Themes Blood on Her Tongue Johanna van Veen

Female Desire and Agency in Blood on Her Tongue

Thematic Claim: Desire as Both Trap and Liberation

In Blood on Her Tongue, Johanna van Veen argues that female desire and agency are inextricably linked to violence and transgression in a repressive society. The novel’s heroines, Lucy and Sarah, discover that the only authentic path to selfhood lies not in conforming to acceptable norms but in embracing what society condemns—adultery, same-sex love, even murder. Their journeys suggest that true agency requires the courage to become monstrous, yet the novel also questions whether such freedom is earned or merely bought with blood.

Lucy’s Forbidden Fantasies and the Affair with Michael

Lucy’s desire first surfaces as fantasy. In Chapter 5, she imagines herself as prey in a dark wood, pursued by a hunter she knows to be her sister’s husband, Michael. She reaches orgasm quickly, understanding that she “deserved to be had: rather brutally, in the dark, in the dirt, by her sister’s husband.” This private ritual reveals a woman who can only experience pleasure through a lens of shame and submission—a direct consequence of her era’s prohibition on female sexual will. Yet the fantasy also gives her a space to claim that will, however secret.

The affair with Michael is real, but it never becomes a source of empowerment. In Chapter 9, Michael manipulates Lucy by appealing to her guilt and desire. He strokes her throat, calls her “my sweet little fuck,” and she yields despite knowing the act is wrong. Their encounters are framed as mutual comfort, yet the power dynamic is clear: Michael dictates when and how they meet. Lucy’s agency is limited to the moment of consent, and even that is tainted by her need for emotional connection. This relationship illustrates the theme that forbidden desire in a patriarchal system often traps women in shame rather than freeing them.

Sarah’s Queer Thirst and the Bog Body

Sarah’s desire is queer, both in object and nature. She craves Katje, the poor relation, but also craves blood. The bog body that opens the novel—a woman staked down with a stone in her mouth—becomes a symbol of silenced female desire. Sarah’s first act is to cut her hand on the body’s teeth, as if to reawaken that voice through her own blood. In Chapter 15, Lucy walks in on Sarah drinking Katje’s blood during a sexual act. The scene is visceral: Sarah’s face is smeared, Katje is drugged, and the room smells of “sweat and sex and blood and something rotten.” Lucy’s shock mirrors the reader’s, but the text refuses to moralize.

Sarah’s desire is not merely sexual; it is existential. She feeds to survive—both physically and as the “Not-Sarah” entity that takes over when her human self weakens. The symbol of blood and feeding literalizes the idea that female agency must consume something old to birth something new. Katje’s willing participation (she loves Sarah, and the laudanum dulls her pain) complicates the scene: is this exploitation or mutual need? The novel suggests both can be true.

Violence as Reclaimed Agency

The climax in Chapter 26 represents the fullest expression of female agency in the book. When Michael threatens to commit Not-Sarah to an asylum, Lucy resolves to kill him. In Chapter 24, she recalls advice about eye gouging as self-defense: “Thrust hard and thrust deep.” She uses this knowledge first on Michael, then on Arthur when he tries to stop her. The act is cold, calculated, and unhesitating. Lucy ceases to be the shadow twin and becomes the agent of her sister’s survival.

After the murders, Not-Sarah drinks Michael’s blood “gleefully” and proposes they consume his body and sink Arthur in the bog. The sisters plan to fetch Katje and stage an elopement. For the first time, Lucy’s desire—to protect Sarah—aligns with her agency. She confesses her affair, and Not-Sarah admits she already knew, marrying Michael out of fear of being left behind. The revelation strips away the last secret, leaving only the bond between twins. The novel ends with a newspaper report of three missing women, the bog “claiming” them. This ambiguous fate suggests that true agency may require disappearing from society entirely.

Complexity: Madness, Queerness, and Moral Ambiguity

Van Veen explicitly warns against conflating madness and queerness in the Author’s Note and in the Conversation with the Author. She writes that “depiction is not endorsement” and that the characters who dismiss Sarah as mad are not reliable narrators. Yet the novel leans into the ambiguity: Sarah is both mentally ill (she hallucinates, bites, and raves) and queer. Her desire for Katje and her bloodthirst are interwoven, but the text refuses to say one causes the other.

This complexity extends to the question of agency. Lucy kills two men to save her sister. Is that freedom or damnation? The posy ring found near the bog body is inscribed “He shall rule over you”—a biblical command to female submission. Lucy discovers that the ring belonged to the bog woman, a victim of patriarchal violence. By choosing violent rebellion, Lucy and Sarah reverse the ring’s curse. Yet they also become killers. The novel does not offer a clean moral victory; it asks whether a woman can be both free and good in a world designed to contain her.

Symbols of Desire and Control

  • The Bog Body: A woman’s body staked down, mouth filled with stone—represents the violent silencing of female desire. Sarah’s blood reawakens it.
  • Blood and Feeding: Literalizes desire as a consuming, life-sustaining force. Sarah can only thrive by feeding on others, making agency a vampiric exchange.
  • The Silver Pen / Eye Gouging: Lucy’s tool for self-defense becomes the instrument of liberation. The pen, an object of writing and authority, repurposed for violence.
  • The Posy Ring: Inscribed with a patriarchal command, it physically binds the wearer. Lucy removes it, but its memory lingers.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Lucy’s fantasy in Chapter 5 establish the novel’s view of female desire? The fantasy frames desire as secret, shameful, and violent. Lucy imagines being hunted and possessed by Michael, which reflects her internalized belief that her own wishes are illegitimate. Yet she also experiences pleasure, subverting the repressive culture that denies her that right.

2. What does Sarah’s relationship with Katje reveal about agency and consent? Sarah drinks Katje’s blood while Katje is drugged, raising questions about exploitation. Yet Katje admits she loves Sarah. The novel presents a gray area: agency can coexist with dependency and pain, especially when both women are marginalized by class and gender.

3. Why does Lucy kill Michael and Arthur, and how does the act change her? Lucy kills to prevent Not-Sarah’s institutionalization. The act transforms her from passive shadow to active protector. She no longer submits to male authority; she destroys it. In doing so, she claims the same ruthlessness society uses against women.

4. How does the posy ring symbolize the conflict between desire and patriarchal control? The ring’s inscription “He shall rule over you” embodies the era’s ideal of marital submission. That it belongs to the bog woman, a murder victim, implies that such control leads to death. Lucy’s refusal to wear the ring (and her subsequent rebellion) rejects that ideal.

5. Does the novel endorse violence as a path to female agency? It presents violence as the only available option within the story’s logic, but it does not celebrate it. The ambiguous ending—the women vanish, presumed dead—suggests that such freedom comes at a cost. Readers are left to decide whether the sisters’ escape is triumph or tragedy.