Manfred
p. 588

Plot
Count Manfred—German nobleman who is tortured by the limitations of mortality and by guilt over his lost love
Studies black magic to transcend human limitations
Conjures the dark spirits to provide forgetfulness

Plot
Spirits instead leave him with a “curse” “Nor to slumber, nor to die” (1. 1. 254)
Attempts suicide in the Alps and is saved by Chamois Hunter
Tells his story to the Witch of the Alps
Persuades Arimanes to call up ghost of Astarte

Plot
Astarte’s prophecy: “Tomorrow ends thine earthly ills” (2. 4. 152)
Abbot of St. Maurice suggests repentance and offers God’s forgiveness
Dark spirits arrive to claim Manfred’s soul
Manfred defies God and the spirits to die on his own terms—  “Old man! ’tis not so difficult to die” (3. 4. 151)

Setting
The Swiss Alps—snow and high mountains

Slide 6

Slide 7

Setting
Swiss Alps—snow and high mountains
Isolation
Spiritual death, coldness
Ambition, superiority
Manfred’s Gothic Castle
Isolation
Loftiness
Power
Imprisonment

Setting
The Tower
Ambition, superiority
Imprisonment
The Forbidden Room
Forbidden knowledge
Guilt

Manfred as Byronic Hero
Noble/Superior—p. 601, 2. 2. 50-96, p. 608, 2. 4. 51-72
Outcast/Wanderer
Self-Reliant/Individualist
Defiant—defies Witch of the Alps, Arimanes, religion, the dark spirits, death, pp. 620-621, 3. 4. 80-153

Manfred as Byronic Hero
Amoral—follows own moral code
Enigmatic—mysterious past, nameless curse—incest, p. 602-603, 2. 2. 100-121

Slide 12

Manfred as Byronic Hero
Melancholy/Moody—p. 596, 1. 2. 36-47
Man of Action
World weary—p. 589, 1. 1. 1-26