The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Poetry | Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Write a Short Note on ‘The Wedding Guest' in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

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Write a short note on ‘the wedding guest’ in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

In the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (1798), Coleridge (1772-1834) uses a framing device in which the Mariner tells his strange tale to a wedding guest. This guest missed the wedding ceremony but, in the end, became a wiser man. Here is his character analysis.

The Structural Importance: The structural importance of the Wedding Guest is extensive. Through the Wedding-Guest, the framing device is established. He develops the plot of the poem. Structurally, he helps to bring out the spiritual crisis the Mariner underwent after killing the Albatross. He draws the reader's attention to the significant states.

The Listener: The Wedding-Guest is the listener of the poem "The Rime of t

he Ancient Mariner," whom the Mariner chooses to describe his strange tale. Although the guest initially fears the Mariner, he feels compelled to listen to the Mariner's tale for several reasons. The Mariner's "long grey beard and glittering eye" make him listen to him. As the Mariner holds the guest with his skinny hand, the guest has no option now but to listen to him like a three years child -  

He holds him with his glittering eye -

The Wedding-Guest stood still,

And listen like a three years' child:

The Mariner hath his will.

A Link Between Two Worlds: The Wedding-guest's feedback to the narrative by the Mariner supplies a realistic touch to the unrealistic events. He is a link between two worlds - 1) the world of imagination, the story of the Mariner and his strange experiences, and 2) the world of reality, in which the Guest and the church are part. The contrast between the spiritual worlds of the Mariner and its rich morality cannot be effective without the Wedding Guest figuring as a link between the two worlds.

The Target of the Mariner's Moral: The Wedding-Guest is the target of the Mariner's moral story. Only the Wedding-Guest can give occasion to The Mariner to serve the moral of his story.

Finally, we can assert that the Wedding-Guest plays an important dramatic role in the poem. The poem begins with the old Mariner stopping one of the three guests, and the poem concludes with the Mariner finishing his conversation with the Wedding-Guest.

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Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner