Published : 2021-11-19

Norwid’s insects. “Ostatnia z bajek,” or on the beauty of existence

Ewa Szczeglacka-Pawłowska

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8051-384X

Abstract

This article offers an interpretation of one of Norwid’s late works: Ostatnia z bajek [The Last of the Fairy Tales].The starting point for this specific reading is the question regarding the image and meaning of the insects invoked in this workas well as the lyrical dimension of this fairy-tale-like fable. The article reveals the impact of Romantic entomology as well as specific passages from Zygmunt Krasiński’s Nie-Boska Komedia [The Undivine Comedy] on the ways in which Norwid develops an image of the world as a place where humans coexist with other beings and experience the painful loss of the bond with these fellow creatures. Lyricism and subjectivity in “Ostatnia z bajek”are rooted in the author’s contemplative attitude towards broadly understood reality. This raises the question posed in the title – one regarding the beautyof existence – which defines the the main topic of Norwid’s lyrical fairy tale.

Keywords:

Cyprian Norwid, Ostatnia z bajek [The Last of the Fairy Tales], Romantic entomology, insects in literature, angel, Norwid’s drawings, Norwid’s idea of beauty



Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

pdf (Język Polski)

Altmetric indicators


Cited by / Share


Studia Norwidiana · ISSN 0860-0562 | eISSN 2544-4433 · DOI: 10.18290/sn

© Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II


Articles are licensed under a Creative Commons  Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)