By exploring themes of nature, the supernatural, guilt, reconciliation, and the human condition, Samuel Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” elevates Romantic literature with not only its profound philosophical depth, but also the postmodern elements of world-building, fragmentation, and magical realism.
Gustave Doré’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Painting
Summary of Element One - World Building
As a postmodern element, world building establishes the fictional environment for the readers (such as us) to be immersed in. This style blurs the realities of natural and supernatural worlds and invites us to engage with complex and multifaceted environments beyond the constraints of conventional linear storytelling.
Where it’s Found
In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” it was necessary for the author to describe the imagery around this realm where there was “Water, water, every where,” and in this maritime “all the boards did shrink”, describing that the Marier is on a boat in the middle of the ocean. In case the water description was not enough to grasp, Coleridge clarifies it by telling us that the water is salt water because there wasn’t “any drop[s] to drink”. To add to the world-building postmodern element, the author includes sensory detail! The temperature was described as “ice”, which allows us to envision this perilous conditions during the Mariner's voyage. This was crucial to the whole story because it set the image in my head on what was going and where it was happening.
This short clip is from “The Little Mermaid”, however if you start the video at 0.36 this is what instantly came to mind when looking/creating an image in my head. This clip contains a boat, a storm, dark outside, cold looking, and A BIRD!
Short Story Connection
When analyzing the postmodern elements found in this literary tradition I could see a connection between this story and the short story “Inside Where You Belong” by Kate Crosby. Before there is immediate confusion, let me explain how this connection was made. This postmodern element creates the setting by description, right? (YES) Just by the verbiage that was used I had the ability to imagine a singular bird that falls from the sky and drops dead in driveways, sidewalks, streets, and school playgrounds of all types of birds: pigeons, jays, cardinals and swifts. As a postmodernist reader I identified this as a world building element that allowed me to understand what was going on in this story's world just like the environment in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, and this ability for the connection further emphasizes how important world building is to an postmodern reader.
How it Connects to Romantic Literature
The Romantic literary element that best blends with the postmodern element of world-building is the concept of the sublime. In Romantic literature, the sublime refers to the strong sense of amazement evoked by the natural world's mystery. This aligns seamlessly with world-building in postmodernism (specifically in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”), as Coleridge creates intricate fictional landscapes and settings that transcend mundane reality, often writing them with a sense of the sublime. As postmodern readers, we can utilize world-building to create immersive environments that provoke similar feelings of astonishment and exploration in their audiences like in Romantic literature.
Summary of Element Two - Fragmentation
Fragmentation is a postmodern component that interrupts the conventional narrative structure and makes it tricky for readers to put the story's multiple components together. This method blurs the lines between reality and fiction, inspiring us to consider the movement of identity and perception within the fractured narrative and the natural world to look deeper into the intricate details of the human experience.
Where is it found?
In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” there were many descriptions of bigger ideas by using fragmentation. The description of the “beautiful” dead sailors lying alongside “slimy things” creates a fragmented view of life and death. And when the Mariner mentioned that they were “all dead” but that he still “lived on” illustrated that though there is death there can be beauty in hindsight because he still had a chance to live. The sudden shift in tone and subject matter within the stanza contributes to the poem's overall sense of disorientation and complexity. Now obviously common themes of life contain beauty within life, but I think Coleridge wanted to make this more apparent for a stronger comparison of death and life since this story discusses human conditions along with supernatural ideals.
Poem Connection
When exploring the postmodern elements found in this story I could see a connection with the poem “[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]” by E.E. Cumming. This poem presents love as a force that is not limited by time or location as it examines themes of unity, love, and the overcoming of physical distance. To clarify the poem expresses love and the beauty of it while Coleridge alludes to the consequences of isolation and the longing for redemption through the Mariner's journey. Not only do these two works relate by themes, but the poem also contains fragmentation. As a postmodern reader, I was able to see right away the strange use of parentheses, the unconventional line breaks within the poem, the lack of capitalization, and the different usage of syntax that is unconventional. There were clearly different motivations that caused these authors to use this postmodern element, but added more depth to psychological conditions and reconciliation.
Video of Audio
My Take that Connects to Romantic Literature
The Romantic literary element that best blends with the postmodern element of fragmentation is the quality of individual subjectivity and emotions. To be more specific this portrays the characters' inner thoughts, feelings, and personal journeys. This aspect of storytelling focuses on the unique perspectives, struggles, and growth of individual characters, which is extremely important in both of these works. Especially when trying to create the Mariner's personal journey, when filled with guilt, remorse, and redemption, exemplifies the Romantic literature on individual experience and emotion. His disturbing inner thoughts and psychological transformation scream (not actually) the Romantic notion of the individual's inner world as a source of truth and meaning. Just like fragmentation allows for this character alteration, both of these qualities coincide with each other and in other comparable works.
Summary of Element Three - Magical Realism
As a postmodern element, magical realism infuses the ordinary with the extraordinary concepts of storytelling! Who needs reality while we already have to live it! This narrative style challenges conventional notions of what is possible, and invites readers to explore worlds where the supernatural coexists with the natural in a harmonious and often surreal manner.
Where is it found?
In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” the postmodern element of magical realism can be seen by intertwining supernatural elements such as the appearance of the ghostly ship crewed by Death and Life-in-Death, the curse placed upon the Mariner, and the eerie events that occur during the Mariners journey. This curse is seen and expressed by Coleridge as a greater entity because what the Mariner has done is a “hellish thing” and once the bird “That made the breeze to blow” has an angry connotation. Normally when animals die there are no immediate storms on an icy ocean, at least that I am aware of. What I thought was interesting was the mention of God when “He prayeth best, who loveth best” after everything that was mentioned up until this point. The Mariner obviously cares to some extent about the afterlife, and this again, blurs existential ideas to reality.
This video is a clip from the Disney’s movie “Coco” and this specifically shows the beauty between living and the afterlife.
Song Connection
When exploring the postmodern elements found in this story I could see a connection with the poem “Pyramid Song” by Radiohead. To link this first off I would like to mention this one is a little less direct, more like a curvy curly cue road. When taking further analysis to the lyrics, I thought that the narrator perhaps felt disconnected from reality and struggles with feelings of alienation and insignificance. The journey could be interpreted as the journey of life, maybe the afterlife, or an experience that altered their brain chemistry and their view on life itself. Overall, this journey has a personal connection to the narrator that scares them to even contemplate it and worry about what happens when or if they see the other side. This contemplation between realities and or what is really true can be seen in this Romantic literary work. When the Mariner doesn't know what to do about the bird, the curse, and death THIS is the journey. While the song focuses more on paths and which one should be picked, it can still be compared to the paths of life and death, whether that be with or without guilt.
My Take that Connects to Romantic Literature
In Romantic literature, the element that best relates to the postmodern element of magical realism is the imagination and the supernatural. The usage of imagination in romantic literature is specific to the creative ability of the thinking to see beyond the ordinary and beyond reality. The imagination is a powerful tool that may reveal more profound truths about both the natural world and human experience. With that there are also mystical, magical, or otherworldly happenings that exist outside the range of the normal experience as part of its supernatural characteristics. Ghosts, spirits, mythological beings, and other representations of the unknown or divine are examples of these aspects. Because the supernatural suggested a world of mystery and magic that was outside the purview of reason, in romantic writing (like right now between the story and song) they are used together, which allows for deeper analysis for the readers to connect.
Why does this matter?
As each type of literature has its own counterparts and style, we can see that a lot of themes of nature, the supernatural, guilt, reconciliation, and the human condition all have the ability to have something in common. This capability allows for more creation to be completed by the readers, which means there are endless interpretations. With vast amounts of these interpretations, there is always a new story or meaning for every work. For instance, now we can clearly see how “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” can be compared to a short story, a poem, and a song! Works that may have been written in a different literary era can still be part of postmodern works. This is important because that means there is always more to understand about complicated topics through different elements such as world-building, fragmentation, and magical realism.
Essential Works Cited
Coleridge, Samuel. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43997/the- rime-of-the-ancient-mariner-text-of-1834. Accessed 10 May 2024.
Crosby, Kate. “Inside Where You Belong.” [PANK], 2 May 2022, pankmagazine.com/piece/inside-where-you-belong/. Accessed 11 May 2024.
Doré’s, Gustave. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” 19 Dec. 2019. Saint Louis University Libraries Special Collections, 2024, pius.slu.edu/special-collections/?p=5299. Accessed 10 May 2024.
E.E. Cummings. “Poetry Magazine.” Poetry Foundation, 2019,
www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/49493/i-carry-your-heart-with-mei-carry-it-in.
Gify. “Shots Fred Finger Guns.” GIFDB, 1969, media.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExc2J6ajh3cGV
6eXlsb2x1MjJ1bjI1YXllZnF4aW5xZnphNDZscng3biZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw
/v8k9PaAQphzwI/giphy.gif. Accessed 10 May 2024.
Leach, Holly. “Highlights of Postmodernism.” Nerd Central, 3 May 2023,
nerdcentralorg.files.wordpress.com/2024/05/highlights-of-postmodernism.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2024.
Radiohead. “Pyramid Song.” Youtube, 23 Jan 2015, genius.com/Radiohead-pyramid-song-lyrics. Accessed 10 May 2024.