Manfred

After Manfred’s doom becomes definitive at the end of Act II, Act III shows a failed final attempt to save Manfred. The Abbot of St. Maurice is similar to the Chamois Hunter, in that he has good intentions and desires to help Manfred; both also advise the tortured man to seek solace in religion. The Abbot’s conversation with Manfred is more serious and deeply probing, however, exchanging the emotional influences of the natural world for the overt intellectual influence of religion. The Abbot alludes to Manfred’s association with dark spirits, saying that “[r]umors strange, / And of unholy nature, are abroad” (85), yet he still approaches Manfred with acceptance and care. When Manfred rejects the Abbot’s suggestion to turn to religion, saying that religion seems to offer only guilt and punishment, the Abbot assures him that he only intends to help Manfred heal his soul, indicating that the same forces that condemn Manfred’s relationship with Astarte are ultimately investing in saving Manfred from himself. The Abbot even extends a more general offer of comfort, noting that “even those who do despair above / Yet shape themselves some phantasy on earth, / To which frail twig they cling, like drowning men” (104). Yet Manfred rejects even this, feeling he is too far gone for salvation, whether religious or otherwise, and unwilling to accept condemnation or forgiveness from any source other than himself. Since Manfred is convinced of his own guilt, no external force can convince him of the possibility of forgiveness.

The second scene of Act III is devoted primarily to Manfred’s long hymn, ostensibly a song dedicated to the setting sun, but in reality a meditation on his inner world and an expression of his feelings of doom. He notes how he “learn’d the language of another world” through his study of science and magic, but that he has only come to retreat more and more into his tower and himself, especially after the loss of Astarte (116). The hymn is a clear example of Romanticism’s focus on introspection and subjective feeling. The imagery of the hymn, including the setting sun, is also an example of Romanticism’s belief that civilization is in decline and has lost the ability to connect to an ideal world. At several points in Act III, Manfred alludes to the decline and fall of ancient Rome, such as mentioning the sixth Roman emperor (who Manfred thinks died by suicide) and the ruins of the Roman Coliseum.

Manfred takes a more personal look back at Manfred’s own past when Herman and Manuel describe his origins. Manuel mentions how different the brooding Manfred is from the lord’s outgoing father, suggesting that Manfred represents loss and decline within the family. Yet Manuel also acknowledges Manfred’s love of Astarte, rounding out Manfred’s character and defending it against Manfred’s own feelings of guilt, implying again that salvation may be possible for Manfred, if he only was willing to relinquish some power and rejoin society.

When the Abbot of St. Maurice reappears in the final scene of Manfred, it sets the stage for a final dramatic confrontation between Manfred and the spirits that he invokes. Manfred’s interior conflict shows again when he at first refuses the spirit’s call, suggesting that Manfred is still tormented by ambivalence, not fully convinced of his guilt or that he should die for it. Ultimately, Manfred succumbs to the spirit, and death is victorious. Manfred’s final words to the Abbot, “[o]ld man! ’tis not so difficult to die” (123) recalls the spirit’s words earlier in the scene, “[o]ld man! […] Waste not thy holy words on idle uses, / It were in vain: this man is forfeited” (121). The Abbot closes Byron’s drama with a pondering of Manfred’s fate, suggesting that even in the Abbot’s great spiritual wisdom, Manfred’s damnation or salvation is uncertain.