ABSTRACT
Christabess is a parody of Coleridge’s unfinished Gothic poem ‘Christabel’, and was published anonymously under the pseudonym ‘S. T. Colebritche’ in 1816. Coleridge’s poem had been in circulation in manuscript long before its first publication in Christabel; Kubla Khan: A Vision; The Pain of Sleep, and is thought to have been an influence on Scott’s Lay of the East Minstrel. Byron similarly admired ‘Christabel’. Indeed ‘Christabel’ was a sensation when it was first published, generating reviews that were for the most part negative and derisive. Between 1816 and 1832, no less than seven verse parodies of “Christabel” were published. Christabess echoes ‘Christabel’ at every opportunity – from its preface through to the structure of the poem itself. In terms of content Christabess makes ordinary the high Gothic constituents of Coleridge’s poem. Rather than castles and aristocrats Christabess reduces the characters of the poem to the lower orders of society.
