Making Christabel: Sexual transgression and its implications in Coleridge's "Christabel"

Even among critics who recognize the role of lesbianism in "Christabel," no ne consider the implications of lesbianism for the characters. Many readers describe Geraldine as a kind of supernatural power, a demon. But Gcraldine 's identity is far from clear, and we don't need to explain away the lesbia n sexuality as demonically-inspired in order to understand the dynamics of the text. The poem accounts for its characters' interactions on what is a m ore visceral and less fantastic level, the implications Of a lesbian act in the world of ''Christabel." In "Making Christabel," I consider the protago nist's social and psychological stresses in terms of an encounter with lesb ian sexuality in order to understand the poem's ambiguities: Geraldine's gu ilt, Christabel's pleasure, the manipulation of gender roles, and the dynam ics between Christabel, Geraldine, and Sir Leoline. To this end, I look at how the "unnatural" sexuality between Christabel and Geraldine is marked by a reversal of gender expectations. Sexual transgres sion is suggested not simply by two women heading off to share one bed, but by the manipulation of gender roles on their way to and within the bedroom . I also read the homosocial bond between Sir Leoline and Sir Roland in Par t II as a foil. The knights offer the two women a concrete representation o f their transgression from the existing power structure. They suggest not o nly the extent of the two women's deviance from the patriarchy, but a way t o reassume an orthodox social role. (C) 2001 by The Howarth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.