A Tale That Never Stops Telling

In Mary Shelley’s novel, “Frankenstein”, Shelley uses numerous other literary works to form and bring support to her fiction story. One of the works that Shelley includes in Frankenstein is Samuel L. Coleridge’s, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. This literary work is used rather frequently when comparing her novel’s characters to those in the poem. Shelley incorporates this work by comparing Victor Frankenstein, the main character of Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s monster, and Robert Walton, the character mentioned several times in the preface. Both Shelley’s characters can be compared to the Mariner that killed the albatross and how in each of their lives, they lived out like this poem. 

Throughout Shelley’s novel, “Frankenstein”, Shelley draws connections with Coleridge’s, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. Small glimpses of these connections can first be seen in the Preface of Frankenstein (pgs. 11-26), which consists of letters between Robert Walton and his sister, Mrs. Saville of England. Out of all four letters that Walton writes to his sister, he mentions Coleridge’s poem in his second letter. Within this letter, Walton tells his sister all about his uneventful journey he is currently on and where he is planning on going. In the sixth paragraph, Walton writes, “I am going to unexplored regions, to “the land of ice and snow;” but I shall kill no albatross, therefore do not be alarmed for my safety, or if I should come back as you as worn and woeful as the “Ancient Mariner?” (page 18). In Coleridge’s poem, the sailors are heading to a land that is barren of any form of land, nothing but ice.  The similarity in this is that both the Mariner and Walton are both sailors that seem to be heading towards the same place, but Walton will not be dumb enough to endanger himself. Shelley most likely brings up this reference in Walton’s letters to present the idea that Walton is extremely similar to the Mariner in these letters. Also, Walton who serves as the audience mentioned in the poem who hears the Mariner’s story. Shelley also compares Coleridge’s poem to Victor Frankenstein and the monster he creates.

Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, is about a student named Victor Frankenstein who is mesmerized by the ideas of natural philosophy, and its wondrous laws. One night in November, Frankenstein brings to life the monster that will, in many ways, haunt his life forever. Throughout this novel, Shelley references Coleridge’s poem, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. For example, in the Preface, Walton talks about meeting a stranger and how odd the stranger seems. The stranger tells Walton, “…to seek the one who fled from me” (pg. 22). Although Coleridge’s poem is not directly referenced here, one can draw a parallel. In this case, the stranger is looking for the person that fled away from him. This stranger symbolizes the Mariner, always going around to tell his tale. Regardless of how it sounds, he must tell it since it is his to tell. Not only does the stranger relate to the Mariner, but the creator himself, Victor Frankenstein. Victor relates to the Mariner because after creating this monster, he seems to want to hide what he has done. For example, a stanza from Coleridge’s poem is referenced on page 53. This stanza says, “Like one who, on a lonely road, Doth walk in fear and dread, And, having once turned around, walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread”. When the Mariner killed the albatross, it followed him everywhere, knowing that he could not unlive the story. He must accept that it is his story. This is similar to Victor Frankenstein because even though he is proud of his creation, he feels guilty for it and because it’s done, he cannot escape the reality of it. He must live with it and go on. Both Victor Frankenstein and his monster both relate hand-in-hand to Coleridge’s Mariner.

To conclude, Shelley knows how to use literary works to create parallels between her characters and those in other works. Throughout her novel, “Frankenstein”, Shelley uses Coleridge’s poem to form parallels between three of the main characters. For example, Robert Walton who represents the audience of the Mariner’s story, Victor Frankenstein as the Mariner who needs to face his reality and not run from it, and lastly, the monster created by Frankenstein who represents the Mariner who must live to tell those of this tale. Overall, these parallels go hand in hand with each other. 

Works Cited
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” The Norton Anthology of
British Literature: The Romantic Period. 10th ed. Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor.
W. W. Norton, 2017. pp. 448-64.

Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Preface, pages 11-12, Barnes and Noble, 2003.