\u201cChristabel\u201d begins with the night castle that belongs to the Baron. The castle is conventionally a male-governed space, a fortress, symbolizing military success (\u201cThe gate that was ironed within and without, \/ Where an army in battle-array had marched out\u201d (120-121)) and safety (\u201cSaying that she should command \/ The service of Sir Leoline, \/ And straight be convoyed, free from thrall, \/ Back to her noble father\u2019s hall\u201d (102-105)). But on the other hand, the castle, being a frequently used trope in gothic literature, also represents history (especially family history), an enclosed space with restrictions. Part I of \u201cChristabel\u201d takes place at night and is a completely female-dominated narrative. All of the characters are female, including the ghost of Christabel\u2019s mother and the mastiff. Being a male-owned property, the castle acts as a way of repression for women. Christabel can only seek her freedom at night, outside the castle. After what\u2019s possibly a sexual dream about her \u201cbetrothed knight\u201d (28), that made her \u201cmoan and leap\u201d (29), Christabel went to the woods to pray for his health. The woods have the connotation of promiscuity and fertility. The outside becomes a symbol for the liberation of desires, which the indoors (the castle) represses. This liberation of sexual desires invites a supernatural encounter with Geraldine.<\/p>\n
Christabel\u2019s room is portrayed as a hidden place, deep in the castle, where the ghost of her mother roams. The poem dedicates 7 stanzas to their journey from the woods to Christabel\u2019s room. They had to cross the moat, the gate, the court, pass the mastiff\u2019s kennel, the hall, go up the stairs and past the Baron\u2019s room. And they end up in a room where \u201cnot a moonbeam enters\u201d (168), in which \u201cThe lamp with twofold silver chain \/ Is fastened to an angel\u2019s feet\u201d (174-175). The chain fastened to the angel\u2019s feet embodies Christabel\u2019s lack of freedom in the castle. This room that is decorated with strangely carved figures (171), hidden deep in the castle, is full of secrets, and unspeakable horrors will soon unfold there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cChristabel\u201d begins with the night castle that belongs to the Baron. The castle is conventionally a male-governed space, a fortress, symbolizing military success (\u201cThe gate that was ironed within and without, \/ Where an army in battle-array had marched out\u201d (120-121)) and safety (\u201cSaying that she should command \/ The service of Sir Leoline, \/ … Continue reading The Gothic Castle in “Christabel”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4452,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spring-2023"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4452"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/britishpoetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}