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Literary narratives ballads grew in the Romantic movement from the later 18th century among social elites and intellectuals. William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge produced a collection of Lyrical Ballads in 1798 that included Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

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How would you end this poem based on the title and other images/symbols? Use evidence to back up your claim.

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Using the following websites, write down some of the most important traits of Romantic poetry. Then, go back to Christabel, and locate evidence from the poem showing how this is an example of Romanticism.

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In spite of difference of soil and climate, of language and manners, of laws and customs, in spite of things silently gone out of mind and things violently destroyed, the Poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all time. The objects of the Poet's thoughts are everywhere; though the eyes and senses of man are, it is true, his favorite guides, yet he will follow wheresoever he can find an atmosphere of sensation in which to move his wings. Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge-it is as immortal as the heart of man.
-William Wordsworth, "Preface to Lyrical Ballads"

Romanticism was arguably the largest artistic movement of the late 1700s. Its influence was felt across continents and through every artistic discipline into the mid-nineteenth century, and many of its values and beliefs can still be seen in contemporary poetry.

It is difficult to pinpoint the exact start of the Romantic movement, as its beginnings can be traced to many events of the time: a surge of interest in folklore in the early to mid-nineteenth century with the work of the brothers Grimm, reactions against Neoclassicism and the Augustan poets in England, and political events and uprisings that fostered nationalistic pride.

Romantic poets cultivated individualism, reverence for the natural world, idealism, physical and emotional passion, and an interest in the mystic and supernatural. Romantics set themselves in opposition to the order and rationality of classical and neoclassical artistic precepts to embrace freedom and revolution in their art and politics. German Romantic poets included Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and British poets, such as Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Gordon Lord Byron, and John Keats propelled the English Romantic movement. Victor Hugo was a noted French Romantic poet as well, and Romanticism crossed the Atlantic through the work of American poets like Walt Whitman and Edgar Allan Poe. The Romantic era produced many of the stereotypes of poets and poetry that exist to this day (i.e., the poet as a tortured and melancholy visionary).

Romantic ideals never died out in poetry, but were largely absorbed into the precepts of many other movements. Traces of romanticism lived on in French S ymbolism and S urrealism and in the work of prominent poets, such as Charles Baudelaire and Rainer Maria Rilke.
browse poets from this movement

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In spite of difference of soil and climate, of language and manners, of laws and customs, in spite of things silently gone out of mind and things violently destroyed, the Poet binds together by passion and knowledge the vast empire of human society, as it is spread over the whole earth, and over all time.

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How is the setting used to create an ominous mood in the first half of Part I? List 5-7 examples.

Specifically what is the significance of it being "middle of the night"?

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Druids Cutting the Mistletoe on the Sixth Day of the Moon ~ Henri Paul Motte

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How does Coleridge incorporate ancient Druid and Christian symbolism of an Oak tree in order to make the symbolism of the tree complex?

How does this complex symbolism add to the ambiguity of both Christabel and Geraldine?

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Look at the pdf discussing the meaning of owls in folklore and mythology. In addition, look up owls and Bohemian Grove. Write down a list of the symbolism of the owl.

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In the context of Christabel, what do you think the owl tells the reader about Geraldine and the situation Christabel is about to encounter? Use evidence from the poem.

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Using evidence from stanza 9, analyze how the men and their horses are important symbols that reveal the character of Geraldine to the reader.

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Look through the first half of Part I. What symbols, images, and/or detail do you see that help the reader characterize Geraldine as a vampire of sorts? Find at least three examples.

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Christabel is an ambiguous (has more than one interpretation, not clear) character. Is she still "innocent" at the end of this poem? Was she solely a victim? Is there evidence to show her willingness to succumb to Geraldine? Find me four pieces of evidence showing the ambiguity of Christabel's character relating to these questions. Analyze how the evidence you chose shows the ambiguity of her character.

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Geraldine is an ambiguous character. We have found a lot of evidence showing that she is vampiric and evil, but now I want you to find me an example that shows she might not be all evil. Use evidence from the text and analyze how this evidence shows the ambiguity of her character.

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Find at least two pieces of evidence from the poem relating to the story of the Garden of Eden. Analyze their meaning in relation to Geraldine's character.

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Revered and feared.

Good fortune

Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, wise old owl

Romans: Impending disaster, hoot=Impending death, sign of defeat

American Indian Tribes: harbingers of sickness & death, protective spirits, dead/living souls

Bad to children: ate new born, brought sickness, evil spirits.

Magic Powers

Owl hoot in house = unmarried girl lost virginity, pregnant woman hears = blessed child,

Owl broth cures whooping cough

Future Predictions by Owl Hoot

1: impending death

2 : success in imminent venture

3 : woman will be married into the family

4 : disturbance

5 : imminent travel

6 : guests arriving

7 : mental distress

8 : sudden death

9 : good fortune

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"And thus the lofty lady spake—

'All they who live in the upper sky,

Do love you, holy Christabel!

And you love them, and for their sake

And for the good which me befel,

Even I in my degree will try,

Fair maiden, to requite you well."

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Geraldine recognizes and praises Christabel for all the good that she has done to so many people, and particularly for the help that Christabel gave to her. As a payment for that help, Geraldine states that she will "requite [Christabel] well."

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Christabel said "O mother dear! that thou wert here!" and Geraldine at first agreed with this by saying "I would, said Geraldine, she were!" which shows how Geraldine at first seems to be supporting Christabel and wanting her to have the support that her mother would give her.

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"But soon with altered voice, said she—

'Off, wandering mother! Peak and pine!

I have power to bid thee flee.'"

Geraldine then seemed to catch herself and change so that she then tried to remove Christabel's support, so Geraldine could strike.

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"That holds the maiden in her arms,

Seems to slumber still and mild,

As a mother with her child."

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Geraldine is portrayed as a caring mother taking care of Christabel and allowing her to rest peacefully in her "still and mild" slumber. This is in contrast to how she seems to be attacking Christabel's virtue.

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Mistletoe represents romance, fertility, vitality, love, peace, and goodwill.

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Green, being the color of nature, represents growth, harmony, fertility, and freshness. Having the only green on the oak being moss and mistletoe puts greater importance upon those things and what they symbolize.

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Moss represents renewal, resilience, and the interconnectedness of all living things.

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Oak symbolizes strength, endurance, power and ancient wisdom.

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Oak is one of the most powerful druid sacred trees. It symbolizes strength, power, endurance, protection and justice.

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Late 1700s.

Cultivated individualism, reverence for the natural world, idealism, physical and emotional passion, and an interest in the mystic and supernatural. Opposition to order and rationality of classical and neoclassical artistic precepts. Embraced freedom and revolution in their art and politics.

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The beginning of the poem spends a lot of time dwelling on the natural scenario that it is in within the natural world and the woods.

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Geraldine seems to start commanding that the dead spirit of Christabel's mother be gone. "Off, woman, off! this hour is mine—

Though thou her guardian spirit be,

Off, woman, off! 'tis given to me." (Geraldine)

It also says that Geraldine appeared to be able to see the dead.

Geraldine also "worketh a spell" which stopped Christabel from being able to talk about what happened to her. Geraldine then later seemed to use her powers on Christabel to put her in a "dizzy trance"

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The oak tree can symbolize power, strength and endurance in maintaining good life, virtue and vitality for Christabel. When the men place Geraldine at the tree, it could symbolize justice as they could represent vampire hunters trying to stop Geraldine and her evilness. However, the oak tree then provides protection and strength to Geraldine as Christabel finds her there and helps her, which leads to Geraldine taking that strength and using it to take life and virtue from Christabel.

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The horse that the men placed Geraldine on when they took her was a white Palfrey. The Palfrey represents purity, light and religious devotion including connotations of the Virgin Mary. This provides a contrast with Geraldine as she is later revealed to be a vampiric figure and the opposite of pure and clean religion.

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The men all had white horses, and white symbolizes purity, perfection, honesty, cleanliness, and beginnings. This seems to show that they were actually good people, but Geraldine portrays them in a very wicked light, which puts her in a higher position to Christabel. This shows how Geraldine will use verbal manipulations to create favorable impressions of herself to other people, in order to get them to do what she wants them to do.

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The men were described as warriors whom had white steeds. Paladins were religious warriors who had perfect devotion to their oath and were a symbol for purity. The men were also very confident and firm in their actions (showing their strong faith). They also placed Geraldine underneath an oak tree which symbolizes power and justice, both things that apply to Paladins. The poem is then symbolizing the men who captured Geraldine as Paladins (righteous holy warriors). This serves to contrast the wickedness of Geraldine.

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"her voice was faint and sweet"

"A lady so richly clad as she—

Beautiful exceedingly!"

Geraldine was described as extremely beautiful and entrancing. A need for a vampire figure is a way to draw in a victim, and this is done in Geraldine by her beautiful and enchanting, physical appearance.

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Early vampires were portrayed as women and this poem was written in this time period, so Geraldine fits into the figure of a vampire in that society.

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Geraldine asks Christabel for and she is brought into Christabel's home, at the risk of Christabel herself. Christabel seeks to help Geraldine recover from her encounter and gives her shelter and a bed, but Geraldine uses that in to exploit Christabel.

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"O weary lady, Geraldine,

I pray you, drink this cordial wine!

It is a wine of virtuous powers;

My mother made it of wild flowers."

Christabel gives Geraldine a special wine that her mother had made her. This is important as Christabel's mother had died, so its a nonrenewable resource and memory of her mother, and Geraldine uses the potion to gain strength from Christabel.

"And from the floor whereon she sank,

The lofty lady stood upright:"

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"I saw a bright green snake    Coiled around its wings and neck."

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"I saw a bright green snake    Coiled around its wings and neck."

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In the Garden of Eden, Lucifer, in the form of a snake, tricked Eve into partaking of the fruit which lead to her death. In the bard's dream, he sees a snake stalk a dove and constrict around it, squeezing out its life. The snake shows Geraldine's character as she snuck up upon Christabel without her bad intentions being noticed, and stole her virginity.

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"On the other side it seems to be, Of the huge, broad-breasted, old oak tree."

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"On the other side it seems to be, Of the huge, broad-breasted, old oak tree."

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Christabel first encounters Geraldine when she was alone in a forest, which is how Eve meeting Satan is usually portrayed. That is where she is first ensared by the wiles of the devil, and this is also where Christabel first falls for Geraldine's portrayal of what was going on.