Świat natury w późnej twórczości Elizy Orzeszkowej. Na marginesie lektury Dwóch biegunów

Abstract

This article is devoted to the images of the natural world in the novel Two Poles by Eliza Orzeszkowa. Nature played a key role in the writer’s works. The fascination with local flora and fauna was also present in her private life. The author collected plants, which she verbally described, also referring to folk tales. Apart from herbariums, Orzeszkowa created flower albums, which were often given to her closest friends or auctioned off for charity. In Two Poles the optics of describing the natural world changes. Here dominates autumn and winter landscapes, correlating with the melancholy theme of transience. What is missing in this work are spring-summer landscapes full of vitality, inspiring optimism. It is worth noting that in Two Poles the opposition culture-nature is present, and the two poles of the title refer to protagonists coming from different backgrounds. Unlike in the previous novels, nature does not have a therapeutic function here, in the visitors it intensifies the decadent spleen, in the locals it mainly evokes sadness.