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| Author | Bolesław Prus |
|---|---|
| Original title | Lalka |
| Language | Polish |
| Genre | Sociological novel |
| Publisher | Gebethner i Wolff |
Publication date | newspaper, 1887–1889; book form, 1890 |
| Publication place | Poland |
| Media type | Newspaper,hardback,paperback |
The Doll (Polish:Lalka) is the second of four acclaimednovels by the Polish writerBolesław Prus (real name Aleksander Głowacki). It was composed forperiodicalserialization in 1887–1889 and appeared inbook form in 1890.
The Doll has been regarded by some, includingNobel laureateCzesław Miłosz, as the greatest Polish novel.[1] According to Prus biographerZygmunt Szweykowski, it may be unique in 19th-centuryworld literature as a comprehensive, compelling picture of an entiresociety. However,Aleksander Świętochowski was quite critical about the work, claiming thatBolesław Prus couldn't create interesting characters.[2]
WhileThe Doll takes its fortuitous title from a minor episode involving a stolen toy, readers commonly assume that it refers to the principal female character, the young aristocrat Izabela Łęcka. Prus had originally intended to name the bookThree Generations.
The Doll has beentranslated into twenty-eight languages, and has been produced in severalfilm versions and, most famously, as atelevision miniseries in 1977.
The Doll, covering one and a half years of present time, comprises two parallel narratives. One opens with events of 1878 and recounts the career of theprotagonist, Stanisław Wokulski, a man in early middle age. The other narrative, in the guise of adiary kept by Wokulski's older friend Ignacy Rzecki, takes the reader back to the 1848-49 "Spring of Nations."
Bolesław Prus wroteThe Doll with such close attention to the physical detail ofWarsaw that it was possible, in theInterbellum, to precisely locate the very buildings where, fictively, Wokulski had lived and his store had been located onKrakowskie Przedmieście.[3] Prus thus did forWarsaw'ssense of place inThe Doll in 1889 whatJames Joyce was famously to do for his owncapital city,Dublin, in the novelUlysses a third of a century later, in 1922.
Wokulski begins his career as a waiter at Hopfer's, aWarsawrestaurant. The scion of an impoverished Polish noble family dreams of a life inscience. After taking part in the failed1863 Uprising against theRussian Empire, he is sentenced to exile inSiberia. On eventual return to Warsaw, he becomes a salesman at Mincel'shaberdashery. Marrying the late owner'swidow (who eventually dies), he comes into money and uses it to set up a partnership with a Russian merchant he had met while in exile. The two merchants go toBulgaria during theRusso-Turkish War of 1877–1878, and Wokulski makes a fortune supplying the Russian Army.[4]
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The enterprising Wokulski now proves a romantic at heart, falling in love with Izabela, daughter of the vacuous, bankrupt aristocrat, Tomasz Łęcki.
The manager of Wokulski's Warsaw store, Ignacy Rzecki, is a man of an earlier generation, a modest bachelor who lives on memories of his youth,[5] which was a heroic chapter in his own life and that of Europe. Through his diary the reader learns about some of Wokulski's adventures, seen through the eyes of an admirer. Rzecki and his friend Katz had gone toHungary in 1848 to enlist in the revolutionary army.[6] For Rzecki, the cause of freedom in Europe is connected with the name ofNapoleon Bonaparte, and the Hungarian revolution had sparked new hopes of abolishing thereactionary system that had triumphed at Napoleon's fall. Later he had reposed his hopes inNapoleon III. Now, as he writes, he places them in Bonaparte's scion, Napoleon III's son, Prince Loulou. At novel's end, when Rzecki hears that Loulou has perished inAfrica, fighting in British ranks against rebel tribesmen, he will be overcome by the despondence of old age. Rzecki is considered a representative of the Romantic era.[7]
For now, Rzecki lives in constant excitement, preoccupied bypolitics, which he refers to in his diary by thecode-letter "P." Everywhere in the press he finds indications that a long-awaited "it" is beginning.[8]
In addition to the two generations represented by Rzecki and Wokulski, the novel provides glimpses of a third, younger one, exemplified in the scientist Julian Ochocki (modeled on Prus' friend,Julian Ochorowicz), some students, and young salesmen at Wokulski's store. The half-starvingstudents inhabit the garret of an apartment house and are in constant conflict with the landlord over theirarrears of rent; they are rebels, are inclined to macabre pranks, and are probablysocialists. Also of socialist persuasion is a youngsalesman, whereas some of the latter's colleagues believe first and last in personalgain.
The Doll's plot focuses on Wokulski's infatuation with the superficial Izabela, who sees him only as aplebeian intruder into her rarefied world, a brute with huge red hands; for her, persons below the social standing ofaristocrats are hardly human.
Wokulski, in his quest to win Izabela, begins frequenting theaters and aristocratic salons; and, to help her financially distressed father, founds a company and sets the aristocrats up asshareholders in the business. Eventually, Wokulski manages to get engaged to Izabela, but she continues to flirt with Starski. Wokulski gets off the train and decides to commit suicide. He is saved by the railwayman Wysocki and disappears.[9]
Wokulski's eventual downfall highlightsThe Doll's overarching theme: theinertia of Polishsociety.
Wokulski and Rzecki are in many waysalter egos for the book's author. The frustratedscientist Wokulski is created inPrus' own image. During a visit toParis,[10] Wokulski meets an old scientist named Geist (whose name is German for "Spirit"), who is trying to discover ametal lighter thanair; in the hands of those who would use it to organize mankind, it could bring universalpeace andhappiness. Wokulski is torn between his misplaced, tragic love for Izabela and the idea of settling in Paris and using his fortune to perfect Geist's invention.
The Doll, rich in characters and observations from everydayWarsaw life, inCzesław Miłosz's opinion embodies 19th-centuryrealistic prose at its best. It brings its protagonist to a full awareness of the chasm that stretches between his dreams and the social reality that surrounds him.
The Doll has beentranslated into 28 languages: Armenian,[11] Belarusian,[12] Bulgarian, Chinese,[13] Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, French, Georgian, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese (2017),[14][15] Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian,[11] Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Ukrainian.[16]
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