EIII Study Questions
Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
On separate paper, please answer the following questions using complete sentences and
quotations from the text. Pay attention to the glosses in the margins, too. Keep track of religious
references, supernatural elements, and references to the natural world.
Part I
1. In the first four stanzas, what methods does the Ancient Mariner use to try to get the attention
of the Wedding Guest? Which method is successful?
2. Why does the Ancient Mariner want to detain the Wedding Guest?
3. What creature of good omen comes to the ship? Identify three ways it is associated with
Christianity.
4. What happens to the creature?
5. Identify two elements of a “literary ballad” present in the first part of the poem. Give
examples.
6. The story of the Mariner will follow an archetypal pattern of a Redemption Cycle. Define
how it begins with a crime that can be considered a Sin.
Part II
7. What determines whether the Ancient Mariner’s shipmates praise or curse him for slaying the
Albatross?
8. What happens to the ship to make it “as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean”?
9. In what way do some of the sailors try to explain the troubles that besiege the ship?
Part III
10. In the first four stanzas, what is it that the Ancient Mariner sees?
11. How do the Mariner and the rest of the crew know this is an apparition of some sort?
12. According to the gloss notes, what crew appears to be on the skeleton ship?
13. What happens to the Ancient Mariner’s fellow sailors?
14. Explain how Parts II and III contain the punishment, suffering and guilt associated with
a process of redemption.
Part IV
15. At the beginning of the fourth section, why does the Wedding Guest fear the Ancient
Mariner?
16. In this section, the Ancient Mariner is unable to pray. What happens that causes him to be
able to pray?
17. What happens when he does begin to pray?
18. This part contains the Mariner’s act of atonement. Explain how his act true and sincere
rather than calculated and desperate.
Part V
19. What two types of relief does the Ancient Mariner receive at the beginning of the fifth
section?
20. In the section’s fifth stanza, the Mariner hears a roaring wind. What strange sight does he see
soon after?
22. How does the Mariner react to the birds? Contrast it with his previous reactions to the
natural world.
23. At the end of the section, he hears two voices. What prediction does the “softer voice”
make?
Part VI
24. In section six, the Mariner is entranced and the two voices speak. What do they discuss
concerning the ship’s movement?
25. How does the Mariner’s penance begin anew when he awakens from his trance?
26. After the curse is lifted, what welcome sight does the Ancient Mariner see?
27. What vision does the Mariner have that involves the bodies of the crew members?
28. What three persons come to the ship in their own boat?
29.
Explain how Parts V and VI contain the Mariner’s redemption and penance.
Part VII
30. What happens to the ship and to the Mariner as the boat nears them?
31. How does each person react when the Mariner speaks? What does the Mariner ask of the
Hermit?
31. What continuing penance must the Mariner pay for his crime? Please quote from the text.
32. What is the moral of the tale? (Please answer in a short paragraph of 4-5 sentences.)
33. In what ways does the final part contains the conclusion of the Redemption Cycle? What
religious terms apply to the events?