Szlachcic mieszczaninem? Zmiany społeczne na przykładzie wybranych bohaterów XIX-wiecznych powieści realistycznych. Przypadek niemiecki i polski
The Gentleman Bourgeois? Social Changes on the Example of Selected Characters of Nineteenth-Century Realistic Novels: A German and a Polish Case

Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt to analyze two selected novel characters: baron Rothsattel from Soll und Haben (“Debit and Credit”) by Gustav Freytag and Stanisław Wokulski from Lalka (“The Doll”) by Bolesław Prus, entangled in the workings of capitalism — the one in the eastern part of the then Prussia, and the other in the conditions of the Kingdom of Poland as part of the Russian Empire. Both novels discuss status and class differences, the necessity of resignation (at least partially) from the current lifestyle, as their respective characters combine “gentleman” and “bourgeois” traits and — what is very interesting — in both cases one may wonder about the proportions of a “gentleman” and a “bourgeois” in them. The idea of analyzing literary characters in terms of their position between nobility and bourgeoisie was inspired by reading the works of Norbert Elias, especially Die höfische Gesellschaft (“The Court Society”).

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