The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner Essay

In his ballad “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Samuel Coleridge frames the narrative as a discussion between the Ancient Mariner and his listener, the wedding-guest; detailing the mysterious and supernatural events of his past, the Ancient Mariner uses his parable to warn the wedding-guest about disrespecting and acting superior to nature. Likewise, William Wordsworth’s pastoral poem “Michael” also possesses a similar frame, as the narrator conveys Michael’s tragic past directly to the reader. Nevertheless, in both poems, the predominant voices frame the past through the perspective of the present. In “Michael,” this comparison between the past and the present creates a sense of loss or nostalgia for a better, pastoral life. In contrast,

Nonetheless, both narrative frames suggest repression, as the past recollections intrude upon and dominate the present. That said, the poems address this consciousness of the past in contrasting ways; while “The Ancient Mariner” focuses on the Mariner’s specific and psychological trauma, “Michael” laments society’s neglect for pastoral past in favour of an industrial and commercial present. Although both frames create temporal disruption and the illusion of repression, the frame in “The Ancient Mariner” allegorizes the repression of a past self while the frame in “Michael” reflects the repression of a past society. In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” the speakers particularly demonstrate the frame’s highly personalized consciousness. Rather than present an address by the Mariner or the narrator, Coleridge structures the frame as a discussion between the Marnier and the wedding-guest, whom the Mariner stops outside the wedding hall. Moreover, the Mariner dominates the conversation, as Coleridge devotes the majority of the poem to his tale. That said, the Mariner clearly distinguishes the wedding-guest as his intended subject, which suggests that his tale will ultimately benefit the wedding-guest rather than the reader. Furthermore, although the wedding-guest is initially reluctant