ÒCarmillaÓ /"Manor"/"Mysterious Stranger" Study questions

 

For Monday, be prepared to answer question 5.

 

For Wed. be prepared to answer question 6.

 

For Friday, be prepared to answer question 12.

 

1.  ÒWe are in GodÕs hands; nothing can happen without His permission, and all will end well for those who love Him.  He is our faithful creator; He has made us all, and will take care of us.Ó

            ÒCreator! Nature!Ó Said the young lady in answer to my gentle father.  ÒAnd this disease that invades the country is natural.  Nature.  All things spring from Nature—donÕt they?  All things in the heaven, in the earth, and under the earth, act and live as Nature ordains?  I think so.Ó (109)

 

Why does Carmilla become so vehement in response to LauraÕs ÒgentleÓ father?  What is the role of ÒNatureÓ in this story? 

 

2. What is the role of the mother in Carmilla?  Laura is motherless CarmillaÕs mother is this strange figure and what of the black woman in the carriage? 

 

3. Why isCarmillaÕs name an anagram?  Is there any significance to this?  What is the relationship between CarmillaÕs ÒselvesÓ and the protagonist, Laura?

 

5. How does point of view function in this story?  Pick one example of how point of view functions to focus your answer.

 

6. The story ends with Laura's words. How does Laura feel about Carmilla, even after she knows Carmilla is a vampire? What does this tell us about the nature of the relationship between vampire and victim?

 

7. Where is this story set? What do you see as the significance of placing English expatriate protagonists in this setting?

 

8. The story is part of the files of Dr. Hesselius. What does the frame of being a case file add to the story?

 

Ulrichs, ÒManorÓ

 

9.  How does the depiction of homoerotic attraction in ÒManorÓ compare to ÒChristabelÓ and ÒCarmillaÓ?

 

10.  What do you make of the role of the mother figure in ÒManorÓ?  How does it compare to ÒLenoreÓ?  How does ÒManorÓ compare more generally to the other German vampire narratives weÕve read? 

"The Mysterious Stranger":

11. What elements of vampire narrative that we have previously seen appear in this story?

12. What is the significance of this story's setting? What role does the Turkish element play in this story?

13. The dates given for publication of this story in English vary (1853;1860) and its provenance is uncertain. Based on what we have read so far, do you think this story comes from the German tradition or that it is an English text being "passed off" as a translation? Why or why not? If it is a fake translation, why might the authors/editors presented it as a translation rather than an original?

14. Why does Azzo prey upon Franziska? Does she bring her condition upon herself?