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Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Vampire's Bite:
Instead of describing Carmilla biting Laura in literal terms, the novella uses a metaphor. Laura first describes the sensation in Chapter 1, during the strange dream she has of the young girl who turns out to be Carmilla:
I was awakened by a sensation as if two needles ran into my breast very deep at the same moment, and cried loudly. The lady started back, with her eyes fixed on me, and then slipped down upon the floor, and as I thought, hid herself under the bed.
Laura describes a sudden, sharp sensation. The suddenness of the physical sensation creates a moment of intense foreboding and suspense and is also a pivotal moment in the narrative. The young girl's reaction suggests that she is the cause of the physical encounter or attack Laura experiences.
Le Fanu's uses the metaphor again to foreshadow Carmilla's identity as a vampire in Chapter 6. Laura describes the sensation again:
I felt a stinging pain as if two large needles darted, an inch or two apart, deep into my breast. I waked with a scream. The room was lighted by the candle that burnt there all through the night, and I saw a female figure standing at the foot of the bed.
Rather than making it explicit for the reader that Carmilla is biting Laura, Le Fanu hints at it using figurative language. By repeating the image of "two large needles," Le Fanu underscores its significance. In doing so, he suggests to the reader that there might be more to Carmilla than meets the eye, raising doubts about her true nature and intentions. Moreover, Le Fanu's description of "two needles" also allows the reader to more easily imagine Laura's experience. Instead of just describing Carmilla's attack simple as a "bite," Le Fanu uses metaphor to evoke a strong image in the reader's mind and better allow them to empathize with the pain Laura is feeling.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Girls Are Caterpillars:
In Chapter 4, after Carmilla and Laura discuss Carmilla's illness, Carmilla uses a metaphor to make the unlikely comparison of girls to caterpillars:
Girls are caterpillars while they live in the world, to be finally butterflies when the summer comes; but in the meantime there are grubs and larvae, don't you see—each with their peculiar propensities, necessities and structure.
Carmilla likens young girls to caterpillars, which suggests a stage of early development and immaturity. In comparing girls to caterpillars, Carmilla suggests that as girls grow older and gain experience, they undergo a transformation, much like caterpillars turning into butterflies. This transformation represents a transition from immaturity to maturity, as does the accompanying transformation of the seasons "when the summer comes." Carmilla also compares the stages of girls' growth to the stages of grubs and larvae, which are distinct parts of the butterfly's life cycle.
In suggesting that girls become butterflies when the die, Carmilla also suggests to Laura that death is not something to be feared and is perhaps even welcome. Carmilla's complex relationship to illness as well as her own death hints at her identity as a vampire, as well as the danger she poses to Laura and anyone else she encounters.
Related Themes:
Chapter 6
Explanation and Analysis—Vampire's Bite:
Instead of describing Carmilla biting Laura in literal terms, the novella uses a metaphor. Laura first describes the sensation in Chapter 1, during the strange dream she has of the young girl who turns out to be Carmilla:
I was awakened by a sensation as if two needles ran into my breast very deep at the same moment, and cried loudly. The lady started back, with her eyes fixed on me, and then slipped down upon the floor, and as I thought, hid herself under the bed.
Laura describes a sudden, sharp sensation. The suddenness of the physical sensation creates a moment of intense foreboding and suspense and is also a pivotal moment in the narrative. The young girl's reaction suggests that she is the cause of the physical encounter or attack Laura experiences.
Le Fanu's uses the metaphor again to foreshadow Carmilla's identity as a vampire in Chapter 6. Laura describes the sensation again:
I felt a stinging pain as if two large needles darted, an inch or two apart, deep into my breast. I waked with a scream. The room was lighted by the candle that burnt there all through the night, and I saw a female figure standing at the foot of the bed.
Rather than making it explicit for the reader that Carmilla is biting Laura, Le Fanu hints at it using figurative language. By repeating the image of "two large needles," Le Fanu underscores its significance. In doing so, he suggests to the reader that there might be more to Carmilla than meets the eye, raising doubts about her true nature and intentions. Moreover, Le Fanu's description of "two needles" also allows the reader to more easily imagine Laura's experience. Instead of just describing Carmilla's attack simple as a "bite," Le Fanu uses metaphor to evoke a strong image in the reader's mind and better allow them to empathize with the pain Laura is feeling.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Dreams:
An instance of metaphor occurs in Chapter 6 when Laura describes the nature of her dreams. Frightened, Laura "adopt[s] Carmilla's habit of locking her bedroom door," but this action doesn't prevent her from having frightening dreams:
Thus fortified I might take my rest in peace. But dreams come through stone walls, light up dark rooms, or darken light ones, and their persons make their exits and their entrances as they please, and laugh at locksmiths.
Laura compares her dreams to entities that can literally pass through physical barriers. This comparison creates a vivid image in the reader's mind while also capturing the intangible and elusive nature of Laura's dreams. The phrase "make their exits and entrances as they please" also suggests a sense of independence and choice, similar to human actors on a stage. Moreover, the phrase "laugh at locksmiths" also suggests that dreams mock or defy any attempts to control them. Locksmiths, who are skilled at securing doors and controlling access to them, are being figuratively mocked by dreams. This unusual phrase further emphasizes the idea that dreams are free-spirited entities that can't be constrained.
Laura also describes the effect of her dreams as illuminating dark rooms and darkening light ones, another component of the metaphor. In having Laura describe her dreams in this way, Le Fanu gives them a whimsical, powerful, and mysterious quality. It's another significant instance of Le Fanu using figurative language to create a supernatural atmosphere.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Memory Like Divers:
In Carmilla, the titular character is evasive despite Laura's efforts to find out about her past. In Chapter 6, Carmilla uses a simile to compare the effort of remembering her first ball to divers as they navigate through water:
I remember everything about it—with an effort. I see it all, as divers see what is going on above them, through a medium, dense, rippling, but transparent. There occurred that night what has confused the picture, and made its colours faint.
By likening the act of remembering to how divers perceive things above them through water, Carmilla implies that her effort to recall memories is difficult or distorted. This vivid and unlikely comparison suggests that her recollection is hazy and difficult to grasp, adding to the sense of mystery around he.
Carmilla also uses a metaphor to evoke her sense of memory. The phrase "what has confused the picture, and made its colours faint" likens memories to a picture that has been obscured or transformed its clarity, causing the colors and details to become faint or less vivid. Le Fanu uses both simile and metaphor here to convey Carmilla's supposed fragmented experience of memory. Le Fanu also uses this simile to underscore Carmilla's elusive nature; the obscurity around her background hints that her identity and past are not what they seem.
