Byron’s
“Manfred” is one whole mess of crazy. Throughout the dramatic poem, readers
learn about Manfred’s regrets and his desire to end his life. Manfred calls upon spirits, who after numerous calls appear. These spirits, through
interesting narrative, help guide Manfred yet also anger him. Manfred desires
forgetfulness, but they are unable to grant him this. What does he want to
forget? Probably that he is in love with his sister, as the story alludes that
she took her life after sleeping with Manfred. Apparently she was “the
only thing he seem’d to love”. Strange, right? I guess that is the 1800’s for
you.
The
greatest part about this dramatic poem is the language used. Although at some
points it feels like drug-riddled lines, especially when the spirits are
speaking, Manfred’s diction is incredibly beautiful and poetic. He says, “The
spirits I have raised abandoned me – / The spells which I have studied baffle
me – / The remedy I reck’d of tortured me; / I lean no more in super human aid”
(1.2.1-4). Manfred recollects on his life and his previous choices. He is distraught
and angered that the spirits will not help him. Manfred continues to speak about his desire to
die. Many people including the Chamois Hunter, Abbott and Herman try to help him,
but he does not seek redemption or forgiveness. He simply wants to die.
Manfred is
constantly asking for death. Whether trying to throw himself of a cliff or
trying to summons greater spirits, he is looking for a way
out. (Queue dramatic cliff jumping and the song “The Final Countdown” )
The coolest part about Manfred is that he is a real bad ass.
He does not fear death or dark spirits, and does not do what he is told. When
he meets Arimanes, the master of the spirits, he refuses to bow down to him. While
the spirits are yelling at him that he is a mere mortal and must bow down, he
simply replies, “And yet ye see I kneel not”. He evens insists that they all bow
down together.
Manfred is mysterious, likes his solitude and wants an escape from life and his
haunting, gloomy thoughts. However, despite his regrets, he does not want
to be forgiven for his past sins. Instead he wants to forget. Manfred even says
he does not believe in being saved and asks to be punished. He says, “There is no power in holy men, Nor charm in
prayer—nor purifying form/ Of penitence — nor outward look—nor fast —/ Nor
agony, greater than all these, The innate tortures of that deep despair/ Which
is remorse without the fear of hell” (3.1.46-51). Manfred feels deep regret but
does not seek help in religion. He believes death is his only escape.
At the end
of the dramatic poem, after tons of spirits, attempted cliff jumps
and crazy, evil creatures from hell, Manfred finally dies on his own terms. Manfred’s death scene is probably one of the
coolest parts of the poem. First he makes the demons disappear by proclaiming,
“The hand of death is on me – but not yours!” (3.4141). After basically saying
I’m going to die but you’re not the one who is going to kill me, Manfred dies
in his tower. His final words, some of the most powerful, yet an incredibly simple
line are, “Old man! ‘tis not so difficult to die” (3.4 151). After his
pain and suffering and his long journey towards death, Manfred expresses that death
is not something to fear, and he goes peacefully and on his own terms.
Oh sweet victory!
This whole poem is nuts, and I love it!! The Seventh Spirit is my favorite. I love its lines in act one, scene one (110-130), where it seems like he's talking about the Big Bang, but in a much more spiritual (which I suppose makes sense, since he is, in fact, a spirit) than scientific sense. So cool! Or maybe I just read it that way because I like science...hehe. "The star which rules thy destiny/Was ruled, ere earth began, by me" (110-111). Does that not sound like the Big Bang, but, like, spiritual edition?!
ReplyDeleteThe whole poem is pretty crazy. One of my favorite parts was the section in Act two Scene one, when Manfred actually believes that the wine he was offered by the elderly Chamois Hunter to drink was blood “I say 't is blood-- my blood! the pure warm stream, Which ran in the veins of my fathers, and in ours When we were in our youth, and had one heart And loved each other as we should not love, And this was shed: but still it rises up Colouring the clouds, that shut me out from heaven Where thou art not-- and I shall never be.” (24-30) I took the quote to mean that the wine in the cup he is imagining as blood to be his deceased lover Astarte's blood, which in turn is also his blood, and the end of the quote suggests that they were actual siblings who engaged in an incestuous relationship. Talk about wacky!
ReplyDeleteHaha this is the best blog yet! You broke down the dramatic poem in a great way and I always love the use of a good spongebob reference. Anyways, this poem was so crazy when I read it as well. The whole time Manfred is begging to die from the spirits that it is sort of ironic that he thinks hes "winning" by dying on his own terms rather than by them. It was funny when he said on line 141 "Old man! 't is not so difficult to die." I wanted to be like um yeah it was because it took you the whole poem to do so just to forget the past. More importantly, I felt like his distraught was over the death of his sister WHO TURNS OUT TO BE HIS LOVER EW. I mean I wasn't really surprised because the poems we have been reading have the craziest twists, but when I put this together in Act II I thought I was being crazy and gross. Turns out from the other posts that I was right and now looked at the dramatic poem more differently.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to compare this dramatic poem with Marlowe's play "Doctor Faustus." If you've ever read this play, its essentially about a man named Faustus (obviously) who exchanges his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. Its as if Byron read this work and decided to create Manfred, a character that has somewhat learned from Faustus' mistakes and refuses to make the same ones. Both of these works summon spirits to assist them in their mortal lives. However, Faustus summons the spirits in a desire to attain power and knowledge whereas Manfred summons the spirits in hoping to forget everything entirely. They are almost exact foils of each other. More importantly, whereas Faustus agrees to sell his soul to the devil to get what he wants, Manfred rejects all of the spirits entirely rather than agree to be a servant to another spirit in exchange for forgetfulness. This is most apparent when he rejects the Witch that supposedly can help him if he formally swears obedience to her. Additionally, both characters are presented with the opportunity to "save" their souls but reject it in the belief that there is no saving themselves now. Finally, both characters die at the end but the question, when comparing these works, then becomes: who had it better? Manfred tortured himself for the remainder of his life due to his sins on earth but essentially died a free man whereas Faustus indulged in himself for the remainder of his life but died a servant to the devil.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting facet of Manfred's character is the fact that, as you mentioned, he doesn't want to be forgiven for his sins, he wants to forget them. He holds onto the memory of being in love with his sister after she ends her own life. Manfred describes her as follows: "She had the same lone thoughts and wanderings,/The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind/To comprehend the universe...Her faults were mine--her virtues were her own--/I loved her, and destroy'd her!" (109-117) These are beautiful lines that describe a deeply twisted relationship, but I found it especially interesting that, despite what convention and piousness would dictate, he refuses to apologize for having an incestuous relationship, for loving her. He boldly faces everything dark from otherworldly spirits, all in the quest for forgetfulness. There's an infinite amount of detail to talk about here, but I found all that striking...and I think Byron does an amazing job of characterizing Manfred as such a neurotic, dark, deeply unstable person.
ReplyDelete