Consider The Ancient Mariner as an allegory of guilt and
regeneration. / Consider The Ancient Mariner as a poem about crime and
punishment.
Reduced to its lowest terms, The
Ancient Mariner is a simple allegory of guilt and regeneration. It is divided
into seven parts. Beginning with the commission of guilt in Part I, each part
tells of a new stage in the process towards regeneration till Part VII
concludes with whatever redemption is possible in the case. The entire process
is depicted as it would appear to a conscience sharpened and clarified with
imagination.
At the end of Part I, the Mariner
shoots the Albatross, but nowhere does he explain his motives in shooting it.
This killing signifies the violation of the sanctified relations of the host
and the guest. It is a symbolic representation of the essential frivolity of
many crimes against humanity and the ordered system of the world.
In Part II, the Mariner’s
shipmates become accomplices in the crime. At first they condemn the Mariner
for having killed the bird of good omen. But when the fog clears off and a
glorious sun shine in the sky, they approve of his action:
“`Twas
right, said they, such birds to slay,
That
bring the fog and mist,”
