Why do bad things happen to good people? This is a question that has been asked by many people and it has come up as a result of the numerous injustices happening to innocent people around the world. People are struggling to understand why things happen the way they do. However, it is difficult to understand this since evil people come in individuals’ lives without portraying their bad sides. They tend to be good in the beginning to win the trust and loyalty of others. Later on, they perpetrate injustices that go on in this world. This is what goes on in the poem, Christabel. This paper examines all the themes in the poem with the aim of revealing some of the injustices going on in the world. It also tries to understand why such injustices occur as a way of revealing what the text is all about.
Evil Verses Good
The theme of evil versus good dominates the poem. The poem introduces the readers to a young lady called Christabel, who is a Christian and believes in God. Her prayerful nature is seen when she first meets Geraldine in the woods. Christabel has the heart to help those in need and she does not hesitate to help Geraldine at her point of need. She does not know Geraldine. However, when Geraldine comes to her and explains the danger she is in after the kidnapping incidence, she offers to help her. She stretches forth her hand and comfort Geraldine (Coleridge, stanza 103). This was a sign of love that Christabel showed Geraldine. She even promised Geraldine that Sir Leone will protect her and safely take her back to her father. This signified the good intentions that Christabel had for Geraldine. Moreover, Christabel went ahead to allow Geraldine to spend on her bed. This depicted the love of God that he wants mankind to show others. Such love brought about good and it made Christabel feel for Geraldine. Sadly, Geraldine only showed up to harm Christabel. From the time they meet, the speaker describes her as a damsel bright, dressed in a silken robe of white (Coleridge, stanza 58). This suggested that Geraldine was a liar who was not in any way kidnapped but was there to bring evil to Christabel’s life. Moreover, she appeared in the sight of Christabel when she was praying. This is similar to how the devil appeared to Jesus while he was praying in Gethsemane. This also demonstrated that Geraldine was there to hurt Christabel.
Geraldine’s evil nature is confirmed when she was unable to pass the castle on her own. Moreover, she changes from being the beautiful girl that Christabel saw to being a witch who ends up putting a spell on innocent Christabel. Additionally, she also ends up being a homosexual who is there to sexually seduce Christabel. This makes the readers ask themselves the question that, why do bad things happen to good people? Christabel did what is best to help Geraldine. However, her good actions are paid back with evil deeds. This reveals the intentions of the text to help people understand the injustices that are going on in the world including homosexuality and witchcraft. Sadly, these injustices only target innocent people with the intention to do good. They are only rescued from evil by the power of good.
Theme of Conflict
Similarly, the poem also reveals the theme of conflict that goes on in the society. Sir Leoline reveals the conflict between him and Geraldine’s father, which led to their separation. The two friends even stopped talking to each other and Sir Leoline feels that it is only through Geraldine that she can win back his friend. Similarly, Christabel begins to feel some form of internal conflict when she realized that Geraldine is not as good as she thought. Her closer interaction with Geraldine feds away and she begins to push her father to send Geraldine away. She senses that Geraldine’s face looks like a snake and this makes her change and stop caring for Geraldine as was before. She feels that she has been stained by Geraldine and she needs to gain back her purity and restore it. These instances of conflict from the text reveal how morality and societal values are under threat of destruction. Social cohesion is embraced in every society where everyone treats each other like they would want others to do to them. However, conflicts bring the injustices of poor interaction between individuals and immorality that destroys the social fabrics of the society. From the poem, it can be seen that the conflict between Sir Leoline and Geraldine’s father has broken their relationship thus altering social cohesion. Similarly, it has altered morality and purity of Christabel and she has to fight back so as to restore it.
Despite conflicts bringing undesirable change in the society and breaking the social fabrics of the society, people still seek the help of bad people to help them overcome their problems. This is why bad things continue to happen to good people. Sir Leoline believes that only Geraldine can help him get back with his friend. This makes him look vulnerable to evil powers. However, Geraldine is only there to harm his daughter. Geraldine is eviler and should not be close to him. He disagrees with Christabel when she wants him to send Geraldine away. This only makes Geraldine have more time to harm his daughter. However, he cannot recognize this because he feels that Geraldine is a good lady. This how individuals continue hanging around evil people only to later realize that they have been hurt more. This is how the devil works. Satan deceives people with the aim of helping them only to hurt more. Therefore, the text reveals to readers that while it is good to maintain good and avoid evil, human being finds it difficult to keep away from evil since they are easily deceived.
Religion
The theme of religion and naivety is also displayed in the poem. Christabel seems to pray in most instances. Despite being unaware of the knight, she goes ahead to pray for him. This shows how faithful she was. This is why she continues to remain pure and lives happily with his father despite the demise of her mother. Her staunch practice of Christian faith is seen in her actions to help Geraldine and her actions to pray for others. Her name also suggests her faith in Christ. However, being a Christian who aims to maintain her purity, it becomes naïve of her to undress naked and fall for Geraldine’s seductive nature. This does not make sense since she falls into Geraldine’s temptations the same day she went to the woods to pray for the knight, who is the man to marry her. Despite the argument that she was under the spell, this portrays her naivety. She ought not to have undressed naked and shared the same bed with Geraldine, who was a stranger to her. Moreover, she could have resisted the sexual seduction. Her naivety can be first seen when she first met Geraldine. She does not think of the danger Geraldine can expose her to. Instead, she admires her sweet voice (Coleridge, stanza 72). This makes her believe that Geraldine is harmless and innocent. Moreover, at this point, Christabel thought that the men who kidnapped Geraldine were the real enemies and that Geraldine could not be her enemy. Later, the story changes and Geraldine becomes the real enemy who is there to hurt her and make her lose her purity and innocence. Therefore, despite individuals being engrossed in religion, naivety becomes a major challenge and it has made bad things to happen to good people. Despite the intentions to do good, naivety has made individuals to pass the limits and to only realize later that they have messed up their lives. Through the theme of naivety, the text reveals to the readers why social injustices like homosexuality, sexual assaults, and other bad vices continue to increase in the world despite the high number of faithful and believers in Christ. Some of these vices can be controlled if individuals moderate their actions as they try to help others. The text also reveals to readers that not only men can expose the lives of individuals to danger but also women too. While women have been perceived to have soft voices and to be innocent, the text helps the readers to understand that they can also be as dangerous as men. Therefore, it is naïve for anyone to imagine that only men can hurt them. This is the mistake that Christabel did that the text wants the readers to avoid. However, it does not mean that individuals should not help those in need.
The Theme of Memories and Past Experiences
The past has a role to play in the present time of Christabel’s life. The previous events come in the form of memories and occupy the mind of Christabel. For instance, Christabel reminisces the loss of her mother. More so, the church bells ring every twenty-four hours each morning reminding her of the loss she experienced a few years back. It is as if, there is a strange phenomenon that tries to block formation of new relevant memories in her mind that would propel her life forward and save her from the burden of past painful memories that leave her reliving the past remembrances. Therefore, past memories inhibit individuals from experiencing happiness in the present times due to recurring past painful memories.
The Theme of Forgiveness
Forgiveness is not a moral obligation and one does not just wake up and forgive another person. It takes a brave heart to forgive another human being of the wrongs he or she did. Christabel seem to possess a strong spirit that is ready to forgive evil. However, in the poem, good traits have a tendency of landing innocent people into trouble. Evil people seem to think that a good attribute is a sign of weakness and take advantage of the softness. Geraldine is such a character who takes advantage of Christabel’s kindness and Sir Leoline’s mercy toward an old friend. Even though the reader cannot predict the overall result of Geraldine’s character, it may end up hurting Christabel. In addition, the reader can only hope that Christabel will not change her good traits because of one individual who took advantage of her.
In conclusion, bad things continue to happen to good people since it is very difficult for human being to achieve perfection. Moreover, human beings are easily deceived and they cannot detect what is evil easily. In some instances, human beings are naïve and they use physical looks and femininity to trust strangers. Consequently, such strangers end up destroying their lives. Therefore, it is important for people to understand that not all that glitters are gold. The look of innocence and sweet voice should not be used to justify morality. Both men and women can be dangerous to one’s life at any given point. Additionally, despite the desire to maintain purity, social cohesion, and morality, human being faces a lot of changes brought about by conflicts and other injustices that they find difficult to avoid. Therefore, it is important for people to speak out their minds so as to help in understanding what is going on in the world. Perhaps the poem uses an innocent lady, Christabel, to show that evil spares no one. Despite all of these, human beings should strive to maintain morality and rescue themselves from evil by the power of good. Religion should be used to help individuals live a perfect life. However, people should understand that it is very difficult to live a perfect life.
Work Cited.
Coleridge, S. T. (n.d.). Christabel: An unfinished narrative poem. Place of publication not identified: Plantagenet Productions.
