Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Christabel"

Paper Summary:

This paper claims that Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, "Christabel," is an excellent illustration of the Gothic genre. The writer discusses the development of this style as a reaction to the "Age of Reason" and Enlightenment. The paper also discusses elements particular to the Gothic style and illustrates why "Christabel" is innovative, especially its fantastic and taboo topics. The paper explains that "Christabel" also serves to demonstrate Coleridge's impact on redirecting and revitalizing literature at the end of the 18th century.

From the Paper:

"Along with William Wordsworth, Coleridge had an active hand in changing the face of poetry forever when they published their Lyrical Ballads in 1798. In this work, as well as his future work, Coleridge explored "the development of the human person, on how selves are made and lost," by introducing fantasy and innovative story lines that developed as the poem developed instead of simply focusing on a static "picture" or event (Taylor 707). This is a reflection of the times in which Coleridge lived. Much of the focus at this time was on the various scientific ideas that were in their infancy. Psychology and sociology were all but unheard of at the time, and so Coleridge's exploration of the inner self is truly innovative, but it was also his interest in things even more mysterious than this that likely generated the ideas for "Christabel." Since The Enlightenment advocated reason and logic above all other modes of thought and philosophy, this interest in the spiritual and illogical seems a natural backlash to the psychological and social pressures The Enlightenment placed on its most creative individuals. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Abrahms, M.H. (ed). "Introduction to the Gothic." Norton Anthology of English Literature. London: W.W. Norton, 2000.
• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. "Christabel." British Literature 1780-1830. Ed. Anne K. Mellor and Richard E. Matlak. Boston: Heinle & Heinle, 1996. 721-729.
• Grossberg, Benjamin Scott. "Making Christabel: Sexual Trangression and Its
• Implications in Coleridge's 'Christabel'." Journal of Homosexuality 41 (2001): 145-165.
• Taylor, Anya. "Coleridge's "Christabel" and the Phantom Soul" Studies in English Literature, 1500 - 1900. Baltimore:Autumn 2002, 42 (4), p. 707-730.

More papers on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Christabel":

• Poem Review # 98028 : "Christabel"
• Analytical Essay # 52011 : "Coleridge as a Romantic Poet"
• Analytical Essay # 67937 : "The Romantic Era"

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