COLERIDGE: THE WORLD AND THE MORAL OF "THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER"

Abstract

This paper endeavours to analyse Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s "The Rime of
the Ancient Mariner" from two perspectives: the ambivalent world that Coleridge represented
through the story of a sea voyage and the obscure moral or lack of moral in the story. On
first sight, there are evident Christian connotations and veiled religious symbolism which
produce the idea of a Christian view in which sin-penance-redemption govern the poem’s
world. Although these pervade the storyline, on a deeper level they are challenged by a world
that is governed by random evil forces, which come unexpectedly, and the punishment often
outweighs the sin. We also probe into the theme of the power of individualism that Coleridge
has depicted in the main character of the poem as well as the possibility to read this poem as
a representation of the suffering of a guilt ridden survivor.