Topics for Discussion
1. A wedding guest, unfamiliar with the mariner, is compelled to hear his story. Is this narrative technique effective? Is the guest's reaction intended to shape the reader's response to the mariner's tale?
2. A wedding is a social event celebrating natural order and new beginnings. Why is it significant that the mariner shares his story with a wedding guest? Would the story's moral be different if the mariner had told it to the bride or groom?
3. In later editions of the poem, Coleridge removed numerous archaic words and spellings from the original version. He also added an epigraph and marginal glosses. How crucial are these glosses to your understanding of the poem? Does this imply that Coleridge was either successful or unsuccessful in conveying his meaning through poetry?
4. Many Romantics believed that inspiration was essential for writing. What do Coleridge's revisions of this poem reveal about the role of editing in the writing process?
5. Why does the mariner kill the albatross? Is this action a common human response or characteristic? Why does Coleridge spend relatively little time describing this incident?
6. What is the significance of the albatross being hung around the mariner's neck?
7. The ancient mariner's crewmates all die rather unpleasant deaths. Is it fair that they suffer because of his actions?
8. At the start of part 4, the wedding guest interrupts the mariner's story to voice his fears. Why doesn't Coleridge have the mariner tell his tale without interruption?
9. What is the importance of the line, "I looked to heaven, and tried to pray" (1. 244)?
10. Discuss the meaning and significance of the poem's last eight lines. Is there a moral to this poem? Where is it clearly stated?
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