Analysis of Interruptions and Solitude in the Poem

CappieEng
di CappieEng
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This analysis explores the themes of interruption and solitude in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." It delves into the mariner's profound loneliness, guilt, and his quest for redemption, highlighting key stanzas that illustrate his emotional turmoil.

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Concetti Chiave

  • The wedding guest interrupts the mariner's story due to fear, believing he might be speaking to a ghost, yet the mariner assures him he is alive.
  • The mariner experiences profound loneliness and guilt, emphasized by the repetition of words like "alone" and his role in the crew's demise.
  • Despite his guilt and solitude, the mariner is unable to pray, haunted by a whisper that forbids him from doing so, and the unrotting eyes of his dead crew.
  • The concept of "life in death" is introduced, where the mariner longs for death but must live on to recognize his guilt and seek possible redemption.
  • A significant change occurs when the mariner appreciates the beauty of water-snakes, symbolizing a shift towards redemption as the albatross falls from his neck.

Interruption of the wedding guest

In stanza 1 we can notice the third interruption of the narration made by the wedding-guest. Here he interrupts because he’s afraid, because the mariner who is talking to him is the only one survivor, and he’s afraid that he’s maybe talking to a dead man, to a ghost, but the mariner said he didn’t die.

Loneliness and guilt

Now the mariner is alone, and this loneliness is underlined by the repetition of “alone” and “wide” in stanza 3, which gives a sense of loneliness in an infinite space and this is a loneliness that goes on for a long time, 7 days (said in stanza 9). Here good things dies (the “many men, so beautiful”), while the bad things (reference to water-snakes mentioned in stanza 12) just like him stays alive. And this staying alive is made worst by his feeling guilty for being the indirect cause of his crew’s death.

Inability to pray

There’s no way out (stanza 6), everyone is dead, he’s alone and feels guilty; he tries to pray, but he isn’t able to do it, because a wicked whisper comes, he’s forbidden to pray because of what he did. In stanza 8 a long time is passed, but, despite the hot clime, the corpses aren’t rot or reeked, and their eyes continue to watch him as they did just before death.

Life in death

In stanza 9 it’s explain what is life in death: he hope and wants to die, but he can’t, he has to go on, recognize his guilty and expiate his faults, hoping maybe in a forgiveness that in the end will maybe come. It’s interesting what some critics noticed in The rime of the ancient mariner: they noticed that positive changes happens at night time, while negative one happens at day time.

Recognition of beauty

This situation is totally supernatural. Here there’s another important change of the story: the ancient mariner sees the water-snakes (stanza 12) and he’s able to recognize their beauty and how beautiful their colors were. It’s like a parable that started with the killing of the Albatross and finishes here, with the mariner ho recognize the beauty of the creatures, as God creatures, but he’s unaware of this gestures: he blesses them; It’s the conclusion of a long and painful path. Killing the albatross was denying the dignity of that bird to be alive, rejecting life, but here he blesses water-snakes, horrible creatures. The worst part of his punishment ended and now he can pray; the albatross which has been put on his neck, falls in the sea like lead. At the end of this part there isn’t the word “cross” and this is an important sign: it represents that he has the cross on his shoulders no more and it’s the start of a redemption path.

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Domande da interrogazione

  1. Why does the wedding guest interrupt the mariner's narration in the first stanza?

    2. The wedding guest interrupts because he is afraid, suspecting that the mariner, being the sole survivor, might be a ghost. However, the mariner reassures him that he did not die.

  2. How is the theme of loneliness depicted in the mariner's tale?

    3. Loneliness is emphasized through the repetition of words like "alone" and "wide," conveying a sense of isolation in an infinite space. This loneliness persists for seven days, during which the mariner feels guilty for the death of his crew.

  3. What prevents the mariner from praying, and how does this relate to his guilt?

    4. The mariner is unable to pray due to a "wicked whisper" that forbids him, reflecting his guilt over his actions. Despite the passage of time, the corpses of his crew do not decay, and their eyes continue to haunt him.

  4. How does the mariner's recognition of beauty in the water-snakes signify a turning point in his journey?

    5. The mariner's ability to see the beauty in the water-snakes marks a significant change, as he blesses them unknowingly. This act symbolizes the end of his punishment and the beginning of his redemption, as the albatross falls from his neck, indicating the start of his path to forgiveness.

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