Upiory Starego Respekta
The Ghosts of the Old Respect

Author(s): Marek Dybizbański
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Polish Literature, 19th Century, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Słowacki; Fantazy; manuscript; plot structure; character function
Summary/Abstract: In 'Fantazy', a drama by Juliusz Słowacki unpublished during the author’s lifetime, the character of the Grandfather – the Old Count of Respect – is assigned an important role in the development of the plot. This is because the death of the Old Count precedes the happy resolution of the conflict, although it does not itself lead to it or resolve it – at least not in a way typical of the model construction of dramatic action. Despite being given such an important role, this character was removed from the scene by the publishers, who, in accordance with the accepted method of reading the manuscript, moved the only scene with the direct participation of the Old Count to the 'Abandoned Paragraphs' – a scene that was indeed not fully developed by the author, but also not rejected, because it was not deleted. Meanwhile, in this scene, which brings the foreshadowing of the protagonist’s imminent death, there are signals of connections and relationships linking him to the other participants in the dramatic events, as well as outlining – thanks to the activity of the ghosts haunting the old man – the secret romantic mechanisms of the plot.

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