Manfred: A dramatic poem is a poem written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Romantic closet drama. Manfred is a Faustian noble living in the Bernese Alps. Internally tortured by some mysterious guilt, which has to do with the death of his most beloved, Astarte, he uses his mastery of language and spell-casting to summon seven spirits, from whom he seeks forgetfulness. The spirits, who rule the various components of the corporeal world, are unable to control past events and thus cannot grant Manfred's plea. For some time, fate prevents him from escaping his guilt through suicide. Byron wrote this "metaphysical drama", as he called it, after his marriage to Annabella Millbanke failed because of a scandal due to charges of sexual improprieties and an incestuous affair between Byron and his half-sister, Augusta Leigh. Attacked by the press and ostracised by London society, Byron fled England for Switzerland in 1816 and never returned. At the time, he was living at the Villa Diodati in Switzerland. Because Manfred was written immediately after this, and because it regards a main character tortured by his own sense of guilt for an unmentionable offence, some critics consider it to be autobiographical, or even confessional.[2] The unnamed but forbidden nature of Manfred's relationship to Astarte is believed to represent Byron's relationship with his half-sister Augusta. Most of Manfred was written on a tour through the Bernese Alps in September 1816. The third act was rewritten in February 1817 since Byron was not happy with its first version.
-With its incisive introduction, expertly annotated text, and exceptional roster of contextual materials (including rarely seen manuscript draft excerpts), this Broadview Manfred is an excellent teaching and reading edition of one of Byron's most influential works.- --Harriet Kramer Linkin, New Mexico State University
-This edition of Manfred provides a teaching tool ideally suited to both undergraduate and graduate classrooms. The notes are clear and judicious, neither too many nor too few, and the introduction is a model of scholarship, offering vital information in clear prose. All in all, a welcome addition to the field.- --Emily Bernhard Jackson, University of Exeter
-This edition will prove a gift to teachers and students alike interested in experiencing Byron's dark masterpiece of 'mental theater' in the contexts of the Byron-Shelley circle, the Gothic, Romantic Satanism, and Prometheanism, as well as the play's manuscript, reception, and theatrical histories. The accessible and lively introduction provides an engaging sketch of Byron's biography and prepares the reader to encounter the radical autonomy of the Byronic hero in this dramatic poem's exploration of isolation, incest, and irreligion.- --Dan White, University of Toronto
-This lucidly annotated edition of Byron's Manfred, with essential documents reflecting the play's composition, literary antecedents, and reception, will give students just what they need to appreciate this rich and notoriously iconoclastic text.- --Alan Richardson, Boston College
"With its incisive introduction, expertly annotated text, and exceptional roster of contextual materials (including rarely seen manuscript draft excerpts), this Broadview Manfred is an excellent teaching and reading edition of one of Byron's most influential works." --Harriet Kramer Linkin, New Mexico State University
"This edition of Manfred provides a teaching tool ideally suited to both undergraduate and graduate classrooms. The notes are clear and judicious, neither too many nor too few, and the introduction is a model of scholarship, offering vital information in clear prose. All in all, a welcome addition to the field." --Emily Bernhard Jackson, University of Exeter
"This edition will prove a gift to teachers and students alike interested in experiencing Byron's dark masterpiece of 'mental theater' in the contexts of the Byron-Shelley circle, the Gothic, Romantic Satanism, and Prometheanism, as well as the play's manuscript, reception, and theatrical histories. The accessible and lively introduction provides an engaging sketch of Byron's biography and prepares the reader to encounter the radical autonomy of the Byronic hero in this dramatic poem's exploration of isolation, incest, and irreligion." --Dan White, University of Toronto
"This lucidly annotated edition of Byron's Manfred, with essential documents reflecting the play's composition, literary antecedents, and reception, will give students just what they need to appreciate this rich and notoriously iconoclastic text." --Alan Richardson, Boston College
