Erotic Coleridge - Women, Love, and the Law against Divorce

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Violet

Erotic Coleridge examines how Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s writing engages women, love, and the legal and cultural frameworks surrounding marriage and divorce. The book traces women’s psychology through early attractions and flirtation verses, then follows themes of erotic desire, vulnerability, and reading practices. It connects literary representations—alongside key poems such as “Christabel”—to questions of agency, fear of ruin, and the evolving status of women under law.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages232

Reading Time5 h 57 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

List of Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

Coleridge and Women’s Psychology

First Loves and Flirting Verses

The Smoking Torch of Hymen

Blank Faces and Fear of Ruin

“Christabel” and the Vulnerability of Girls

Sara Hutchinson: Love and Reading

Hearkening to the Voices of Women

Divorce and the Law

“A Kite’s Dinner”

Communities of Women: Developing as Persons

Notes

Index

Erotic Coleridge This page intentionally left blank Erotic Coleridge Women, Love, and the Law against Divorce Anya Taylor EROTIC COLERIDGE © Anya Taylor, 2005. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 1–4039–6925–6 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Taylor, Anya. Erotic Coleridge: women, love, and the law against divorce / Anya Taylor. [p. cm](p. cm). Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–4039–6925–6 1. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772–1834—Relations with women. 2. Divorce—Law and legislation—Great Britain—History— 19th century. 3. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772–1834—Marriage. 4. Poets, English—19th century—Biography. I. Title. PR4483.T39 2005 821 􀀂 7—dc22 [B] 2005048678 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: December 2005 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. For Mark Taylor All thoughts, all passions, all delights, Whatever stirs this mortal frame, All are but ministers of Love, And feed his sacred flame. Coleridge, Love, lines 1–4 Whatever flames upon the night Man’s own resinous heart has fed. W. B. Yeats, Two Songs from a Play, 2, 15–16 Contents List of Abbreviations ix Acknowledgments xi 1. Coleridge and Women’s Psychology 1 2. First Loves and Flirting Verses 9 3. The Smoking Torch of Hymen 21 4. Blank Faces and Fear of Ruin 43 5. “Christabel” and the Vulnerability of Girls 59 6. Sara Hutchinson: Love and Reading 77 7. Hearkening to the Voices of Women 103 8. Divorce and the Law 125 9. “A Kite’s Dinner” 145 10. Communities of Women: Developing as Persons 157 Notes 187 Index 211 This page intentionally left blank List of Abbreviations BL S. T. Coleridge, Biographia Literaria, ed. James Engell and Walter Jackson Bate, 2 vols (London and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983) . C & S S. T. Coleridge, On the Constitution of Church and State, ed. John Colmer (London and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976) . CL Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, ed. Earl Leslie Griggs, 6 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1956–1971) . CM S. T. Coleridge, Marginalia, ed. George Whalley and H. J. Jackson, 6 vols (London and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980) . CN The Notebooks of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, ed. Kathleen Coburn et al., 5 vols (New York: Princeton University Press and London: Routledge, 1957) . EOT Essays on His Times, ed. David V. Erdman, 3 vols (London and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978) . Friend S. T. Coleridge, The Friend, ed. Barbara E. Rooke, 2 vols (London and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969) . Lects 1795 Lectures 1795: On Politics and Religion, ed. Lewis Patton and Peter Mann (London and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1971) . Lects Lit S. T. Coleridge, Lectures 1808–1819 on Literature, ed. R. A. Foakes, 2 vols (London and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1987) . OM S. T. Coleridge, Opus Maximum, ed. Thomas McFarland, with Nicholas Halmi (London and Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002) .

FAQs

What topics does Erotic Coleridge cover?

It focuses on women, love, and the law against divorce, tracing literary themes through Coleridge’s works and related contexts.

How does the book structure its argument?

It proceeds chapter by chapter, beginning with women’s psychology and early love themes, then moving through specific motifs and culminating in divorce and legal questions.

Which major authors and works are referenced?

The book quotes from Coleridge and includes reference to W. B. Yeats, while also spotlighting poems such as “Christabel” in its discussion.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Violet