any satisfactory theory—I could not refer them to affectation or trick. It was unmistakably the momentary breaking out of suppressed instinct and emotion. Was she, notwithstanding her mother’s volunteered denial, subject to brief visitations of insanity; or was there here a disguise and a romance? I had read in old story books of such things. What if a boyish lover had found his way into the house, and sought to prosecute his suit in masquerade, with the assistance of a clever old adventuress. But there were many things against this hypothesis, highly interesting as it was to my vanity.
So, no matter what Carmilla's other intentions are, she is sincere about her outbursts of passion. And, unlike Edward, I just CANNOT read that as gastronomic passion. I admit that you could stretch the above quotes to mean that Laura will be "hers" as a good meal, but she becomes more explicit later on about Laura "com[ing] with her" and soon "know[ing] everything". The implications are obvious - she plans to eventually haul Laura with her for eternity as a vampire.
Another point against Twilight - for all that Edward's concern for Bella's soul is noble, it's not very romantic. Since matters of the soul aren't deeply discussed in Twilight (and we're never supposed to believe her soul is actually in danger), it just comes off as his not wanting to keep her around for eternity. Carmilla, in contrast, sincerely wants Laura with her. She admits Laura may hate her for it - we'll get to that in Chapter 6. But so long as Laura is with her...
And when you consider that she's bursting out in passion over this not towards a worshipper like Bella, but rather someone who's confusedly trying to rebuff her advances...
Yes, well, the damned* predator is certainly coming off much more sympathetically than Ser Sparklepants.
*Edit: I'm using this in the sense of literally damned. It occurred to me that, with my usual vulgarity, it would probably be open to misinterpretation.
And Laura, dear? Let me explain to you the idea of romance not requiring a "boyish lover"...
(to be continued)
Chapter 4: Her Habits - A Saunter
Alternatively: Tsun TSUN TSUN
The first lines set the tone for the chapter:
I told you that I was charmed with her in most particulars.
There were some that did not please me so well.
In other words, our tsunderetagonist will be praising Carmilla and observing every detail of her behavior while protesting that she's really not comfortable with it. Uh... huh. I may be reading at an angle to the text here, but she doesn't come off as being overwhelmingly uncomfortable so much as The Lady Doth Protest Too Much.She was above the middle height of women. I shall begin by describing her. She was slender, and wonderfully graceful. Except that her movements were languid—very languid— indeed, there was nothing in her appearance to indicate an invalid. Her complexion was rich and brilliant; her features were small and beautifully formed; her eyes large, dark, and lustrous; her hair was quite wonderful, I never saw hair so magnificently thick and long when it was down about her shoulders; I have often placed my hands under it, and laughed with wonder at its weight. It was exquisitely fine and soft, and in colour a rich very dark brown, with something of gold. I loved to let it down, tumbling with its own weight, as, in her room, she lay back in her chair talking in her sweet low voice, I used to fold and braid it, and spread it out and play with it. Heavens! If I had but known all!
Get used to the word "languid". It's like "dazzling" for Edward Cullen.
Also note Laura injecting a note of protest after raving about Carmilla. Out-of-universe, this was probably Sheridan Le Fanu trying to reduce the chance of anyone tapping him on the shoulder and asking him what a respectable man was doing, writing sapphic love stories. In-universe, it comes off as Laura going 'It's not gay if I regret it! D: '
One of the things Laura doesn't like is that Carmilla won't tell her anything about her past, save that she's from
And this part sounds very amusing out of the Victorian context.
You are not to suppose that I worried her incessantly on these subjects. I watched opportunity, and rather insinuated than urged my inquiries. Once or twice, indeed, I did attack her more directly. But no matter what my tactics, utter failure was invariably the result. Reproaches and caresses were all lost upon her.
*cough* *snicker, snicker* Yes, I know "caress" is meant in its platonic sense, but... well. My mind just wants to ask leering questions about exactly how she's attempting to cajole this information out of Carmilla.
And, in response, we get a rather memorable passage...
She used to place her pretty arms about my neck, draw me to her, and laying her cheek to mine, murmur with her lips near my ear, “Dearest, your little heart is wounded; think me not cruel because I obey the irresistible law of my strength and weakness; if your dear heart is wounded, my wild heart bleeds with yours. In the rapture of my enormous humiliation I live in your warm life, and you shall die—die, sweetly die—into mine. I cannot help it; as I draw near to you, you, in your turn, will draw near to others, and learn the rapture of that cruelty, which yet is love; so, for a while, seek to know no more of me and mine, but trust me with all your loving spirit.”
And when she had spoken such a rhapsody, she would press me more closely in her trembling embrace, and her lips in soft kisses gently glow upon my cheek.
I would like you all to remember that "die" was a euphemism for "orgasm" back in those days...
More seriously, where do I start?
"Better than Twilight" is cliched, and comparing apples to oranges a good deal of the time. Carmilla beats Twilight at its own plotless-vampire-romance (with plot tacked on at the end) game, and it does it by giving Carmilla super-human emotions rather than sub-human emotions.
I'd like vampire novels a lot more if they used THIS characterization for vampires.
Of course, Laura continues to be determinedly oblivious.
Her agitations and her language were unintelligible to me.
Dear, the only way she could get less ambiguous is if she started stripping you down. And even then, you'd probably keep going obliviously, 'Are we going for a swim, Carmilla? Is this a custom from your country?'
Having achieved her quota of obliviousness for the page, she now moves on to her tsundere quota. Behold:
From these foolish embraces, which were not of very frequent occurrence, I must allow, I used to wish to extricate myself; but my energies seemed to fail me. Her murmured words sounded like a lullaby in my ear, and soothed my resistance into a trance, from which I only seemed to recover myself when she withdrew her arms.
In modern translation, she collapsed into a happy hormonal fog whenever Carmilla was actually in contact with her, and only went all tsun when Carmilla let go of her. Look, I'm not a creepy shipper making excuses. It's right there on the page.
Now, the official version is probably that Carmilla's ~vampire powers~ made her unable to resist. Naturally. It's awfully funny how these vampire powers just happen to look like Laura actually not minding as much as she claims, eh?
And in case you're still doubting my interpretation:
In these mysterious moods I did not like her. I experienced a strange tumultuous excitement that was pleasurable, ever and anon, mingled with a vague sense of fear and disgust. I had no distinct thoughts about her while such scenes lasted, but I was conscious of a love growing into adoration, and also of abhorrence. This I know is paradox, but I can make no other attempt to explain the feeling.
I can, Laura. It's called "tsundere love". 'That's disgusting. Keep doing it.'
I'll play Captain Obvious and note again that Laura is clearly falling for her while simultaneously growing hostile. Strictly speaking, that's probably supposed to be Carmilla's vampiric nature subconsciously repelling her. In the blatant subtext? I'm going to call it repression and internalized homophobia. 'Stop making me feel like this, damn you! I'm enjoying it too much!'
In fact, she's so passionate over the memories that she makes a continuity error, claiming that "I now write, after an interval of more than ten years, with a trembling hand" when she previously stated that her account was being written EIGHT years after the events. So 8 > 10... Perhaps Laura is an English major?
*dodges nuclear missiles* I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Don't kill me until after the commentary! D8
And the lesbianism continues:
Sometimes after an hour of apathy, my strange and beautiful companion would take my hand and hold it with a fond pressure, renewed again and again; blushing softly, gazing in my face with languid and burning eyes, and breathing so fast that her dress rose and fell with the tumultuous respiration. It was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet over-powering; and with gloating eyes she drew me to her, and her hot lips travelled along my cheek in kisses; and she would whisper, almost in sobs, “You are mine, you shall be mine, you and I are one for ever.” Then she had thrown herself back in her chair, with her small hands over her eyes, leaving me trembling.
"Like the ardour of a lover"? Thank you, Captainess Obvious. And I think "It was like the ardour of a lover; it embarrassed me; it was hateful and yet over-powering" is the best description of the tsundere mentality you will ever see, and that is not sarcasm.
...What do I even say? That this is better than most scenes where the characters actually make-out? Sorry, the text is like a sledgehammer. A very passionate sledgehammer.
Unless you're Laura, apparently.
“Are we related,” I used to ask;
ARE WE RELATED.
ARE WE RELATED.
ARE WE RELATED?
Laura, how exactly do you think relatives behave? 'Are we related?' ARE WE RELATED? Good gad, that is the most hilarious mood-killer outside of intentional parody.
“what can you mean by all this? I remind you perhaps of some one whom you love; but you must not, I hate it; I don’t know you—I don’t know myself when you look so and talk so.”
In more seriousness, I have to say that's very well-written. I can almost hear the desperate hostility and confusion in Laura's voice in those lines.
She used to sigh at my vehemence, then turn away and drop my hand.
Possibly she was sighing at the sheer bizarreness of "ARE WE RELATED"...
But this is what I'm talking about when I mention Carmilla's persistence. Laura is clearly flustered (and, from the descriptions of her involuntary reactions, somewhat interested), but bewildered by it all and doing her best to push Carmilla away. The vampire, meanwhile, is overwhelmingly besotted, and thus we get "poor lady" feelings towards the undead predator. Contrast this to Twilight, where everyone got what they wanted posthaste and so we had no sympathy for anyone. (Except, possibly, New Moon!Jacob and entire-series!Leah, who most definitely didn't get what they wanted.)
And, for all that the "it's all an act" theory is supposed to be a legitimate reading, I think Laura contradicts it in the next paragraph (bolding mine):
Respecting these very extraordinary manifestations I strove in vain to form any satisfactory theory—I could not refer them to affectation or trick. It was unmistakably the momentary breaking out of suppressed instinct and emotion. Was she, notwithstanding her mother’s volunteered denial, subject to brief visitations of insanity; or was there here a disguise and a romance? I had read in old story books of such things. What if a boyish lover had found his way into the house, and sought to prosecute his suit in masquerade, with the assistance of a clever old adventuress. But there were many things against this hypothesis, highly interesting as it was to my vanity.
So, no matter what Carmilla's other intentions are, she is sincere about her outbursts of passion. And, unlike Edward, I just CANNOT read that as gastronomic passion. I admit that you could stretch the above quotes to mean that Laura will be "hers" as a good meal, but she becomes more explicit later on about Laura "com[ing] with her" and soon "know[ing] everything". The implications are obvious - she plans to eventually haul Laura with her for eternity as a vampire.
Another point against Twilight - for all that Edward's concern for Bella's soul is noble, it's not very romantic. Since matters of the soul aren't deeply discussed in Twilight (and we're never supposed to believe her soul is actually in danger), it just comes off as his not wanting to keep her around for eternity. Carmilla, in contrast, sincerely wants Laura with her. She admits Laura may hate her for it - we'll get to that in Chapter 6. But so long as Laura is with her...
And when you consider that she's bursting out in passion over this not towards a worshipper like Bella, but rather someone who's confusedly trying to rebuff her advances...
Yes, well, the damned* predator is certainly coming off much more sympathetically than Ser Sparklepants.
*Edit: I'm using this in the sense of literally damned. It occurred to me that, with my usual vulgarity, it would probably be open to misinterpretation.
And Laura, dear? Let me explain to you the idea of romance not requiring a "boyish lover"...
(to be continued)