Analiza fantazmatu „niewinnej ofiary” w „Lilli Wenedzie” Juliusza Słowackiego w świetle koncepcji Deleuze’a
The Phantasm of the “Innocent Victim” in Juliusz Słowacki’s “Lilla Weneda” in the Light of Deleuze’s Concept

Summary/Abstract: The article examines the role of the self-sacrificing heroine in Juliusz Słowacki’s “Lilla Weneda” through the concept of “contractual masochism” proposed by Gilles Deleuze. The French philosopher suggests that a masochist voluntarily enters into a contract with an offender in the hope of realizing a fantastic ideal until it falls into eternal suspension. The suffering and demise of the angelic Wenedes, brought about by the aggressive Lechites and representing the poet’s vision of the post-Uprising Polish nation, will be reread in the light of this masochistic mechanism. Noticeably, the innocent heroine Lilla, who in the place of King Derwid initiates the contract with Queen Gwinona and sacrifices herself to death, plays a crucial role of “preparing” the rise of the national avenger who constructs the ideal Polish nation only in the future. An analysis of Rhapsody I from “King-Spirit” through the concept of sadism allows for a further understanding of Słowacki’s phantasm. While seeing sadism as a symptom separate from masochism, Deleuze regards a masochist’s transformation into a sadist as a contingent phenomenon. The epic of the mystically inclined Słowacki justifies such observation. King-Spirit that inherits the national ideal of “Lilla Weneda” mobilizes the sadistic principle of cruel disorder. Desiring a free Poland, the poet formed the vision of the heroic sadist who perpetually creates a new world.

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