preview

Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Frankenstein

Decent Essays
Open Document

Coleridge 's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" tells the story of an ancient mariner who kills an albatross and brings upon himself and his ship 's crew a curse. The ancient mariner travels the world, unburdening his soul, telling his story to whomever needs to hear it. Shelley alludes to the poem several times.
Robert Walton in Frankenstein is similar to the Wedding Guest from "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," with Victor Frankenstein playing the role of the mariner. As the mariner feels compelled to share his story to one who needs to hear it, so does Victor. The explicit theme in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," that love conquers all, is a clue as to how the tragedy that occurs in Frankenstein 's life could have been avoided.

Mary …show more content…

The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yes, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea" (Coleridge pt. II, st. 9).
This quote shows The Mariner 's outlook on nature in the beginning of the poem. The Mariner refers to the creatures of the sea as "slimy things," which obviously has a negative connotation. However, once Coleridge teaches his character the lesson of the inherent beauty in nature, the Mariner learns that all creatures are beautiful. In Shelley 's piece, which also has this theme, it seems that Frankenstein really never learns this lesson, while the creature does seem to grasp this concept.

"I beheld those I loved spend vain sorrow upon the graves of William and Justine, the first hapless victims to my unhallowed arts" (Shelley 79).
This quote shows Shelley 's theme of how devastating the consequences can be for one single unthinking act. Obviously, Victor 's single unthinking act was his creation of the creature. When he made this creature, there is no way that he thought he would kill two of his closest loved ones, and later kill more. However, it happened and Shelley is showing us how devastating the effects can be. Similarly, in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The Mariner also suffers for a single, unthinking act. His act was the killing of the albatross. He paid for it in more than one way. First, he was sent to a Life-in-Death, then after he

Get Access