Interpretations

2. Interpretations • Many different interpretations • Christian Parable/parallels • The Divine • Original sin • Cast out • Punishment • Sacrifice • Redemption • Political allegory • Tribute to maritime expansion • Bygrave[ 2002] reads it at four levels • The narrative • At a moral level • Allegory of the human interaction with nature • Spiritual • He find echoes of the medieval morality play

3. Close study of text The ballad form • Stark contrast to the “sophistication’ of Neo Classical verse • Medieval • Poetic form familiar to uneducated • Simplicity of style • Intentional archaic language...ballad of ancient times • Deliberate ‘aging’ of the poem through the use of country lore & ancient superstitions

4. Techniques • The seven part structure • The use of onomatopoeia to establish and to sustain atmosphere • The effective variation of metre and rhythm to track the stages of the ship’s voyage • The powerful imagery • The symbolic use of colour • The powerful religious symbols • The contribution to the poem’s meaning made by the variation of stanza length from the • standard four-line stanza • Albatross [whole notion of superstition] • Hope • Divine intervention • Solitary beauty • Harmony • Good fortune • The sailor’s friend

5. The Epigraph/glosses • Some parody of the Neo classicists • The mystery of the universe • All that inhabit the world have an inherent value • The magnitude of the unknown • ‘Explanatory notes’ add to its quaint archaic nature...unravelling some ancient document • Some humour in the glosses

6. Ideas-The duality/complexity of human nature - Our ability to create • Our ability to appreciate the beauty of the world • The enormous potential for humanity • Juxtaposed with our potential for destruction and evil

7. 3 Complexity and richness of existence • Neoclassical view of the world • Radical departure by the Romantics • The beauty ...the wondrous...exotic...sense of awe juxtaposed with • The terror...the Gothic • The sacred • The presence of the Divine • The Natural, the supernatural • Superstition • Intuition • The unity of creation • Sin punishment redemption • The individual’s place and relationship with the natural world • Unity of creation & existence • Harmonious interaction of all aspects of the cosmos

8. 4Existential search for meaning • Coming to terms with the nature of humanity • Coming to terms with the nature of existence • Journey of isolation...the individual cut adrift • Physically • Socially • Morally • The fragility of humanity at the complete mercy of nature • The attainment of wisdom

9. 5 Coleridge's moral vision • Physical and moral parameters are transgressed. • Transgression a feature of Gothic • Killing of the albatross • An act of evil... • Gratuitous...motiveless malevolence... • The mariner a tragic hero... • Consequences/punishment • redemption... • Allegory for human destruction • Leads to alienation • Meaning when there is engagement with as aspects of the natural world

10. Aspects of an Aristotelian tragic hero • Cosmic crime...break down of the natural order...crime against nature/god • Cosmic chaos disorder • Catharsis

11. The Imagination • Unifying force of the imagination • Past Present future • Creative force of the imagination • Weaving all aspects of our existence together • The mariner takes the guests including the reader on this imaginary journey • We share his experiences • We join him on his journey • We witness his crime • We share his comrades outrage