Compare And Contrast The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner And Bright Star

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1834 poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ and Jane Campion’s 2009 film ‘Bright Star’ are both works which communicate Romantic sensibilities through the chosen forms. Whilst both Coleridge’s and Campion’s forms differ drastically, the same Romantic values can be seen underpinning each piece; themes such as the championing of nature, the disastrous effects attempting to control nature can cause, and the idea of passion over reason.

In ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ nature is portrayed as not only a physical force, but also a spiritual one. Throughout the poem, Coleridge implements the theme of nature in many ways, however one of the most prominent aspects, is the idea of nature as a spiritual moral teacher. The

In the poem, Coleridge portrays nature as wild and untamed; he uses a loose meter that varies between tetrameter and trimeter to reflect the mental and physical actions playing out in the stanzas. For example, when the “storm-blast came” and blew the ship “southward” into the “mist and snow” there is a stanza describing the “sloping masts” of the ship as the storm took control of the boat. This stanza not only reflects the wild and untamed nature of the storm through the freer verse, which makes the rhyme scheme almost feel uncontrollable, but also through the length of the stanza itself, as it is two lines longer than the previous and following stanza. Coleridge uses the same technique when presenting the mental state of the characters – specifically the Mariner’s inner turmoil as his punishment for his crimes against nature are playing out. In an attempt to control nature, the Mariner shoots an Albatross that the crew had “hailed…in God’s name” and the consequences prove to be disastrous for him as he finds himself turned away from nature. The effect it has on the Mariner is instant as Coleridge extends the stanza describing the Mariner’s “hellish thing” to six lines mirroring his inner turmoil. The Mariner’s punishment continues and due to the Romantic belief in a pantheistic ideal, he finds himself unable to pray

When Keats is away from Fanny he sends her a letter stating that he “almost [wishes they] were butterflies”; Fanny responds by starting a butterfly farm in her and Toots’ room. Campion uses extreme close-up camera shots of one butterfly to represent the seemingly innocent nature and beauty of the task; however, Fanny’s attempt to control nature by capturing it and using it to almost reenact Keats’ words, proves to have a negative effect. After a very short period of time, some of the butterflies die and symbolically reflects Fanny’s happiness as Keats writes to her of his failure and lack of financial stability. Campion uses a close-up shot to show the numerous dead butterflies being swept up; this suggests that her use of the extreme close-up to present the alive and vibrant butterfly was to enhance the idea that controlling nature has more negative effects than positive. The similar camera shots to portray the destructive tendencies of nature and the negative effect controlling nature can have is how Campion expresses the Romantic sensibility through her