Moral Lessons from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”: Guilt, Fright, and Revenge

The Weight of Guilt

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has many different themes and ideas around the poem. Throughout my reading, I have found three themes that stood out to me. These themes are guilt, fright, and revenge. People may disagree, but this is what I have found to seize the most significant importance.

Guilt is a highly represented theme in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. After the mariner had shot the albatross, a terrible spirit haunted him and slaughtered his entire crew right before his eyes.

After his crew had all fallen to the floor, he had a significant amount of guilt. He came down with a terrible disease of seeing the dead men’s restless eyes piercing his soul. I believe this “curse” was his guilt eating at him, as he knew he was the cause of every member of the crew’s death.

The Terrors of Fear and Revenge

Fright, or fear, however you wish to describe it, is a massive theme in this story. The mariner had feared the albatross and all that it offered and assassinated the poor winged creature. Throughout the story, all the crew and the mariner had a great fear dwelling beneath them. The crew had feared the mariner for shooting the albatross. The mariner and crew themselves feared the reaping and revenge of the albatross when the spirits had haunted and murdered all their minds.

Revenge, or even avenging, I have found to be one of the main themes of this poem. The vengeful spirits had slaughtered all the crew members to avenge the wrongfully murdered albatross. The spirits had caused the mariner to be cursed with the “dead man’s eye.” They had done this by murdering his entire crew, leaving him with only a look of fright that stayed with the crew after death; their faces were stuck, eternally. The spirits watched the mariner suffer in return for the death of the albatross.

Then, for the rest of the mariner’s poor lifetime, he has been cursed to tell his story, the poor, vengeful journey of the death of that sad albatross. In conclusion, millions of themes could tie in with this poem, but the ones that stuck out to me were guilt, fright, and revenge. These themes make the story exciting, mysterious, constantly teased, and mischievous. This story will be told for ages, and soon, many others shall learn of the revenge, guilt, and fright.

Reference

1. Coleridge, S. T. (2010). The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In J. Smith (Ed.), Classic Poetry Press.

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