The subversive subtext of Shakespearean allusion in Sheridan LeFanu’s ‘Carmilla’
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22235678 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrew J Power (0000-0001-6722-5923, University of Sharjah, corresponding author), Shahd Murshed (University of Sharjah) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2024-09-13 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1057/s41599-024-03683-1 |
| OpenAlex | W4402516699 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
Early on in J. Sheridan LeFanu’s ‘Carmilla’, Laura’s father rattles off the opening lines of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice (p.14; 1.1.1-4). It is the most obvious but not the only allusion to Shakespeare in LeFanu’s gothic tale. This article identifies a handful of further references, notably to Cleopatra and Ophelia, and to instances of disguise in The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet , and to cross dressing in Twelfth Night . It begs the question, ‘What is Shakespeare doing haunting LeFanu’s nineteenth-century text?’ Ultimately connecting these allusions, some more subtle than others, to the othering of Carmilla (and her associates) and to the twin corruptions of cross-dressing and suicide, the article finds that the sometimes only half-visible figures of Shakespeare’s plays act as alluring but corrupting forces within LeFanu’s diabolical tale not unlike the titular vampire
Allusion · Art · Literature · Subtext · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Literature: history, themes, analysis · Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism
| Highly cited | No |
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