Outsiderka u Żebrowskich. O Córce Tuśki Gabrieli Zapolskiej

Abstract

The category of outsider in Zapolska’s work refers not only to literary heroines, but also to the author, who rebels against the hypocrisy prevailing in the bourgeois society. This article is devoted to analysing Tuśka’s Daughter, which is an interesting psychological study of a teenager growing up in a philistine family. As a keen observer of the surrounding world, Zapolska thoroughly analyses Pita’s inner life, describing her complicated relations with her parents and siblings. It is worth mentioning that the world in Tuśka’s Daughter is getting darker. In the first volume, there are signs of impending disaster (arms trafficking, bloody repression). There is a growing awareness of danger in society, which is clearly exemplified by Pita’s fears. Zapolska’s novel is dominated by a landscape of destruction; ties are breaking down not only between family members, but also between generations. Using Żebrowski’s family as an example, Zapolska, like a sociologist and psychologist, accurately captured the vague value system of the bourgeoisie, in which she particularly criticised the relationship between parents and children based solely on ossified conventions. Pita would not probably have become an outsider if her parents had paid more attention to her and shown more affection.