Theatre
Revenge
Zemsta
Aleksander Fredro · 1834
Synopsis
In an old castle divided in two, the cześnik Raptusiewicz, a hot-tempered gentleman, and the notary Milczek, smooth and cunning, hate each other, and the shared wall rekindles the quarrel every day. Raptusiewicz, guardian of his niece Klara, wants to marry a rich widow, the Podstolina, for her fortune, and sends Papkin, a boaster and coward, as his envoy. But Klara secretly loves Wacław, the notary's son, whom the widow once knew under a false name as a prince.
Context
Written in 1833, the play draws on documents found among the papers of the Kamieniec castle, at Odrzykoń, half of which had come to the author through his wife's dowry: at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Firlejs and the Skotnickis, joint owners, had brought their quarrels there before the court. A first version set the action in the seventeenth century. Premiered in Lwów on 17 February 1834, the comedy was not printed until 1838, in the fifth volume of the author's works; in Warsaw, the Russian censorship had it performed under the title La Vengeance pour le mur mitoyen. Andrzej Wajda brought it to the screen in 2002.
Who it is for
Four acts in eight-syllable verse, full of proverbs and allusions, in the speech of country gentry; the comedy does not carry over without the references. No French translation.
Prizes and reception
The best-known comedy by its author, which has entered the canon of Polish literature and is constantly revived on the country's stages.
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