The Christ in Christabel

The last decade of the Eighteenth Century was during the time of a great emotional movement in Europe. Several revolutions were taking place from culture to science. Another important revolution was in British literature, known as Romanticism where importance, style, and grace were determined by internal feelings of a writer and uppermost imagination. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Christabel” proved to be one of the Romantic’s most extreme and glorious creations. It was also one of the most controversially interpreted works as well. Whereas many think of “Christabel” as a sexually gothic obscenity of lesbians, it is evident that the entire story is a metaphor of Jesus Christ’s relationship with the Heavenly Father and their battle against Satan and his crude temptations and disguises. A central religious theme in the late Eighteenth Century was that God was to be found both in the world of nature (the starry heavens) and in the law with in the prompting of the human heart (Barth, Symbolic, 132).

“Christabel” fits into the romantic category well, for Coleridge filled it with imagery and symbol, leaving the theme to be interpreted only “between the lines” by the reader. A

Before a work can be interpreted, the writer of the work must be construed. A religion aspect is applied to the poem for reasons of religious sensibility. That emotional response is always there regardless of time and style (Barth, Symbiotic, 129). In terms of faith, Coleridge felt that it was a complete self-commitment, and made up the whole of hope, love, and other virtues. An act of any one of these was equal to an act of assurance. He also felt that an act of faith was analogous to an act of a poet because both bring entire soul of man into realm of activity (Barth, Symbolic, 12-13). His life was an expedition for unity, and the perceiving of symbols was a devout performance by which he encountered God, the definitive foundation and veracity of all unity (Barth, Symbolic, 15). Throughout his life, religion became more essential to him and he constantly evaluated his mind-set and opinions pertaining to creed and philosophy (Bloom, Samuel T., 13-14). Overall, his faith consisted of unitarism. He felt strong in God’s Revelation and applied it to political and social problems (Barth, Christian Doctrine, 6). He believed in arguments for existence of God, necessary benevolence of the Deity, and miracles. Instead of evil, Coleridge thought in terms of pain, arguing that the function of pain in the divine plan is to chasten man for his moral evil and return him to path of virtue. Involving trial and error, man slowly learns the relationship between virtue and happiness, with vice and pains being means for man to learn virtue (Barth, Christian Doctrine, 7). In the perspective of the Bible, Coleridge felt that the Old and New Testament were not only uncomprehendable, but also not meant to be comprehended (Barfield, 157). Thus, he apparently meant “Christabel” to be confusing. Along with philosophical views, he had great intelligence in math and geometry (Franson, 2). A very brilliant man wrote “Christabel”.

If thought about deeply enough, Christabel has much in common with Christ. At the beginning of the poem, she is in the woods, late at night, alone. It is odd that a young girl does not have a mentor, and is not even noticed leaving the castle, or fearing the wilderness alone. Christ was often alone, unnoticed, and faced a wilderness fear-free for several days. She is immerses in the forest, almost baptized in it. She has no mother, and although her father loves her, he obviously does not have much time for her. She is alone, like Jesus was, a unique species. When she did come across Geraldine, regardless of the negative feelings that generated Christabel came to her aid completely. Jesus was the same way, even though often mistreated. Obviously Christabel did not give in to sin or temptation, for if she did, Geraldine would not have felt compelled to cast the spell on her. Jesus did not give in to sin either, for he died not giving in to it.

At the time of Romanticism, the issue of women and their role was notorious. Coleridge was partial to women’s rights. According to Taylor, his only sister was mistreated by their mother her entire life, and he grieved for her along with his other brothers (12). An unanswered question for reasons of Christabel and Geraldine being female are answered by Coleridge’s feelings toward injustice for females. He had many female friends treated incorrectly, and often sympathized for them (Taylor 12). He makes the injustice for women apparent in the poem in line 329, “That saints will aid if men will call”. Christabel is not a male; therefore she cannot be aided by the saints (May 11).

With the conclusion to part II, the relationship of parent and chills is discussed, and makes much sense in regards to Christabel and Leoline and Jesus and God.

The most incorrectly interpreted character in the poe

Some topics in this essay:
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