Fedra dla Antoniny Hoffmannowej. Adnotowany egzemplarz tragedii Jeana Racine’a z 1873 roku
Phèdre for Antonina Hoffmannowa. An Annotated Copy of Jean Racine’s Tragedy from 1873

Author(s): Michał Bajer
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the description and analysis of a copy of Racine’s Phèdre, translated by Wincenty Kopystyński and published in 1858 in Warsaw, annotated with notes which concern the Cracow stage production from 1873, starring Antonina Hoffmannowa (housed at the Library of the National Ossoliński Institute in Wrocław, catalogue number 192322 I). The aim of the article is an attempt at a recreation of the adaptation strategies made in order to adjust the text of the play to the norms and theater conventions of that time. Firstly, the stage director systematically limits the importance of characters other than the protagonist. This practice can be attributed to the character of the 19th-century professional scene and the phenomenon of stardom. Secondly, the implemented changes aim at removing the unwanted associations between Phèdre’s actions and the types of conduct which the 19th-century morality and art condemned. Thirdly, the staging of Racine’s play indicates a rejection of the classical ideals of realism and constant illusion on the part of the theater scene in Hoffmannowa’s times. Influenced by the tradition of Romantic theater, tragedy is thus perceived as a sequence of distinct scenes, while the importance of the logical connections between the scenes to create a coherent whole is diminished.

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