The Satanic Creation of the Protagonist in Juliusz Słowacki’s Arab Cover Image

Sataniczność kreacji bohatera w Arabie Juliusza Słowackiego
The Satanic Creation of the Protagonist in Juliusz Słowacki’s Arab

Author(s): Małgorzata Nowak
Subject(s): Comparative Study of Literature, Polish Literature, Theory of Literature, British Literature
Published by: Uniwersytet Adama Mickiewicza
Keywords: oriental tale; Byronism; romantic hero; Paradise Lost; Juliusz Słowacki; satanic;

Summary/Abstract: This article attempts to read Juliusz Słowacki’s Arab from the comparative perspective of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. The protagonist of Słowacki’s oriental tale, who is a variation on the Byronic hero, also shows similarities with Milton’s Satan: unceasing motion, obsession of revenge, loneliness, axiological preference of evil. The analysis of those similarities creates a new interpretative context for Arab, which was hitherto regarded as a superficial study of the pathological psyche or a caricature of the Byronic model.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 35
  • Page Range: 217-234
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Polish