Gombrowicz i Szekspir
Gombrowicz and Shakespeare

Summary/Abstract: As an innovative dramatist, Gombrowicz, strangely, expresses little interest in avant-garde theatre and drama of his epoch. More often, though, he refers to traditional form of performance and world classics, especially to Shakespeare's dramas which he exploits to replicate in the theatre Shakespearian gesture and his brilliancy. To achieve that Gombrowicz quotes or cryptoquotes Shakespeare, imitates the form and construction of his works, taking advantage of the overlap of home drama structures and the drama of power, generation gap, the technique of “theatre in theatre,” and ultimately the fundamental moral and metaphysical questions. Gombrowicz's concept of man as an eternal player is also adopted from Shakespeare. What mediates between Gombrowicz and Shakespeare's plays is Polish romantic drama, especially "Balladyna", seen as "Macbeth" motifs replica, and 19th c. middle-class drama. In this way Gombrowicz brings Shakespearian issues closer to our times and to modern concept of man in order to once again pose the same great philosophical questions.

• Details
• Contents