Both 'Carmilla' and 'The Bloody Chamber' are both classed as short stories or 'Nouvelle' (Novella) as named by Henry James. Joyce Carol Oates claimed that a shorter form increases intensity and "concentration of imagination" (Oates, 1992.) which is successful in making the story more enjoyable and exciting to the reader although gothic fiction tends to be exciting anyway. One of the more common features in gothic fiction is the mysterious setting. This instantly creates an atmosphere for the reader and projects the nature of the story to the audience. Setting is critically important in gothic literature as it can hint towards or represent the character and their intentions.
For example, 'The Bloody Chamber' for the most part, is set in a castle. Horace Walpole is said to have created the gothic genre with his sixteenth century novel The Castle of Otranto; even the first piece of gothic literature featured a castle and it has become a classic setting for the gothic. The description of the setting is uncanny and typical of what we would expect in an old castle. There are "gilded mirrors" (pg. 6) and "turrets of misty blue" with a "spiked gate" (pg. 9). The castle is described as "a mysterious, amphibious place" (pg. 9) and just from these few descriptive phrases we have a clear image of the setting and an unsettling atmosphere has been created. The word "gothic" was first created to describe architecture thus making setting a critically important part of the description. The description goes into deeper detail by telling of how "the walls on which his ancestors in the stern regalia of rank lined up with their dark eyes and white faces" (pg. 9) look down upon our character. We immediately associate these 'stern' images with her husband and get a negative feeling of the place and of him. Carter uses description from the beginning to get an almost immediate reaction from the reader and grabs their interest straight away where as Le Fanu's 'Carmilla' is a more prolonged and indirect text.
The opening description in 'Carmilla' is much more mysterious and aloof describing the setting as a "lonely and primitive place". The difference in this description of setting is that we wonder more about where Laura is. We aren't told she's at a castle, but we know she is making her way to somewhere unknown, it's just a 'place' to us. We then get to the description of the mysterious house and again it is typical of what we expect. "Nothing can be more picturesque or solitary. It stands on a slight eminence in a forest. The road, very old and narrow, passes in front of its drawbridge, never raised in my time, and its moat, stocked with perch, and sailed over by many swans, and floating on its surface white fleets of water lilies". The effect is still the same with each different setting and both are very stereotypical gothic environments. Both texts adhere to this gothic trope well and in any gothic fiction, this is a key aspect in relation to the effectiveness of the plot.
In addition to the setting, the characters appearance is also a crucial gothic convention. A characters appearance is a reflection of who they are, meaning whether they are essentially good or bad. We don't specifically need a description of the main characters appearance, a description of the people surrounding them can also be effective. In 'The Bloody Chamber', Carter describes the housekeepers face as a "bland, pale, impassive, dislikeable face beneath the impeccably starched white linen headdress of the region". All of the words used are negative and portray in emotionless and almost corpse-like face. It is interesting that we don't get a name for our characters in 'The Bloody Chamber'. Despite this, we feel more of a connection to our main character than we do with 'Laura' in 'Carmilla'. We could view this as experimentation with identity. It is clear that our wife in Carter's story doesn't have her own identity, her new husband dictates what she wears. For instance, the ruby choker with its "flashing crimson jewels round her throat" (pg. 6). She tells us "he made me put my choker on" (pg. 13). In addition to this. Laura in 'Carmilla' is seen to be weak in character and doesn't seem to have a strong personality or identity. Laura mentions that she is "profoundly disappointed" when she discovers the girl who would have been a new companion is found to be dead. She seems to be very sheltered and also desperately seeking friendship. She seems to live her life through her father as there is no mention of anybody else. Due to these characters being stripped of their identities, they become the stereotypical damsels in distress and almost become perfect prey for the dominating characters such as Carmilla and the husband in 'The Bloody Chamber'.
Literature critic Marshall Brown describes gothic novels as "thought experiments that test the limits not just of human endurance, but more specifically of human reason" (Brown, 1987). And goes on to say that we "devote far more space to the thoughts and feelings of the victim and (often) of the persecuting demon than to the mechanisms of punishment and torment". This is a very agreeable point. The conventions in gothic literature have a very specific structure in terms of plot and content. Almost every piece of gothic fiction that you read will result in the point Brown has made and is indeed the case with both 'Carmilla' and 'The Bloody Chamber'. We do feel empathy with both female victims because of the situation they've been forced into and we feel cathartic as justice prevails. The plot structure is typical of a gothic works of literature.
Aside from the physicality of gothic literature, it is the emotional aspects of the genre that engages us most. For example, the tension between relationships and the dark secrets and anxiety of boundaries. The secretive forbidden room in 'The Bloody Chamber' is the main focus of the story and is what captivates the audience throughout. It is almost predictable that our character will end up entering the room but the predictability doesn't make the story boring like it would in other genres, we want her to enter to satisfy our personal interest. Similarly, in 'Carmilla' there are uncanny hints towards vampires and we suspect that Carmilla is somehow involved in the deaths. Although all of this seems obvious to us, it helps to create tension and suspense in the story. The idea that they could get caught and found out at any moment keeps the audience on edge. Despite the ending in both stories being slightly predictable the twists at the end show experimentation with the genre.
Gothic literature's main aim is to provoke fear in the reader. The more mystery there is the more effective it is on the reader.
It is common to have a dark revelation towards the end of gothic fiction that creates a climax. Carter reveals the chamber to us and our suspicions are confirmed. From the moment she takes "the forbidden key from the heap" the pace of the story dramatically increases. Our curiosity must be satisfied just as hers must be. As she describes the contents of the room our fear is intensified. The "absolute darkness" and "instruments of mutilation" come as a stark shock and now the seriousness of the situation takes effect. We want her to leave but she stays intensifying the action. Quite similarly, Carmilla leaves us in a state of shock as all the strange occurances all come together towards the end and are explained by Carmilla being revealed as a vampire. When the woodsman describes the same symptoms in his deceased daughter as Laura was experiencing, we breathe a sigh of relief as Laura has escaped those circumstances.
Fear of the unknown is what interests us most about gothic fiction. The ending of a gothic story is what can prolong our fear and thoughts on the story. Some people would argue that not giving closure to the ending of a short story prevents the reader gaining a sense of fulfillment in a piece of work. However, there are many authors that resist on giving closure in their stories and it has worked well with the nature of the story and can also be seen as a reflection of the content. 'Carmilla' (Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, 1872) is a prime example of an open ending. We feel fulfilled due to the fact that Carmilla has been killed, but not all is explained to us, and when we discover that Laura thinks she still hears her 'footsteps' the element of the unknown is complimentary to the gothic theme of the story. Laura leaves us with perplexing questions such as "How did she pass out from her room, leaving the door locked on the inside?" and "How did she escape from the house without unbarring door or window?". Similarly to 'Carmilla', 'The Bloody Chamber' also features an ending that resists closure and promotes thought. Although the ending is neat and tied up, we are still yearning to find out how our main character goes on to live after her near death experience and how her mother knew exactly how she was in trouble. In terms of conventions within the gothic genre, both stories adhere to the structure that was created for the gothic genre, but Carter and Le Fanu both experiment with the genre by pulling in a sudden twist to the storyline, thus creating a bigger impact on the audience and creating something slightly different for gothic fiction followers.
Bibliography
- Carter, A. (1979) The Bloody Chamber. England: Vintage.
- Brown, M. (1987) A Philosophical View of the Gothic Novel: Studies in Romanticism. [Online] Available: http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/brown.html Accessed: 08/01/14
- De Vore, D et al. The Gothic Novel. [Online] Available: http://cai.ucdavis.edu/waters-sites/gothicnovel/155breport.html Accessed: 08/01/14
- Le Fanu, J. (1872) Carmilla. In a Glass Darkly (Oxfords World's Classics 1999). USA: Oxford University Press.
- Le Fanu, J. (1872) Carmilla. [Online] Available: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10007/10007-h/10007-h.htm Accessed: 06/01/14
- Oates, J. (1992) The Oxford Book of American Short Stories. [Online] Available: http://www.usfca.edu/jco/oxfordbookofamericanshortstories/ Accessed: 08/01/14
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