SOURCE: Ryfa, Juras T. “The Portrait of a Hero and the Problem of romantic Artistry in Adam Mickiewicz's Pan Tadeusz.” Russian Literature XLVIII (2000) 409-24.

In the following essay, Ryfa questions the romantic nature of Count Horeszko in Pan Tadeusz.

Adam Mickiewicz's narrative epic poem Pan Tadeusz (1834), the pinnacle of Polish romanticism, has been at the center of critical attention for the last sesquicentennial. During this period, sundry articles and impressive books on a variety of subjects were written, and numerous conferences, seminars and symposia were held, so that from the viewpoint of contemporary scholarship it would seem that all major aspects were explored, critical approaches were shaped and determined, and all facets of this epic poem were thoroughly examined. With the appearance in 1963 of the monumental work by Kazimierz Wyka,¹ the critical study of Pan Tadeusz seemed to cover all fundamental aspects of this work. Nevertheless, recent inquiries...