Manfred is upset all through the play and it appears to be because of the death of his sister Astarte.
In A:2S:2, Manfred is looking out at the morning and sees a beautiful rainbow. He is very melancholy and indicates that he doesn’t want to see this beautiful site alone. He decides to summon a witch.
He gives the audience the background to how he is feeling. He explains to the witch how he grew up feeling alone and he was really only content when he was in the woods and mountains alone. He always felt insecure because he has supernatural powers. He shares with the witch that there was only one woman he could relate to, and that he loved her. This woman is also the source of all his anguish, "the core of his heart's grief".
After Manfred opens up to the witch, she becomes angry. She yells at him and tells him he is ungrateful for his supernatural powers. He hates his abilities because they isolate him from other humans. In anger, the witch tells him to go away and keep hoping for mortality. He says he wants to witch to "wake the dead or lay me low with them.” He wanted the witch to call Astarte into a ghost form on Earth, so he would be able to speak with her or to be mortal and die. As he is saying this, Manfred would be tense and have confidence in his voice. Finally, the witch says she can help if he will bend his will to her and become her “slave”. At this point in the play Manfred becomes angry and arrogant.
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