These are the first 6 pages of my threee part final for British Literature.

British Literature Final #2: A Spirit’s Return
Sarah Orosz
It is human nature to wonder what happens to an individual after death. Authors have created numerous works depicting what they believe to be their interpretation of the afterlife of a soul, or spirit. However, even more captivating is the idea that souls can come back from the realm of death to communicate with the living. Felicia Hemans created a dramatic monologue called A Spirit’s Return that can be linked to Byron’s Manfred in several distinct ways. Both of these dramatic, Romantic pieces focus on commune with the dead. Heman’s female speaker can be viewed as sharing similar traits with the Byronic hero, Manfred. Close textual analysis reveals the striking similarities in the devices and elements used in both pieces, yet there are also contrasting differences that must also be pointed out and explained. Hemans’ work is a development that centers around non-traditional religious thought and search for the infinite, and these qualities are also found in Manfred’s envelopment of the Byronic hero. That is why the two Romantic pieces, Manfred and A Spirits Return will be connected, however they are also different so contrasting them is inevitable and will be completed also.
The first element that is the least powerful, yet important element utilized by Hemans’ female speaker reflects the Byronic hero and many other Romantic writers of her time. Both characters (Manfred and female speaker) find their haven, or escape in nature. Nature was a vital part of Romantic poetry and was often glorified and praised as a religious place. One did not need to go into a traditional sanctuary or church to seek their answers to life. The element of nature plays a large role in each of these stories, because in both it offers a place of solitude away from society’s hustle and bustle. Both the female speaker and Manfred use nature for different, dark purposes. Manfred’s dark purpose is that he wishes to commit suicide, and end his own life within the bowels of nature. Manfred is a desperate soul, and he lives in constant agony with no hope for the future, “I hath no power on the past, and for the future, till the past be engulfed in darkness, it is not of my reach”(Manfred pg 595 line5-6). These lines mean that Manfred has lived a terrible past with haunting memories he cannot forget. And since he cannot forget and feel self-oblivion, he goes to nature to die. “And you, ye crags, upon whose extreme edge I stand, and on the torrents brink […] when a leap a stir, a motion would bring my breast upon its rocky bosom’s bed to rest forever”(Manfred pg 595, lines 13-15,17-19). These lines reflect Manfred’s desperation to meet death, by throwing himself onto rocks below. He wants death in any form; he craves for suicide or for nature to kill him. He begins to cry out for nature to kill him, beckoning: “Ye avalanches, whom a breath draws down, in mountains o’rwhelming, come and crush me”(Manfred pg 596-7, line 75-76). While standing on the brink of a mountain, Manfred looks into the abyss crying: “Such would have been for me a fitting tomb, my bones had then been quiet in their depth […] earth! Take these atoms!”(Manfred, pg 597, lines 103, 104, 108). From the previous lines Manfred cries out in desperation make it obvious that he longs for death, and seeks it within nature. He wants nature to witness, and or be his destroyer, and serve as his tomb. However, Heman’s nature, although she journeys to nature her dark deed contrasted to Manfred’s is much less dramatic and severe.
Hemans’ female speaker seeks out nature also, like the Byronic hero, but for a different purpose. The speaker does not want to escape from life, but rather reveal a secret. Her desire is to reveal a pent up secret that she has longed to set free. It is important to note that the speaker here could have chosen anywhere to reveal this secret, her church, her companion’s home, any public place, but she chose to go to nature. Nature is where she felt she could get the solitude she needed to release her secret, and her choice of nature for this purpose is vital. She beckons to her one companion: “Dear friend […] come to the woods, where all strange wandering sound is mingled into harmony profound […] our own dell”(Spirits Return, pg 818, lines 1, 9-10, 13). She calls to her friend to join her in their own secret hollow where nature will embrace them and the speaker can finally fulfill her desire. The woods “Shall suit th’ unveiling of dark records well”(A Spirit’s Return, pg 818, line 15). The speaker wants to reveal her dark, isolated secret only in the privacy, and solitude of nature. The secret of the speaker ties into the element of the Romantic idea of searching for the infinite. Her secret is revealed: “My life’s lone passion, the mysterious quest of secret knowledge […] o thou rich world unseen! Thou curtained realm of spirits!”(A Sprit’s Return pg 819, lines 36-37, 46-47). These lines portray that the speaker here is on a quest for the realm of the spirit world. She shares her secret that her greatest desire is to seek knowledge about life beyond the grave. She wants her mind to be full of knowledge from souls in eternity. She has a: “thirst for soul”(Spirits Return, pg 819, line 55) and this soul will fill her with the ability to see beyond death, to enhance her existence on earth by knowing things higher than she: infinite beings. Just as the Byronic hero sought nature for the fulfillment of his desire to seek death. Both sought nature, this is the key element; even though it was for different reasons.
The second trait that the two dramatic stories share is the similar progression of emotions of the characters. The lady speaker and Manfred both share the common progression of guilt and because of the guilt blossoms the common wish to bring back the dead. This is important and is a commonality of both characters, revealing both have this element of suffering of the Byronic hero. Both of these characters blame themselves for the death of their lovers, then suffer because of the guilt. Lastly they both find desire to bring the dead back into the world of the living. This progression is evident in both pieces. In Manfred, he explains that he hurt the only one he ever really loved. “Oh, my injuries came down on those who loved me-on those whom I best loved: […] my wrongs were all on those I should have cherished-but my embrace was fatal”(Manfred pg 600, lines 84, 85, 87-88). This quote is stating that Manfred blames himself for the death of his sister, the one he ‘best loved’. It is not totally clear in the text how or why she died, but there is a hinting that incest may have occurred resulting in his sister’s suicide: She was like me in lineaments, her eyes her hair, all her features […] I loved her, and destroyed her! Not with my hand, but heart”(Manfred, pg 602-3, lines 105-6, 117, 119). So, Manfred blames himself for the death of his sister, and he this blame fills him with overwhelming misery and grief of heart. To speak of his sister and bring up his past is to as he states: “I approach the core of my heart’s grief!”(Manfred pg 602, line 99), Manfred’s grief and misery cause him to journey into nature to seek his sister’s ghost, because he is unable to kill himself or have the solace of death embrace him to let him forget the past. Manfred goes to nature to call forth the spiritual world, and its supernatural inhabitants to perform this new desire. Manfred’s commune with the dead is on a much grander scale than Heman’s story, as will later be explained, yet the progression is still the same. Manfred calls forth the spirits of the earth and demands that they: “Call up the dead. My question is for them”(Manfred, pg 608 line 79). Manfred beckons for the spirits to call up the dead on several occasions throughout eh duration of the story, but it does not occur until the middle of the work. Manfred is obsessed with bringing back his sister to converse with her and see her once again, even if she comes from the grave.
This same progression is evident in Heman’s A Sprit’s Return because she too blames herself for the death of her lover, and the grief consumes her to crave communication with the infinite. The man that she loved was very dear to her. Her entire world and definition of happiness revolved around him “there was no music but his voice to hear, no joy but when his step drew near”(A Spirits Return, pg 819, line 73-74). Her love of him is evident, and it is no wonder that she fell into deep grief after his death. “He died! Oh! I might not keep one vigil by his side. […[Had my love been there, its conquering sway had one him back from death!”(Sprits Return pg 820, lines 114-15, 120, 121). Since she was unable to be by his side while he lay on his deathbed, she blames herself for his death. She believes her love could have saved him, but the reason she could not be with him is because she believed their love to be a silent love. Their love was never outwardly spoken of or acted upon. The text is a bit unclear of what type of love it present here. It is obvious love exists between these two, but not in a traditional way of love. Just as Manfred’s love was in no way traditional or conventional. Heman’s love concept is non traditional also but in a more subtle way. There is no romance, wooing or walks in the park. Instead Heman’s states: “In fear, I said I loved. […] I knew myself beloved! We breathed no vow […] but still and deep like a rich jewel gleaming in a grave […] did my soul that costly knowledge keep”(Sprits Return, pg 820, lines 92, 95,99-100). These lines develop the idea that this love she had was not spoken or acted upon, but just known. Perhaps they looked into each other’s eyes and knew it was love, yet lived apart in this unspoken love. That is why she was not at his deathbed, and the guilt of this never spoken love, like a jewel in a grave ate her heart. The jewel in the grave image is important also. Their love is ever present, but silent and buried in the heart and soul like a gem in a grave. The speaker falls into a “passionate despair”(A spirits Return, pg 821, line 134) over the loss of her love, and just like Manfred wanted only one thing. She had one desire: “Knowst thou what I sought? For what high boon my struggling spirit sought? Communion with the dead!”(A Sprits Return pg 821 lines 135-38). Both of these Romantic characters sought to speak with the dead, and both achieved this wish by the workings of their strong will.
In the Christian faith, there is a saying that one’s free will can only go so far, and then there is God. Heman, Byron, or the other Romantic poets do not utilize this Christian belief system. This strong free will is the third most important element of the connection between Manfred and the female speaker of Heman’s poem. The element of free will is evident in both of these poems because the characters seek reunion with the dead but never turn to the Christian God for his almighty help and power. These characters seek the dead on their own in accordance to their own mighty wills. The character of Manfred and Heman’s speaker do not portray the traditional religious notion of “God, Thy will be done”. Instead they follow their own will and use their desire to will sprits from the other world. Manfred displays his Byronic free will when the Witch of the Alps agrees to bring his sister back from the dead on a condition. “Thou wilt swear obedience to my will, and do my bidding, it may help thee in thy wishes”(Manfred pg 603-4, lines 156-7). Manfred is angered at these words and refuses to never obey her, or any other will but his own. Another instance of this strong will occurs when Manfred calls upon the spirits of the elements of nature: “ I do compel ye to do my will. Appear!”(Manfred pg 590, line 49). The spirits do appear to reinforce the idea that the free will of man can control his life the way he desires. However, when the spirits cannot do his bidding he bids them to: “ Slaves, scoff not at my will!”(Manfred, pg 592, line 153). He becomes angered when his will is not obeyed. The female speaker in Heman’s poem uses this strong free will also.
The female speaker, like Manfred’s Byronic will, has her own will on a grand scale. There is a scene in the poem when the speaker is desperate to see her love, and she herself calls no help, but uses her own willpower to call him back from the dead. She uses her will over the power of the infinite to stretch into the realm of the dead. “ I tell thee that a power there kindled in heart and lip […] I summoned, I adjured! […] I taught one sound unto a thousand echoes- one profound imploring accent to the tomb, the sky- one prayer to night- Awake, appear reply!”(A Sprit’s Return, pg 821, lines 131-2, 147, 151-54). This summon to the dead beyond the grave is a powerful scene. This scene portrays that the speaker is only dependent on herself for the return of her dead lover. She does not seek God, and when she prays it is a prayer, not to a deity, but a prayer sent out into the night. A prayer that she longs and hopes will echo through the valleys of the dead and beckon her beloved. She even goes as far as to make a command to the sprits! She first handedly called a command for her love to awake from the grave, appear before her, and speak with her just as she willed it to be. These strong willed characters do in fact meet with their departed loves, creating a similar message regarding the infinite, yet these meetings create a different meaning for death.
At the end of each of the poems, the characters do meet with their departed lovers. Both spirits however, say much of the same thing. This is probably Byron’s Romantic idea of the supernatural influencing Heman in her writing. In Byron’s Manfred, the ghost of his sister appears and Manfred asks, “ Shall we meet again? One word for mercy! Say, thou lovest me.” (Manfred, pg 610, line 154, 55). However, his sister’s ghost offers no reply but repeats his name and fades away from whence she came. This sudden departure of Manfred’s sister creates the idea that the spirit will no longer commune or meet with the living. The only other time they will meet is in the infinite, mysterious world beyond the grave. Hemans’ speaker’s ghostly encounter mirrors Manfred’s, but takes it a step further. The dead male ghost speaks to the speaker saying, “Farewell, on earth we shall meet no more!”(A Spirit’s Return pg 822, lines 217-18). Although both of the spirit’s messages seemed to be similar, the two Romantic poets take a final contrasting step on their outlooks on death. This is the final and most important point, because both Byron and Heman discuss commune with the dead, and both also illustrate the idea that death varies from individual to individual. There is no shared idea of what lies beyond death and if death should be viewed as a joyous time as in Hemlan’s poem, or as an abandoning of the familiar life among the living as in Manfred. I found it very intriguing that although both of the characters in these different poems where written by Romantics, the ending view towards death is different. One main reason for its difference is that is may be due to the fact that Heman is a female writer, and therefore sees death as a continuation of the love that her character lost. Heman views death not as an ending, but as a reunion with the loved one who has gone before you. Heman’s speaker dwells on death with glee, and feminine hope and sincerity that her love is eternal and will stretch through the realms of death. She believes death to be the time of a blessed reunion with her love. “Rich hours woo me to the dead […] But the day will come […] shall not I to be, my spirit love? Up borne to dwell with thee? […] Yet we shall meet- that glimpse of joy divine!”(A spirit’s Return, pg 823, lines, 251, 255-56, 261). These lines enforce the speaker’s gleeful wait for death to sweep her soul away to mingle once again with the soul of her beloved.
Manfred, on the other hand, as he gets closer to death the more he realizes he wants to live. His love is not as strong as Heman’s female character’s devotion. This female will follow her lover everywhere, even beyond the grave. But Manfred wants to live; he values life over love it seems. Manfred shouts at the spirits coming to take his soul, “I do defy ye, not will I hence while I have earthly breath, to breathe my scorn upon ye, earthly strength to wrestle “(Manfred, pg 620, lines 99-100). These lines focus on the world earthly, meaning that Manfred is focusing on earthy things such as his physical breath, and strength. It is ironic that the man who craved death, when at the moment of impending death dwells on life! The spirits say to him “ “Can it be that thou art thus in love with life?”(Manfred pg 620, lines 107-8). These two Romantic poets, Hemans and Byron, both portray many of the same ideas and elements of the infinite in their writings. Although, differences can be found, the main traits of these Romantic writers reflect the main beliefs and views of Romantics of their time. Hemans even adds her own twist with her feminine perspective on love and death.