Bano sadique

Romantic and Victorian Poetry

Semester 4th, Section A.
Ms. Zenab Jehangi
Critical analysis of Coleridge's poem Christabel
This is a strange, dark and a dreamy kind of poem. It’s a two-part narrative ballad. Each part
is unfinished and it tells the story of Christabel who goes off at night to pray for her fiance.
Coleridge writes about the mysterious meeting and the interaction between two women that
exposes Romantic ideas regarding the interaction of humans, nature, and the Supernatural
world. Geraldine is a wicked woman and Christabel later finds out about her deception, but is
forced into silence by that black magic. When she finally breaks the spell and speaks about
Geraldine’s deception, Sir Leoline rejects her entreaty, and the long narrative poem ends with
Sir Leoline sending a message telling Lord Roland that his daughter is safe and offering
reunion. Awkwardly, before any confirmation on Geraldine' identity can be established or
denied, the poem ends abruptly. If we talk about Geraldine, she was treated well as a
guest.Geraldine, who initially appears to be an almost mirror image of Christabel, is later
revealed as being far more complex, both sexually and morally. Christabel poem somehow
portrays the theme of sin versus religiosity, evil versus devoutness, and sexuality versus
purity. Christabel is a pious woman whose dead mother’s spirit acts as her guardian angel to
lead her to the path of virtue.There are references to Jesus and Virgin Mary used by
christabel. In this poem, the central character Christabel represents purity, religiosity and
devoutness whereas Geraldine symbolizes evil, sin and sexuality.Concept of God ve Evil has
a strong presence throughout the poem. The poem is medieval as far as its setting,
background, theme, and atmosphere are concerned.The Setting of Coleridge's poem
Christabel , takes place in a dark forest and a dark castle and Description of the night is
hallucinating . The setting is also clearly Gothic in its tone because of the text which says it
is a cloudy night and the moon "is behind" the clouds and "at the full." This poem builds
suspense till the end of the poem with no conclusion to it. The conclusion of part 1 is itself
one of the deepest and most philosophical romantic lyrics.The conclusion to part 2 describes
rage as an excess of love.The conclusion to part 2 can also help to give a general account of
the theme of the poem. In the 1st part of the poem the readers somehow feel Geraldine as
Christabel mother’s spirit but later in 2nd part Geraldine proves to be some kind of
mysterious evil creature who spells some kind of curse or evil magic. We come to know she
is an evil character as soon as she declines and makes excuses to avoid prayer or praising
Jesus and Virgin Mary whenever asked by Christabel. There is a lack of cohesion in both the
parts of the poem, along with inconsistent overall structure in meter, rhyme and verse.