The Rime of The Ancient Mariner - Key Ideas

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner - Key Ideas

1. Themes

   • Penance
   • Solitude
   • Forgiveness
   • Crime and Punishment

2. Parts

   • Part I
     • The Wedding Guest, the voyage, stuck in ice, he kills the albatross.
       • 1. The Mariner stops a wedding guest and forces him, spell bound, to listen to his story.
       • 2. The ship sails south to the equator, the wedding guest hears the music of the wedding beginning.
       • 3. A storm hits the ship and impels it south. They are stuck in ice. An albatross appears and is befreiended by the shipmates. Asouth wind springs up and takes them northward.
       • 4. The Mariner kills the albatross with his crossbow.
   • Part II
     • They suffer punishment for his crime & are becalmed.
       • 1. The crew at first cry out against him, but then commend him when the fog clears. They sail north and become becalmed at the equator. They suffer from thirst. Slimy things are on the surface and the light are on the water and mast at night.
       • 2. A spirit follows them under the ship.
       • 3. They hang the bird around his neck.
   • Part III
   • Part IV
   • Part V
   • Part VI
   • Part VII

3. Characters

   • The Mariner
   • The Wedding Guest
   • Death and Life-in-Death
   • Spirits/Voices
   • The Hermit
   • Pilot and Pilot's Boy

4. Settings/Symbols

   • The Sun
   • The Moon
   • The Ocean
   • The Ship