Author(s): Lord George Gordon Byron

Culture & Ideas

A quintessential depiction of the Byronic hero, Byron's poetic drama Manfred centers on the interior sufferings of its psychologically tortured title character, who is haunted by the death of his forbidden lover. A radically autonomous figure, Manfred rejects help from other human beings, refuses Christian absolution, and disdains dark supernatural entities far more powerful than he is. Despite (or perhaps in part also because of) scandalous associations between the work and Byron's own tumultuous personal life, it was a considerable success from the start-and soon became far more than merely successful; Manfred exerted a powerful shaping force on the Romantic sensibility for decades after Byron's death. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature edition of Manfred is accompanied by a substantial selection of contextual materials including Byron's original draft of the play's conclusion; influences on the poem, such as Paradise Lost, Goethe's Faust, and Vathek; examples of the Byronic hero from the poet's other writings; a selection of contemporary reviews; and an excerpt from Man-Fred, a dramatic parody in which the protagonist is reimagined as a chimney-sweep.