Killing the Queer? Narrative Closure, Desire and Erasure in Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla (1872)

Discussions surrounding Victorian author Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (1872) have explored many of the novella’s themes, including but not limited to the Gothic vampire, queer representation and historical significance. This thesis endeavours to expand the lesser developed discourse on the novella’s ending and narration by analysing Carmilla’s ending through the lens of the “bury your gays” trope, examining how the death of both queer characters attempts to restore order while the retrospective narration undermines this closure by preserving traces of their relationship. In doing so, it argues that Carmilla is a text that occupies the liminal space between conservative values and Gothic transgression, revealing the instability of patriarchal control and heteronormative structures. To accomplish this, the paper is divided into four sections; a theoretical background, an exploration of Carmilla as a lesbian and a vampire, an analysis of Laura’s narrative and desire, and finally a discussion of the characters’ deaths and the novella’s failed containment of queer desire.