According to Coleridge himself, "For this is the true definition of symbol, as distinguished from the thing, on the one hand, and from a mere metaphor, or conventional exponent of a thing, on the other."" (Barfield, 156-157). Religious apprehension is consistent in the story because that supernatural unknown divinity is perplexing and calls for imagination (Barth, Symbolic, 130).
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). .
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.
