Samuel The singer Coleridge’s The Rime with the Ancient Matros is a tale in which one simple action brings about a tumbling of catastrophic events. When the Mariner sets the Albatross, a bird who has brought him fantastic sailors good fortune, he really does so without reason. In ancient Greek tragedies hubris, or perhaps excessive pleasure, often leads to the hero’s inevitable problem. Further, in the Catholic beliefs, pride is one of the greatest sins a person could make. The Rime of the Old Mariner demonstrates how these beliefs are held in uberrima fides. Without a cause given to warrant the senseless killing of the bird, one can possibly insinuate that the Mariner’s mindless killing with the bird may only be through pride. His self-pleasure of bringing down a fantastic creature was fleeting, as punishment rapidly bore down upon the sailors. Through his extreme pride, ungratefulness, and ignorance of other’s wishes, the Mariner brought disaster after himself and his crew.
In the beginning from the tale, the Mariner halts a wedding-guest to tell him the story of his defeat, as he is usually compelled to do. In the account, the Mariner is wind-surfing through an area of mist and ice after being pressed by a surprise. The crew was having great problems until an Albatross came out, which removed the haze and out of cash the ice to soundly guide the ship through the sea. As the Mariner states, “The ice did divide did split with a thunder-fit, / The helmsman steered us through! / And a good to the south wind jumped up behind¦” (Norton 445). The Albatross, a great sea-bird, was identified to be a fowl of good omen, and was received joyously by the crew. However , the Mariner would not heed all their gratitude:
“God save the, ancient Mariner!
From the fiends, that problem thee therefore! “
How come look’st thou so? inch “
With my cross-bow
I shot the Albatross. (Norton 445-446)
In the passing above the wedding-guest is commending the Mariner on his good fortune, however , the Mariner reduces him off in one straightforward line. He did not provide an explanation pertaining to his actions or a sensible cause as to the reasons he would destroy such a bird. It seems like to be a great insensible action, to kill a monster that has helped them endure. However , the Albatross is a superb, rare sea-bird and to kill a great animal is an act well worth boasting. Thus, against the would like of his crew, this individual shot the Albatross hoping of attaining glory and status.
The Mariner’s crew was outraged on the killing with the Albatross. They cried out in against the offense committed:
For all those averred, I had developed killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they will, the chicken to kill
That made the piece of cake to strike! (Norton 446).
The crew observed what the Mariner did not: that the slaughter of the creature who aided them in their voyage was a terrible crime. Nevertheless , soon after the Albatross is definitely killed the fog clears, this causes them to doubt the very perception they placed so highly: “‘Twas proper, said they, such wild birds to kill / That bring the haze and mist” (Norton 446). Justifying the crime against a righteous creature called the staff as partners in the crime. Thus, 1 must carry fast in one’s morals, for in the event that one wavers, the doubt may cause one’s downfall.
Shortly after, the ship is plagued by a drought as well as the sea starts to crawl with slimy creatures. The team begins to dread that the homicide of the Albatross brought nasty upon them. They attemptedto place the fault on the Mariner by making him to hold the lifeless Albatross about his the neck and throat: “Instead in the cross, the Albatross about my neck was hung” (Norton 447). This simple act of hanging the Albatross about his throat like a crucifix is significant. The action of wearing a crucifix is usually to show hope, the Albatross hangs surrounding the Mariner’s neck of the guitar in a repulsive imitation of religion. In reality, this individual wears the Albatross since an entry of satisfaction and because his crew cannot accept their particular blame. It could even be used further to imply that Coleridge is seeking to portray the Mariner like a mock Jesus figure. Just like Jesus Christ bore the sins of his people, the Mariner is definitely bearing the sins of his team. In this way, the crew hopes to escape wisdom.
Nevertheless , the syndication of fault did not operate. It quickly becomes noticeable that the pin the consequence on that one holds for a criminal offenses cannot be deleted or presented with off, to get soon a ship captained by nobody less than the spirits Death and Night-mare Life-in-Death appear and one by one the complete crew dead. The Mariner describes this horror, “And every soul, it approved me by, / Like the whizz of my cross-bow! ” (Norton 449). It can be interesting to notice that the Mariner compares the shooting with the Albatross with his cross-bow towards the departing of the souls of his staff. The simile made here implies that the Mariner truly does associate the death of his sailors with his criminal offense against the Albatross, and here is usually where the audience first knows that the Mariner does experience guilt for his criminal offenses. This is further more confirmed if he states, “And never a saint took pity on / My personal soul in agony” (Norton 449). Because the Mariner truly committed the slaughter, he bears the worst punishment. While his crew is dying all around him, this individual does not, nevertheless is forced to live with his remorse. To illustrate the depth of his guilt, the Mariner says, “And one thousand thousand gooey things / Lived about, and so do I” (Norton 450). Yet , in his guilt he values the water-snakes and blesses them, and this small take action redeems him. The Albatross that he bore about his throat like a repulsive trophy slipped from his neck and into the ocean, like organizations being elevated from around him.
When the Mariner wakes, his dead crew rises and begins to control the dispatch. However , their particular bodies usually do not contain the spirits that they weary previously, rather, the bodies are instructed by angelic spirits. The ship movements through the drinking water with a supernatural force. After the Mariner faints, he hears to sounds explaining the situation. He hears:
“Is it he? inch quoth one particular, “Is this the man?
By him who also died in cross
With his cruel bend he placed full low
The harmless Albatross. (Norton 453-454) Once again, the voice references Christ as the one who died on the cross in order for someone to see the Mariner as a repulsive comparison to the Jesus. Another voice alerts, “¦ ‘The man hath penance performed, / And penance even more will do” (Norton 454), implying the fact that Mariner’s anguish is not yet over.
The Mariner’s suffering goes on after he reaches terrain. By a lot of compulsion, he tells his story to everyone that he complies with: “And right up until my ghastly tale is told, as well as This center within me burns” (Norton 458).
The reader could insinuate that the particular abuse is given for the Mariner to serve as a warning to others. Through the repeated telling of his story, the Matros shames him self. Again and again the Mariner need to admit to his wrongdoing and state what happened to his team due to his hubris. The admittance with the crime is definitely the opposite of pride, and consequently it is a appropriate punishment. Furthermore, the spirit could have given this punishment for the Mariner to instill more awareness in others. This really is illustrated if the Mariner finishes telling his tale towards the wedding-guest and he remaining the wedding amazed. Coleridge declares:
He went like the one which hath been stunned
And is also of feeling forlorn.
A sadder and a wiser man
This individual rose the morrow morn. (Norton 459)
In this stanza, it is obvious that the Mariner’s tale offered as a warning. The wedding-guest learned through the Mariner’s mistake and grew wiser, he is less likely to make the same oversight as the Mariner. Maybe hubris can only be counteracted through shame, as this is the only method one can really negate an indoor vice. The Rime from the Ancient Mariner’s central theme of pride may serve a number of different purposes. It can serve to notify against the abnormal arrogance, the desire for glory, the ignoring of other peoples desires and beliefs, plus the passing of blame from person towards the other. Throughout the tragic experience of the Matros and his team, the reader can easily infer that humility and gratitude are always good virtues to possess, you must be respectful of another’s wishes, and pride can easily be negated by shame. The Mariner’s tale instructs the reader many important lessons, and perhaps this is why Coleridge decided to write it down: to serve as a warning against hubris.
