Some of the similarities in question are expressed through near identical imagery comparisons. The similarity of the works is clearly emphasized in one particular scene, in which the mariner's ship becomes trapped in a sea of ice. This correlates very clearly with the travels of Walton to the North Pole, and the way that his own ship became trapped in ice also. Both cases exude an air of deep despair and hopelessness; in both cases, the journey men, in this case the mariners and Walton, started off enthusiastic, but soon, this enthusiasm transformed to despair with the introduction of the image of stark lands of ice, trapping each ship and keeping them from going anywhere. Another facet of the image of the lands of ice the respective ships encounter in each literary work, is the auditory imagery of the cracking and grinding of the ice beneath the ships. In this case, if Victor Frankenstein himself is compared to the ancient mariner, another comparison is suggested. Victor Frankenstein, in his pursuit of his creation, becomes trapped in the very ice Walton's ship cracks. His sled dogs are dead, and he has no one to help him, until, a mysterious beacon of hope- Walton's ship- comes out from the mist to save him from failing in the completion of his quest. Walton's boat cracks the ice around Frankenstein's sled, and he is saved. This visual image in Frankenstein is highly reminiscent- at least symbolically- of when the albatross comes through the mist to save the ancient mariner's ship from sinking into despair. Walton is able to nurse Frankenstein back to health, and the albatross in a way nurses the ship crew back to 'health', providing them with luck and a purpose when stuck in the ice.
This leads into the next set of similarities noted throughout Frankenstein and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, indicated through character correlations. In the Rime of the Ancient Mariner- set up in the frame story format, just like that of Frankenstein- the wedding guest is the recipient of the ancient mariner's lengthy tale, and in Frankenstein, the young Walton is the recipient of the scientist's own lengthy tale. The naïveté of both Walton and the Wedding guest are alluded to in the way that they both listen to, and respond to the tale they hear. The Wedding guest is at many points indicated to be quite fearsome of the Ancient Mariner, even thinking him to be a ghost at one moment. The wedding guest starts off slightly dismissive of the mariner's tale (as all self possessed young people tend to be when listening to an older person's stories) but as the poem progresses, it is indicated that he is increasing in respect and fear for the mariner, to the point, again, where he believes the story teller to be a ghost. By the end of the story, the wedding guest leaves a 'sadder and wiser man' then what he was before, as Walton does after listening to Victor Frankenstein's tale. It can definitely be pondered that the Ancient Mariner sees in the wedding guest a certain hubris that he himself possessed upon his ship. And it is stated clearly in Frankenstein, that the point of his harrowing tale is to stop Walton from going down the same dark ambitious path that the scientist went down himself. Another set of characters who evoke comparisons, happen to be Frankenstein's monster, and the albatross. These two integral characters are the real card holders in the game. They offer a choice between salvation and demise to their two respective recipients. The albatross offers the choice to the ancient mariner, and Frankenstein's monster offers Victor the choice. Victor and the ancient mariner both respond to these choices with cruelty, bitterness, and impulsiveness, sealing both their own and their friends' tragic fates. The ancient mariner shoots the albatross because it irks him, and Victor spurns the beast he himself created, because of its ugliness, even though it proves to be extremely empathetic and intelligent. Because of Frankenstein's, and the ancient mariner's cruel hubris, the albatross, and the beast, exact revenge on their oppressors.
This, in turn, leads into another set of similarities of Frankenstein and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in the form of theme. Both literary works express a theme that is near the same; that of, who is the monster and who is the man? Or, specifically, in this case, who is the real beast? Frankenstein's monster, and the albatross, are both beasts in the physical sense, but they still both possess spiritual and intellectual existences that their oppressors cannot understand, and refuse to understand, until it is too late. Frankenstein's monster is not only extremely empathetic, but he is also intensely intelligent, showing cunning of a level that would require extreme intelligence and stealth, through the fact that he is able to trail Frankenstein, elude him, and ruin him, all coupled with his extreme ugliness and size. The albatross is indicated to possess a highly spiritual quality, reminiscent of in the idea in other cultures of spirits being presented in the form of animals. The albatross comes to the ancient mariner's ship in strange conditions, across seas of ice and storms. It is indicated in the poem that there was no land around for miles, so it is strange in the first place that the albatross would be flying around in the middle of nowhere, with no land and therefore no place to nest nearby. This mysteriousness surrounding the albatross lends to the evocation of its spiritual transcendence- beyond being just an 'albatross'. With this background, the fact that such a beautiful and grand creature, if not in its physical appearance, in its inner, spiritual nature, is killed because of the fact that it was irritating him (perhaps the albatross' mysterious air was what drove the mariner to slay it) is stark and disturbing. It also alludes to the fact, again, that the albatross was more than just an albatross, as Frankenstein's monster was so much more than just a 'beast'. Both the albatross and Frankenstein's monster were in ways, more intelligent and important than their oppressors, Victor and the Mariner. Understanding the beasts' importance gives reason to the extent of the way in which their revenge ruins their oppressors. Both Victor's and the Mariner's friends and family (the mariner's being his sea family) are killed because of their actions. In this way, the horror of the mariner's action- killing such a magnificent creature that had done nothing wrong, just for the sake of killing, and Frankenstein's ugliness towards his own creation just because it didn't look the way he wanted it to, leads one to ask the question, 'which was the real animal?' For all of Victor's intelligence, he was too stupid to realize that his creation had the power to ruin him, he thought that he was automatically better than his creature, and underestimated it. The Mariner cold bloodily killed a creature just because it irritated him, and paid the price.
The comparisons of Frankenstein and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner weave together to create two works of literary art that can be set beside each other, and looked at even as complements. It is easy to see Mary Shelley's inspiration, besides her own imagination, through the comparisons between her novel and Coleridge's poem, and it is an interesting bit of research to look into in the study of the creation of Frankenstein. Both tales evoke stark comparisons in terms of imagery, characters, and theme. In this way, they complement each other greatly.
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