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Visualizing the Vampire: Carmilla (1872) and the Portrayal of Desire

Williams, Lauren E.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1242582788

Abstract Details

2009, MA, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Art History.
The vampire genre has been one of the most popular outlets for writing about sexuality and desire without explicitly stating it and more commonly vampirism has been used as an acceptable framework for portraying subversive themes. Lamia and Lilith, two of the earliest female vampire archetypes, in many ways initiated interest in the female vampiric figure notably through the works of nineteenth-century Pre-Raphaelite artists. Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's groundbreaking novella Carmilla (1872) furthered this idea in the medium of literature by introducing the first lesbian vampire type even if certain diversionary tactics were used to bracket the truly subversive theme. Roger Vadim's film Blood and Roses (1960) was the first adaptation of Carmilla, and it expanded on Le Fanu's novella by incorporating the contemporary film practice of European art cinema to further sublimate the sexual desire between the leading characters. This study provides a visual journey of desire in the framework of vampirism as well as contributes to the study of vampires outside the context of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897). By analyzing the origins of female vampirism through the literature and images of Lamia and Lilith, Blood and Roses, and its source, Carmilla, the reader gains a greater understanding of the visual representation of the evolving female vampire in art, literature, and film.
Kimberly Paice, PhD (Committee Chair)
Diane Mankin, PhD (Committee Member)
Teresa Pac, PhD (Committee Member)
94 p.
Art History
vampires; Carmilla; art cinema; Lamia; Lilith; Blood and Roses; desire; lesbian vampires

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Williams, L. E. (2009). Visualizing the Vampire: Carmilla (1872) and the Portrayal of Desire [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1242582788

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Williams, Lauren. Visualizing the Vampire: Carmilla (1872) and the Portrayal of Desire. 2009. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1242582788.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Williams, Lauren. "Visualizing the Vampire: Carmilla (1872) and the Portrayal of Desire." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1242582788

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1242582788
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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.