English Literature, 20th cent. to the Present

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‘Christabel’

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Copyright

‘Christabel’, a poem by S. T. Coleridge, published 1816.

The poem, which is unfinished, is written in what is sometimes referred to as ‘Christabel metre’, that is, in four-foot couplets, mostly iambic and anapaestic, used with immense variety, so that the line length varies from seven syllables to ten or eleven.

Christabel, praying at night in a wood for her betrothed lover, discovers the fair Geraldine in distress and takes her to the castle of her father, Sir Leoline. Geraldine claims to be the daughter of Sir Leoline's estranged friend Sir Roland of Vaux. She shares Christabel's chamber for the night, and bewitches her as they lie in one another's arms. In the morning she meets Sir Leoline, who vows reconciliation with her father and vengeance on the ‘reptile souls’ of her abductors. Christabel, who has seen Geraldine's true malignant serpent nature, is at first silenced by the spell placed upon her, but manages to implore her father to send Geraldine away. Sir Leoline, offended by his daughter's insult to a guest, turns from her to Geraldine, and so the poem ends.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "‘Christabel’." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "‘Christabel’." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Christabel.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "‘Christabel’." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-Christabel.html

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Christabel

A Dictionary of First Names | 2006 | | Copyright

Christabel ♀ Medieval coinage from the name of Christ combined with the productive suffix -bel ‘beauty’ (see Belle). This name is recorded in Yorkshire from the mid 1400s onwards. Its popularity was enhanced by its use for the heroine of a poem (1816) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834). The name was borne by the pioneer suffragette Christabel Pankhurst (1880–1958), in whose honour it has sometimes been bestowed.

Variants: Christabelle, Christabella; Christobel.

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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christabel." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christabel." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Christabel.html

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Christabel." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Christabel.html

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Christabel

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

Christabel •Adele, Aix-la-Chapelle, aquarelle, artel, au naturel, bagatelle, béchamel, befell, bell, belle, boatel, Brunel, Cadell, carousel, cartel, cell, Chanel, chanterelle, clientele, Clonmel, compel, Cornell, crime passionnel, dell, demoiselle, dispel, dwell, el, ell, Estelle, excel, expel, farewell, fell, Fidel, fontanelle, foretell, Gabrielle, gazelle, gel, Giselle, hell, hotel, impel, knell, lapel, mademoiselle, maître d'hôtel, Manuel, marcel, matériel, mesdemoiselles, Michel, Michelle, Miguel, misspell, morel, moschatel, Moselle, motel, muscatel, nacelle, Nell, Nobel, Noel, organelle, outsell, Parnell, pell-mell, personnel, propel, quell, quenelle, rappel, Raquel, Ravel, rebel, repel, Rochelle, Sahel, sardelle, sell, shell, show-and-tell, smell, Snell, spell, spinel, swell, tell, undersell, vielle, villanelle, well, yell •Buñuel • Pachelbel • handbell •barbell • harebell • decibel • doorbell •cowbell • bluebell • Annabel •mirabelle • Christabel • Jezebel •Isabel, Isobel •nutshell • infidel • asphodel •zinfandel • Grenfell • Hillel • parallel •Cozumel • caramel • Fresnel •pimpernel • pipistrelle • Tricel •filoselle

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"Christabel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Christabel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Christabel.html

"Christabel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-Christabel.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	BRITAIN'S virgin birth; In a case that shocked Twenties society, the Hon Mrs... Newspaper article from: Daily Mail (London); 9/10/2004
	Coleridge's "Christabel" and the Phantom Soul.(Critical Essay) Magazine article from: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900; 9/22/2002
	'Christabel,' 'King Lear,' and the Cinderella folktale. Magazine article from: Papers on Language & Literature; 6/22/1996