... as 'languorous' and 'voluptuous', as well as the salient oxymoron 'diabolically sweet', emphasizing her hypnotic pull on the living. The temptation of protagonists is similarly presented in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, where the characters are enticed by nightmare life in death, 'her lips were red, her looks were free'8. Coleridge's apt use of Gothic symbolism through the use of ... eye... a serpent's eye'22, and reptilian allusions. Here she appears to represent temptation, as in the origin of sin, where Adam and Eve are tempted in the Garden of Eden, a setting also prese...

• Word Count: 4055
• Approx Pages: 16
• Grade Level: Undergraduate