Valle, Alan

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Shamanism in "Manfred" and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"
(2019-07-11) Valle, Alan; Irizarry Rodríguez, José M.; College of Arts and Sciences - Art; Batra, Nandita; Haydock, Nickolas; Department of English; González, Michael
The American and French Revolutions spurred class-consciousness across Britain, which caused a political division that resulted in the persecution and condemnation of radicals. Under these dangerous circumstances, Byron and Coleridge avoided condemnation while expressing their radical philosophies through stories. Manfred and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” feature shamanic protagonists whose interactions with God and spirits are a narrative device that allowed their authors to question religious and political orthodoxy while avoiding condemnation. However, Manfred and the Mariner are not shamans because they do not fulfill Mircea Eliade’s criteria for shamanic election. Their initiations failed because the protagonists could not find teachers or spirits that shared their values. In this sense, society fails them because the social structures that can help these candidates succeed, have been driven underground by centuries of political oppression.