The Forbidden Aspect of Erotic Desire Embodied in the Figure of the Vampire in “Carmilla” and “Olalla”

Abstract

During the Victorian period, there was a dichotomy for women. On the one hand, there was the image of an “Angel of the House”, who was basically the submissive wife within a strongly patriarchal system. On the other hand, women could also be portrayed as monsters/prostitute because they refused to fulfill the role of a perfect wife and preferred to have an uncontrollable sex desire. This research will focus on the analysis of women as “monsters” by using the nineteenth-century vampire stories “Olalla” by Robert Louis Stevenson and “Carmilla” by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. These two works will provide an exploration into the forbidden or transgressive aspects of erotic desire embodied in the figure of the vampire, precisely, female vampire. Throughout this study, there are several transgressive elements depicted in the characters of Olalla and
Carmilla. Firstly, those monsters are sexually empowered characters, Olalla and Carmilla posses a sex desire that should not be acceptable for a woman. Secondly, the short stories clearly establish a ‘role reversal’ in the
relationships with their human partners, that is to say, the female vampires take the active role since their fangs are the elements of penetration (like a phallus) whereas their lovers take the passive role. And thirdly, the sexual orientation is considered transgressive, particularly, in Le Fanu’s “Carmilla” that presents a homosexual relationship with a female friend, Laura.