Carmilla V Summary

Summary

A messenger from Gratz delivers two large packing cases containing many old portraits that have been cleaned and restored; the household gathers in the hall to watch them unpacked. Carmilla watches listlessly as the pictures are exposed. Among them is a small, once-blackened portrait that my father reads as bearing the name Mircalla, Countess Karnstein, A.D. 1698. When it is revealed, Carmilla and I both react: she recognizes a likeness to herself while my father and the picture-cleaner discuss the works.

Laura begs to hang the portrait in her room, and Carmilla remarks on the Karnstein descent, noting ruins not far away. The two walk out into the moonlit court and talk quietly; Carmilla clings to Laura with intense affection, at one point whispering that she has never loved anyone and might love Laura. She then suddenly goes pale and drowsy, seeming to shiver and faint, but quickly recovers after a little wine and warmth, dismissing her weakness as habitual languor. The evening ends with the narrator unsettled by Carmilla's strange moods, and the discovery of the portrait gives Laura new, uneasy thoughts that stir even Carmilla's usually languid temperament.

Key events

1. A messenger from Gratz arrives with two packing cases of restored portraits.
2. The household assembles to witness the unpacking and restoration.
3. A small portrait labeled Mircalla, Countess Karnstein (1698) is unveiled and resembles Carmilla.
4. Laura asks to hang the picture in her room; family discusses Karnstein lineage and nearby ruins.
5. Laura and Carmilla walk out to the moonlit court and share a tender, intimate exchange.
6. Carmilla experiences a sudden faint, shivering but quickly recovers after wine.

Analysis

This chapter tightens the novel's atmospheric and thematic threads by linking past and present through portraiture and lineage. The uncanny likeness of the portrait to Carmilla introduces questions about identity, ancestry, and repetition: the painted Mircalla (1698) suggests a historical echo or recurrence that unsettles Laura and foreshadows a connection between Carmilla and the Karnstein name. The physical object—a small, blackened portrait cleaned to startling life—acts as a concrete symbol of how the past can be resurrected and reinserted into the present.

The moonlit stroll and Carmilla's affectionate, possessive language deepen the novel's exploration of intimacy, desire, and ambiguous gendered relations; Carmilla's sudden shifts between ardent passion and apathetic pallor demonstrate her instability and hint at illness or otherworldly influence. Narratively, the chapter uses close, episodic scenes—the unveiling, the conversation about lineage, the walk—to build tension gradually rather than through overt explanation. Le Fanu's restrained third-person narrator focuses on Laura's perceptions, emphasizing subjective wonder and unease and allowing the strange to remain unexplained, which strengthens the gothic mood and foreshadows future revelations. The portrait's coronet and inscription give historical weight and suggest motifs of ruined aristocracy and inherited fate that may shape later events.

Important quotes

“It was the effigy of Carmilla!”

NarratorLaura's immediate, astonished reaction on seeing the restored portrait that looks exactly like Carmilla.

“I am descended from the Karnsteins; that is, mamma was.”

LauraLaura explains the family connection to the Karnsteins when the portrait's inscription is read.

“I live in you; and you would die for me, I love you so.”

CarmillaCarmilla's intense vow to Laura during their moonlit embrace, revealing passionate attachment and unsettling intimacy.

Characters in V

• Baron Vordenburg
• Mademoiselle De Lafontaine
• Bertha Rheinfeldt
• Laura
• Carmilla
• Laura's father
• Madame Perrodon
• General Spielsdorf