Carmilla: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Laura continues to wonder about the nature of the girl, whose name is Carmilla. She describes Carmilla as graceful but extremely slow, with beautiful features, dark eyes, and thick, long hair. However, while Laura is, for the most, part charmed by Carmilla, there are also things about Carmilla that trouble Laura. She is annoyed by her refusal to offer any details about her life, which Laura sees as a sign that Carmilla doesn’t trust her. All Laura knows about her is her name, the fact that she comes from a noble family, and that she lives somewhere to the west. No matter how hard Laura pushes, Carmilla coldly refuses to offer up any more information. She tells Laura that it hurts her to hurt Laura, and that she would never want to upset her, but still says nothing more about herself. 

Carmilla occasionally embraces Laura and whispers in her ear, which makes Laura uncomfortable. It arouses within her a pleasurable excitement along with a sense of fear and disgust. She can sense her feelings growing paradoxically into both intense love and hatred.

Laura comments that she is now writing after years have passed, and that there are certain moments she remembers distinctly and others which she hardly remembers at all. She recalls how Carmilla would sometimes take her hand and gaze at her intensely before kissing her on the cheek. She had all the intensity of a lover, which greatly troubled Laura. She insists that Carmilla can’t love her, as they haven’t known each other long enough to hold such strong feelings.

Laura tries to understand Carmilla’s behavior, wondering if she is insane or perhaps a male suitor in disguise, but she dismisses this idea. For the most part, Carmilla barely notices Laura—it is only in these brief moments of passion that she expresses such intense emotion. Laura also notes the strangeness of Carmilla’s habits. She would never appear until late in the day, and she could barely move without becoming exhausted.

One day, Laura and Carmilla are sitting under the trees when they witness the funeral procession of a young peasant girl. The girl’s father walks behind the coffin, looking heartbroken over the death of his only child. A number of peasants also follow along, singing a funeral hymn. Laura pays her respects and joins in the hymn from afar but Carmilla begs her to stop, telling her that the sound of the hymns pierces her ears. She says that she hates funerals and doesn’t understand why people are upset over death, since everyone dies eventually. Further, Carmilla doesn’t trouble herself over the lives of peasants. She suddenly begins to experience a fit, emitting a cry of suffering that she claims is a result of the hymns. After a while the sound passes away, and she begins to return to normal.  

Laura and Carmilla return home, and Laura thinks about Carmilla’s strange behavior, as it is the first time she has ever seen Carmilla get deeply upset. She recalls that the only other time Carmilla was upset was when they were visited by a deformed hunchback carrying a wide variety of objects intended to ward off monsters. He stood under the window and asked if they would like to buy a charm to fight against the vampire that is roaming through the woods. Laura and Carmilla both purchased one, and the hunchback then commented on Carmilla’s sharp teeth, saying that he could blunt them to fit the rest of her face. This greatly angered Carmilla, who demanded that he be punished. However, after stepping back from the window, Carmilla seemed to forget the encounter and the hunchback entirely.

Laura’s father returns that evening out of sorts, informing Laura and Carmilla that another young peasant girl has fallen ill, and that her illness resembles that of the other girls who recently died. However, he believes that the illness can be explained through natural causes, and that poor people are simply infecting each other with their superstitions. Carmilla expresses her fear, and Laura’s father tells her that they are in God’s hand and that as long as they trust in him, everything will work out for the best. This irritates Carmilla, who laughs at the idea of the creator and insists that everything, including the disease, is at the mercy of nature, and not God. 

 There is a silence, before Laura’s father changes the subject and informs them that he has sent for the doctor for his advice on the illness. Carmilla insists that doctors have never helped her, and that she once suffered from the same illness that is now infecting the peasant girls. Laura wants to know more, but Carmilla does not wish to discuss it in detail. She instead asks Laura if she is frightened, and Laura answers that she would be if she thought there was any chance they would be attacked like the peasants. She says she is afraid to die, and Carmilla responds that girls are caterpillars while they are alive, only to become butterflies after death and that death is therefore not something to be feared.

Later that day, the doctor arrives and speaks with Laura’s father in private. When they emerge, Laura’s father is laughing at the doctor’s suggestions. They walk away, and Laura wonders what they were discussing. Years later, she thinks she now understands.