Christabel

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1816

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

The Power of Time

Time has power over, and thus concerns, all the characters in “Christabel.” Coleridge differentiates between time marked off by natural events such as nocturnal and diurnal birds, and time as measured by manmade systems such as church bells and prayer schedules. An hour, a manmade unit of time involving birth, death, and magic spells, is featured in several key moments. Christabel’s mother “died the hour that I was born” (Line 197). Later, when Geraldine encounters Christabel’s mother as a “guardian spirit” (Line 212), they argue about Geraldine having prolonged access to Christabel: “Off, woman, off! this hour is mine—” (Line 211). Although Geraldine’s power over manmade time is limited to this finite unit, she also demonstrates power over nature-controlled time when she stops the morning birds from singing to mark the dawn.

Nighttime is a special temporal pause for reality, offering the supernatural a path into the waking world. Christabel’s discovery of Geraldine, which follows her “dreams all yesternight / Of her own betrothèd knight; / And she in the midnight wood will pray (Lines 27-29), corresponds to the disturbing dream Bracy the bard has at “the midnight hour” (Line 557). Both Christabel and Bracy respond to their dreams with the desire to go out into the forest, seeking natural solace from their visions and the desire to tamp down the intrusion of the supernatural with prayer.

Prayer times are another way time dictates the actions of people in “Christabel.” Church parishioners in the English Lake District listen for the work of their local

[…] sacristan,

Who duly pulls the heavy bell,

Five and forty beads must tell

Between each stroke—a warning knell,

Which not a soul can choose but hear (Lines 340-43).

The silence between tolls of the bell is measured by the time it takes to say the prayers of a rosary. This indicates a religious sense of time, or time measured by completing an activity, rather than based on the disinterested flow of nature.

Innocence and Experience of Women

Coleridge contrasts the innocent Christabel and the experienced Geraldine, characterizing them as good and evil, devout Christian and sinner, and damsel in distress and femme fatale.

Christabel is often compared to a pure baby. After Geraldine casts her spell on Christabel, “she seems to smile / As infants at a sudden light!” (Lines 317-18). Christabel is described as innocent in Lines 614 and 626, when speaking to Leoline. This kind of childlike innocence is paired with piousness. Christabel prays frequently—for her fiancé, for getting to the castle safely, and for her unknown sins—throughout the poem. Her deep-seated faith makes her every action a prayer, even when she is not actively worshipping: Christabel “praying always, prays in sleep” (Line 322). This eventually becomes a problem, as Leoline does not correctly interpret Christabel’s ensorcellment as piety: “And nothing saw, but his own sweet maid / With eyes upraised, as one that prayed” (Lines 461-62).

Conversely, Geraldine is called the “lady strange” (Line 71)—a supernatural being from outside civilization. In her first appearance behind the oak tree, gems in her hair “wildly glittered” (Line 64). After Geraldine speaks to the spirit of Christabel’s mother, Christabel declares, “this ghastly ride— / Dear lady! it hath wildered you!” (Lines 216-17). Her wild nature is mentioned again at the end of the poem when Geraldine “rolled her large bright eyes divine / Wildly on Sir Leoline” (Lines 597-98). Wildness in these instances is connected to the forest, men, and possibly the devil or other supernatural creatures.

Geraldine’s power over Christabel is rooted in untamed femininity, represented by breasts: Her spells require Geraldine’s bosom to be against Christabel, while Christabel’s first vision the morning after sharing a bed with Geraldine is of her bosom: “Again she saw that bosom old, / Again she felt that bosom cold” (Lines 457-58). Christabel is frightened of experiencing lesbian attraction to a supernatural being. Both women’s breasts are highlighted, creating a comparison among many differences. However, the bosom of Geraldine is a space of power and magic, while Christabel’s breast is controlled by a mystical attraction, or a kind of love spell.

Geraldine as a Conduit to Homosocial Connection

While Geraldine’s beauty and body are the keys to entrancing Christabel, Geraldine manipulates Sir Leoline in a more political manner, by mentioning her father, Lord Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine. When Geraldine reminds Leoline of his past friendship with her father, “O then the Baron forgot his age” (Line 431). She makes him feel young again, ready to do battle with the men who abducted her. Geraldine offers Leoline access to the male sphere: Aiding Geraldine is a way to reconnect with an old friend and have a mission to right some wrong.

The homosocial connection Geraldine offers causes Leoline to side with her instead of Christabel. The best way to strengthen political ties with Roland would be for Leoline to marry Geraldine. Some passages in the poem support a reading of Geraldine as an evil stepmother: For instance, when Geraldine and Christabel are in bed together, the speaker compares them to “a mother with her child” (Line 301). Scholars who use Freudian analysis combine the reading of Geraldine as a stepmother figure with the reading of Geraldine as a romantic figure for Christabel: a queer Oedipus complex (Oedipus is a character from Greek mythology who marries his mother). In this interpretation, Christabel, seeing Leoline and Geraldine together, views her attraction to Geraldine as sinful not only because of its queerness, but also because it impedes heterosexual marriage.