The Lover, Scorned!

What seems to be is not so, in the story of Christabel. Through a thin gray clouded veil of deception and evil, the narrator paints a story of indecipherable mystery that leave its audience searching for details. A complex net of strange characters and supernatural contradictions illustrate a pressing urgency in the tale ? yet, the narrator hesitates to reveal the truth. Through these elements of transmission, our perception of Christabel, Geraldine, and an overall sense of meaning in the story is distorted; its message becomes complicated. And this elusiveness begins to make sense when a dawning light reveals that the narrator himself is none other than Christabel?s own betrothed knight. The story becomes one of a lover scorned, and only hiding the truth can serve Samuel Taylor Coleridge's ultimate intentions.

Christabel?s true story is illustrated through contradictions, and these contradictions reveal themselves as soon as the poem begins. In contrast to Coleridge?s earlier poems which introduce the main character immediately, (zmilner, the crowing cock), Christabel begins with a depiction of the eerie elements of the animal world. Our attention fixes on ?zombie-like? creatures (zmilner, see above) as well as out-of-sync natural events. We begin to see a world that is orchestrated in an odd way; a system that has been thrown off (by some disaster, perhaps?).

The mastiff-bitch, a brute beast, is toothless! The crowing cock, symbol of energy and dawn of morn, is ?drowsily? crowing! These creatures are part of a greater super-natural context; they give proof that the natural world is out of whack. Detailed descriptions of the natural world continue to throw us off; the night is cold, but not dark, the breeze is not blowing, and even in the month of April, one red leaf hangs from the oak.

When we are first introduced to Geraldine, we cannot be sure what we see; the beautiful woman is dressed in a silken robe of white, (symbol of purity and goodness) and furnished with jewels. Her appearance, however, has a frightening quality, a disorder. Geraldine has appeared in the night, at the spot where Christabel prays, and wins Christabel?s confidence through a story that seems hardly realistic. When they enter the castle gates, the narrator presents a further contrast; the gate is ?ironed within and without,? trapping the two women into a prison-like fortress, in sharp juxtaposition with the wild forest of spirits, prayer, and the supernatural. These descriptions, although clearly contradictory, are presented in a fantasy-like, yet realistic setting. The audience consumes without questioning.

In addition to these contradictions in nature, our perception of time is also skewed; the cock, awakened by owls, crows not at dawn, but at midnight, (p. 475). And Christabel, at the unlikely stroke of twelve, has decided to pray. A later reference to Christabel?s dead mother mentions also the strike of twelve, in the context of Christabel?s wedding day. This stubborn insistence on the clock, striking hours repeatedly throughout the poem, seems to give the story a false framework, a misleading sense of security. The audience is immediately thrown into a world on-time, yet catastrophically out of tune with reality.

The body of Christabel?s tale seems harassingly suspenseful. The audience is given the story in small, alluring pieces, one by one, inevitably creating a context in which the reader is pushing forward, faster and faster! to finally discover the truth ? to see what happens to poor, sweet Christabel! The narrator feeds his audience methodically, purposely creating this suspense, and indulging in the confusion and panic that he has so carefully crafted. Oh, what will become of our Christabel!

The real purpose of the narrator is told though Christabel?s interaction with Geraldine. We see the pure, innocent, loving Christabel who yearns for her lost love contrasted with a not-so-innocent Christabel, curious, seeking life?s experience, sex, and the darkness of the woods. Why is Christabel in the woods so late? And so far from the castle gate? The narrator makes evident the urgency of Christabel?s quest; her unquenchable thirst for the mystery that awaits her under the oak. As the story progresses, her ?innocence? is further questioned. A persistent ?moaning? (see It moaned) of different various elements of the story, (mastiff-bitch, the breeze, Geraldine), creates a sense of animalistic pain, sexuality, and experience. And in the dark, evil woods, Christabel takes Geraldine in. Whether out of pity, curiosity, or desire, we may never know. The narrator is careful to shield his audience from this answer. Only Coleridge himself knows the real truth.

Geraldine?s role is further perverted in her supernatural characteristics. Her blue veins and pale skin give her a ghost-like quality ? something dead that has been revived. Her beauty, despite these features, is a contradiction. Geraldine?s actions, additionally, seem unlikely. She faints as if malnourished or on the verge of death. However, Geraldine exhibits sporadic outbursts of energy and life, of sexuality, that cause us to question her real intentions towards Christabel. The two ?creep? stealthily into Christabel?s castle bedroom. A strange scenario ensues, in which Christabel seduces Geraldine with wine, and Geraldine virtually fights off the spirit of Christabel?s dead mother, symbolically freeing her from the bonds of innocence that will soon be lost. ?Off, woman, off! ? this hour is mine ? Though thou her guardian spirit be, Off woman, off! - ?tis given to me!?,? (p. 480).

A single detail in the tale is the key to uncovering the identity of the narrator. After ?sixteen short howls not over loud,? Coleridge?s mastiff-bitch sees ?my lady?s shroud,? (p. 476)! The mastiff-bitch is the vehicle through which Coleridge reveals the true meaning of his story. The creature is acutely aware, if on a subconscious level, of Christabel?s state; he moans, as if in warning, when trouble begins to brew. The narrator, Christabel?s former lover, has never returned. He sees Christabel through the eyes of his mastiff-bitch, and watches as she succumbs to the temptations of evil. Geraldine, at the end, is a man. Her dishonorable intentions towards Christabel, evident in the nature of her acceptance into the castle, are eagerly met by the innocent virgin.

In the end, Geraldine reveals herself to Christabel. Her ?mark of shame, seal of sorrow,? (p. 481) is exposed; Geraldine is a man. In this way, the narrator, Christabel?s scorned lover, exposes this love affair, hiding the true details of Geraldine through a manipulation of her character. The lovely lady, Christabel, has cheated on her knight in shining armor.

Ultimately, Coleridge?s view of human nature is exposed in a super-natural context, allowing the mind to discover true reality. ?Christabel? reveals elements of the real in a context that is out of sync with all reality. The mind, primary, is the tool of truth ? the audience is left on its own to discover meaning. Coleridge?s own trouble in marriage, perhaps, led him into this story; the narrator, full of miserable jealousy, perhaps, is a reflection of himself. Had the story been told from a different perspective...well, that would have been impossible! This fictional story's entire essence lies in the inner psyche of the narrator; he creates Geraldine as a symbol of the destruction of his marriage. In the conclusion, Christabel considers the story as if it were a fantasy, a dream. The reality lies solely in the voice of her lover.

The tale of Christabel never made it into the Lyrical Ballads. It was, unquestionably, a sharper insight into the human soul than could be stomached. "Christabel" is challenging, wise, and complex. In the end, it is not a reflection of experience, but, rather, an experience of reflection.