Date Approved
2010
Degree Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department or School
English Language and Literature
Committee Member
Christine Neufeld, PhD, Chair
Committee Member
Laura George, PhD
Committee Member
Andrea Kaston-Tange, PhD
Abstract
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was, and remains today, one of the most important literary figures in history, and his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner continues to be one of the most widely read pieces of literature in schools across the world. When it was first published, the poem was ahead of its time and was widely misinterpreted. For the past two hundred years, even, critical examinations of the poem have tended to reveal discrepancies rather than attempt to explain them. This work examines the poem through the lens of queer theory in an attempt to explain those apparent inconsistencies. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has central, if disregarded, radical gender formulations, that, when highlighted, will help explain more fully the poetic closure of the poem and Coleridge’s decisions regarding the revision of his famous rime.
Recommended Citation
Tyer, Kathleen, "The fiends that plague thee thus: An examination of gender and the role it plays in Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (2010). Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 368.
https://commons.emich.edu/theses/368