Carmilla

Carmilla has the ability to transform herself into a large black cat or beast. In this context, the cat may be read as symbolic of hidden libidinal desires. The cat is an animal and thus instinctual; its desires are not filtered through conscious human thought. The cat is compulsive and has a “lithe, sinister restlessness of a beast in a cage” as it paces about the room (49). As an emblem of base instinct, the energies of the black beast cannot be fully controlled (caged) at all times, nor can these energies be fully understood by the consciousness, as they are shadowy and indistinct, just like a “sooty-black animal” (46) that is “indistinctly seen” (82).The beast’s “cage” is consciousness, but it is let loose during the night, when the unconscious has free reign.

In a room in Laura’s schloss there is “somber piece of tapestry […] representing Cleopatra with the asps to her bosom” (24). Besides referencing Carmilla’s vampiric attacks on Laura, the tapestry also has something to say about the nature of conscious choice in the novella. Cleopatra’s suicide by snake was an act directed consciously upon herself. The tapestry is “opposite the foot of the bed” and thus is associated with the sleeping state.