A guide to reading the totally screwed up and unreadable poem "Christabel" by Coleridge.

HOW TO READ THE POEM "CHRISTABEL" by Coleridge
How the poem withdraws possibility of straight-forward reading
1. finished or fragment
2. Narration
3. Reflexivity: all characters read "Geraldine"
A POEM ABOUT THE UNCONSCIOUS
1. Freudian Slips
2. Proposal - the poem slips, moves into dangerous territory and recovers in Part 2.
STRUCTURE
1. Patterns of opposition
2. Mediating terms and taboo
3. From Parts to wholes: incomplete - to - complete
MaleFemale
1L X
2X L
L = Leoline
X = Unknown
What does Christabel see when Leoline undresses? It is like the speaker of the poem has had a spell…