Notes on Romanticism/Rime of the Ancient Mariner
I. Romanticism
Response to industrialization
French Revolution
II. Concerns/Qualities
Focus on the individual
What is man’s nature?
Innately good
Inherent isolation
III. Supernatural elements
Mystical, magic, Divine
IV. Social Freedom
Rejects the monarchy/social machine
Libertarianism
V. Social Responsibility (Social contract—Rousseau and Locke)
What do we do with knowledge?
Are we using power responsibly?
VI. Darker Romantics (Mary Shelley, Lord Byron—Poe in the American tradition)
In-depth exploration of isolation/alienation
Can man find redemption?
***P. Shelley and Blake believed in the innate goodness of man
“Rime”
I. Rime means tale—so there’s a moral to be learned
II. Early romantic piece
The Poem reflects Coleridge’s pre-occupation with the supernatural
III. Themes
Transformation
Suffering
Alienation/Isolation
Hope of redemption?
Respect for nature (man’s nature, the power of the natural world)
Questions
What truths about human nature are revealed?
How do we handle our own sense of guilt?
Is penance required to free ourselves from guilt?
What view of knowledge does the poem offer?
The wedding guest leaves a “wiser, sadder person”
The mariner is compelled to tell his story
What is the importance of the setting?
Symbolic nature of wedding
What is the effect of the contrast?
What is the Mariner’s view of nature? How does it change over time?
Why does the Mariner have to tell his story?
Is there an alternative? What is the curse? Does the mariner ever escape?
Romantic writers saw themselves as visionaries with the ability to look beyond the normal world—how does this poem reflect those beliefs?
What message does the poem offer about the quest for knowledge, power, and human suffering?
How are these related?
What are the religions readings of this poem?
Blake/P. Shelley believed in the innate goodness of man. Darker Romantics questioned the likelihood of redemption. They were uncertain if man’s knowledge and creativity would cause his salvation or his downfall. What does this poem suggest?
What elements of Romanticism are apparent?
What elements of Dark Romanticism?
How does the setting support the theme of isolation?
What truth does the Mariner discover?
He is one with the universe. They are all connected.
“The spirit loved the bird that loved the mariner”
What will the wedding guest do with this knowledge? What will we do?