I found the differences between the two transformation
scenes quite interesting. In Christabel, Coleridge does not describe what is
under Geraldine’s robe. Lines 252-254 say, “Behold! Her bosom, and half her side
– A sight to dream of, not to tell! O shield her! shield sweet Christabel.” It is
as if the horror underneath those robes is too much to bear for Christabel, so
the reader is put into that same position of turning away from it. Coleridge
leaves it to the reader to imagine what horrifying things are under that robe.
In contrast, Keats description of Lamia is very detailed
with multiple colors, stripes, spots and peacock eyes. For this reason, Lamia
doesn’t come across as scary as Geraldine does. With Geraldine, there is a fear
of the unknown, but with Lamia, especially with the description of lines 47-67,
there is no fear because you are too busy trying to imagine what this creature
with a snake’s head, but a woman’s mouth looks like. There is more revulsion
than fear.
That continues when you get to witness the transformation of
Lamia in lines 146-170. You would think the transformation of a serpent-like
creature into a woman would be a magical experience, but Keats is very specific
about what goes on. It’s almost like a chemical reaction with the way she foams
at the mouth and the release of phosphorus and sparks. Keats uses volcanic imagery
so there is this feeling of burning away her old form to create the new one. Before
this, Lamia seems a bit devious because of the way she bargains with Hermes to
get herself turned into a woman, but I found myself more sympathetic towards
her after this description of her painful transformation.
I didn't think about the descriptions in this regard, but now that you mention it I can see this aspect. It is more mysterious that it is left to the reader to imagine what is under Geraldine's robe, and therefore it invokes a sense of horror. I agree there could be a distance created because Lamia's description is more in depth, and the pause that occurs to imagine her appearance causes this distance. I couldn't really feel sympathetic towards Lamia, though, because she seemed underhanded in her bargaining with Hermes. Her in depth description and the moment of analysis that it creates for the reader was in part to blame for my inability to be sympathetic to her. She is all different descriptions all at once, and this made it a bit hard to trust her. Having to piece together an image of a character that is so varied caused this for me I think. Her transformation, though, does seem very painful which I didn't think about till you mentioned it.
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