Lord Byron’s Manfred: The Revival of the Irrational Gothic over the Death of the Rational Norm

Abstract

Lord Byron is considered one of the most rebellious poets of all time. He successfully employed his revolutionary identity in his works through specific Gothic characteristics, chiefly of quest and dissatisfaction with his surroundings. His invention of the Byronic hero is also a site of interest. His revolt was against the current impositions of his society. This refusal in Byron’s works needs a better understanding, which I suggested to be carried out in the light of Hegel’s theory of bondsman and Lacan’s theory of the Symbolic and the Real. This paper has also depended dramatically on Albert Camus’ elaboration on the nature of the rebellion. Finally, these theories are applied to Byron’s work, Manfred.