"Christabel"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes and discusses Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "Christabel." The paper particularly focuses on the Gothic motifs that Coleridge uses to convey images and ideas within the poem. It presents parts of the poem to illustrate the images of vampires, moldy castles, dark moonlit nights and tragic heroines that Coleridge uses to convey his Gothic motif.

From the Paper:

"In any gothic work, it seems almost predestined that the motif of a dark and dank castle exists somewhere in the work. "Christabel" is no exception. Her elderly father calls a drafty old castle home, and the images of fires burning, dark rooms, and shadowy stairways almost always occur in gothic works. The elements of the poem are dark and dreary, and so the setting must echo these elements to set the stage for tragedy and evil."
"Finally, the motif of the dark, "bleak" forest is another gothic element of the poem. The owl screeching, the wind blowing, and Christabel praying for her beloved at midnight all combine into an eerie, unsettling image. Gothic works are dark and sinister, but there is always something "wrong" in them as well. Why is Christabel out alone in the dark woods on such a dreary night? The image is wrong, and yet, it occurs, which is another important element that all lead to a classic and dark gothic poem."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ashton, Rosemary. "The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge." University of Alberta. 1996. 15 March 2007. <http://www.ualberta.ca/~dmiall/Gothic/Christabel.htm>
• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. "Christabel." University of Virginia. 1999. 15 March 2007. <http://etext.virginia.edu/stc/Coleridge/poems/Christabel.html>
• Hogle, Jerrold E. "'Christabel' as Gothic: The Abjection of Instability." Manchester University Press. 2005. 15 March 2007. <http://journals.mup.man.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pdfdisp//MUPpdf/GOTH/V7I1/070018.pdf>

More papers on "Christabel":

• Research Paper # 94710 : "Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Christabel"
• Analytical Essay # 49239 : "The Paradoxical Nature of "Christabel"
• Poem Review # 57223 : "Transsexual Identification in "Christabel"
• Comparison Essay # 47108 : "Keats' ?"Lamia" and Coleridge's "Christabel"

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