Jon Irenicus as Manfred, by Byron
recklessheart
Member Posts: 692
I'll warn you of two things before you read on,
1) This is a speculative post
2) This post contains spoilers
The idea of this thread is entirely informative, although it can become discussive if everybody wishes! Basically, I wanted to share with the community the confident conclusion I have come to about the inspiration for the primary storyline of Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Amn, as a standalone game from its predecessors and successor.
First, I shall very briefly and crudely summarise the plot of the closet drama poem, Manfred, by Lord Byron, a famous Romantic-turned-farce poet of the early nineteenth century.
In the poem, Manfred has isolated himself within his castle, where he has discovered a way to transcend the realm of mortals and enter a new state of life which provides him with some divine or spiritual agency. Upon completing the ritual, he is approached by spirits of this realm who question his right to be in it, and object to his intrusion, which has allowed him - a mere mortal - to command a power over the lesser spirits. He is then taken to the highest order to spirits, where he learns that the realm of humanity is kept in check by Gods who permit them certain advancements while intending to stray them away from anything that might radically change the world.
Manfred is doomed to a painful state as a result of his botched ascendance, and he is told my one of the spirits that "the tree of knowledge is not that of Life" and that he has invariably condemned himself to a painful existence as a creature in between the realms of humanity and something else.
Another ongoing allusion throughout the poem is to an unforgivable sin that Manfred committed throughout his life. Although it is never directly referred to, the mention of this sin emerges alongside mentions of his sister, Astarte. If we are to use Intentional Fallacy, one might infer an incestuous relationship between the pair, as Byron and his half-sister had such a relationship, which forced him in the wake of the scandal to flee England for Europe.
And now the compare and contrast:
Jon Irenicus, like Manfred, attempts to go beyond the realm of humanity (elvenhood) that he knows in his determination to enter the pantheon. He does so by attempting to extract the knowledge from the Tree of Life in Suldanesselar, yet in the later attempt he makes to do so, the spirit of Rillifane Rallathil intervenes to prevent the action. In the former attempt to do so, Irenicus botches his experiment much like Manfred (although for different reasons) and is punished by being stripped of his elvenhood, and left in a state where he is not-elf yet does not comfortably fit the definition of being a man (human).
Although no incestuous relationship is directly implied, Demin, Priestess of Suldanesselar informs you that it was Bohdi, Irenicus' sister, that originally pushed him down the road of temptation and sin. Bohdi also relies on seductive and capricious qualities to entice others, as is demonstrated by her vampress servants when encountered speaking to Shadow Thieves in the street and by her baiting of the protagonist throughout the game. Here, we see a similar sinister relationship between brother & sister as we do with Manfred & Astarte.
There are some obvious narratives twists that effect the story, of course:
Irenicus attempts the procedure twice, and fails to directly meet the spirits on either occasion.
The narrative qualities are twisted and redesigned somewhat to include a protagonist and a rival relationship between the PC & Irenicus, rather than using the original idea that Manfred is the hero, and the spirits are the oppressive force.
Races, deities, and other such things are transported into the FR context to apply more appropriately there, and as such the direct connections are somewhat more terse.
But these changes have all been made for the sake of creating an enticing narrative that compels a PC's experience. The side-quests and narrative obviously diverge very much so from Manfred, but the core nature of the narrative and the original premise - I confidently believe - was inspired directly by Byron's 'Manfred'. I shared this with you all as I found it exceptionally gripping, and in an odd revisionist way I had a love for 'Manfred' that took on a different dimension to merely an appreciation of the setting and the gorgeous use of language, because it was intimately and immediately relevant to my experience with Shadows of Amn, which sustains as one of the best games of all time in my mind, if not the greatest RPG of all time.
I hope you found this read interesting, information, and/or enjoyable! Consider it my gift and token of reconciliation after my long silence these last few months!
1) This is a speculative post
2) This post contains spoilers
The idea of this thread is entirely informative, although it can become discussive if everybody wishes! Basically, I wanted to share with the community the confident conclusion I have come to about the inspiration for the primary storyline of Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Amn, as a standalone game from its predecessors and successor.
First, I shall very briefly and crudely summarise the plot of the closet drama poem, Manfred, by Lord Byron, a famous Romantic-turned-farce poet of the early nineteenth century.
In the poem, Manfred has isolated himself within his castle, where he has discovered a way to transcend the realm of mortals and enter a new state of life which provides him with some divine or spiritual agency. Upon completing the ritual, he is approached by spirits of this realm who question his right to be in it, and object to his intrusion, which has allowed him - a mere mortal - to command a power over the lesser spirits. He is then taken to the highest order to spirits, where he learns that the realm of humanity is kept in check by Gods who permit them certain advancements while intending to stray them away from anything that might radically change the world.
Manfred is doomed to a painful state as a result of his botched ascendance, and he is told my one of the spirits that "the tree of knowledge is not that of Life" and that he has invariably condemned himself to a painful existence as a creature in between the realms of humanity and something else.
Another ongoing allusion throughout the poem is to an unforgivable sin that Manfred committed throughout his life. Although it is never directly referred to, the mention of this sin emerges alongside mentions of his sister, Astarte. If we are to use Intentional Fallacy, one might infer an incestuous relationship between the pair, as Byron and his half-sister had such a relationship, which forced him in the wake of the scandal to flee England for Europe.
And now the compare and contrast:
Jon Irenicus, like Manfred, attempts to go beyond the realm of humanity (elvenhood) that he knows in his determination to enter the pantheon. He does so by attempting to extract the knowledge from the Tree of Life in Suldanesselar, yet in the later attempt he makes to do so, the spirit of Rillifane Rallathil intervenes to prevent the action. In the former attempt to do so, Irenicus botches his experiment much like Manfred (although for different reasons) and is punished by being stripped of his elvenhood, and left in a state where he is not-elf yet does not comfortably fit the definition of being a man (human).
Although no incestuous relationship is directly implied, Demin, Priestess of Suldanesselar informs you that it was Bohdi, Irenicus' sister, that originally pushed him down the road of temptation and sin. Bohdi also relies on seductive and capricious qualities to entice others, as is demonstrated by her vampress servants when encountered speaking to Shadow Thieves in the street and by her baiting of the protagonist throughout the game. Here, we see a similar sinister relationship between brother & sister as we do with Manfred & Astarte.
There are some obvious narratives twists that effect the story, of course:
Irenicus attempts the procedure twice, and fails to directly meet the spirits on either occasion.
The narrative qualities are twisted and redesigned somewhat to include a protagonist and a rival relationship between the PC & Irenicus, rather than using the original idea that Manfred is the hero, and the spirits are the oppressive force.
Races, deities, and other such things are transported into the FR context to apply more appropriately there, and as such the direct connections are somewhat more terse.
But these changes have all been made for the sake of creating an enticing narrative that compels a PC's experience. The side-quests and narrative obviously diverge very much so from Manfred, but the core nature of the narrative and the original premise - I confidently believe - was inspired directly by Byron's 'Manfred'. I shared this with you all as I found it exceptionally gripping, and in an odd revisionist way I had a love for 'Manfred' that took on a different dimension to merely an appreciation of the setting and the gorgeous use of language, because it was intimately and immediately relevant to my experience with Shadows of Amn, which sustains as one of the best games of all time in my mind, if not the greatest RPG of all time.
I hope you found this read interesting, information, and/or enjoyable! Consider it my gift and token of reconciliation after my long silence these last few months!
12
Comments
Nice to have you back, @recklessheart . At least for this amazing analysis.