AbstractsPolitical Science

This thesis attempts to situate Coleridge's “Christabel” as a text that exists at the intersection of 19th century Queer discourse and post-structural theory. By looking at “Christabel” as both a queer text and a fragment poem, this thesis makes the case that one type of discourse informs the other and the fragmentary nature of the poem echoes and supports analysis of “Christabel” as a queer text. It relies on the work of prominent writers on Romantic Fragment Poems as well as Derridean post-structural discourse as a theoretical model to understand Christabel's relationship with Geraldine and the fragmentary nature of the poem that obfuscates their relationship.