Regarding Radley's Critism on Rime of the Ancient Mariner
...rruptions of the insensitive wedding guest stand for the materialistic world, who is not understanding of the real experiences of the mariner, seen as an evil spirit by the guest. Rather the wedding guest is the gullible listener, who does wake on the morrow a wiser man, but wiser only in that he has a vision of what a sad road a man might take and how he might end up – crazed, but with an underlying wisdom of the ages as his message, which is the universal message of love. Which of the seven parts does this analysis treat most thoroughly? Why? Death-in-life portrayed as a hoyden with no love, her deeply irresponsible behavior sowing continual destruction. Radley quotes the poem, overanalyzes the action, but it could be because the idea of a woman as the destructive spirit grates against the sensibilities of any rational woman. Of the four symbolic choices for the albatross (imagination, unifying agent, force of redemption, qualities of humanity) which do you think Radley might prefer? Why? Radley views the albatross as “un...