Uncovering the Void: Sapphism, Hysteria and the Phallic Myth in Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1872)

Abstract

This paper analyses the ways in which Le Fanu’s Carmilla exposes and subverts patriarchal heteronormative discourse and its domination of the female body. Through the study of the protagonists’ relationship, this work argues that the novella reveals the fictionality of various patriarchal discourses as well as presents the alternatives of female (homo)sexuality, autonomy, and knowledge. To prove this, the topics of sapphism, hysteria and male authority are explored. The paper concludes that the relationship between Laura and Carmilla disrupts the gender-sex binary and the heteronormativity that uphold the patriarchal system, therefore uncovering its fictionality and its demonization of female desire and agency.