#if this gets 50 notes i'm posting my Konrad cosplay

[ahopefulbromantic]

Please please please tell me more about Dziady

Okay this took me waaay to long and it will be several far-too-verbose posts (i'm really sorry but that's what you get for asking about my special interest lol). So anyway fasten your seatbelts, my man, cause you're in for a ride, you'll love this one!

1. Cultural/Historical/Political Context

Dziady, or Forefather's Eve, is an ancient (?) Slavic ritual held on October 31st. It was originally Pagan and had to do with summoning with the dead. Since Poland is a Christian country (I'll die on this hill), the very beginning of its existence being its baptism, after Poles became Christians, the Pagan rituals naturally got ✨Christified✨. Dziady, then, as All Hallow's Eve, became about helping souls in purgatory reach Heaven. Seems all fine and good, right? The only problem was, it still was spiritual seances and magic basically, and it wasn't held by a Christian priest but instead by a Guślarz (for some reason translated as "Wizard" in English versions??? lol), who was kinda like a Slavic shaman.

Now for the history, in XVIII and XIX century Poland was partitioned by Russia, Prussia (Germany) and Austria. It meant that formally it didn't exist as a country, it was erased from the maps - but as a nation it continued to live in the hearts of its people for over a hundred years before we regained our independence after WWI. The four part Dziady play was written in XIX century, Polish Romanticism, a time of bards, prophets, dreamers, and revolutionists, and in itself it was an act of defiance to the occupants.

2. Summary (yes the order is weird, no one knows why)

Dziady II

People of the town hold a Dziady ritual. A few spirits come and state their needs - two children who never experienced anything difficult in life get a bitter mustard seed, an evil lord who made poor people die of hunger and now is torn apart by them in the form of wild birds doesn't get anything as he's beyond help for now, and a girl who selfishly rejected every boy who loved her and never made any meaningful human connection (i'm giving the author the benefit of doubt here) gets a reassurance that after two years she will reach Heaven. With Dziady nearly finished, suddenly there comes a weird, spooky spirit who doesn't act like he's supposed to, doesn't obey commands, and follows one of the girls...

Dziady IV

In this one we find out the spirit's name is Gustaw, he's a young poet from the town in unrequited love with the girl he followed, Maryna. Due to being so dead inside and to a suicide attempt (it's a little unclear how it ended?) he's in between being dead and alive and thus can attend Dziady as a spirit. He visits a priest who used to teach him when he was a child to wallow in his woes and whine that all women are evil (he's cringe in this one but we still love him) and to ask the priest not to fight the Dziady tradition. The Church condemned it as a Pagan ritual but Gustaw insists it's one of the things that keep Polish nation together during the occupation.

Dziady I

Another Dziady ritual is held but this time it's Gustaw's turn to be visited and followed by a spirit of a mysterious, spooky girl. Unfortunately, this work was never finished so we don't know who the girl is, what happens next, or even when it all falls in Dziady timeline :(

Dziady III. Poema

Okay this is the longest one and the only one i've seen translated to English so i'll try to be brief and also focus on Gustaw's arc. We have a timeskip, Gustaw is in prison because Russians hate Polish people and want them all dead, gone, and unable to make an(other) uprising. It's in here that Gustaw transforms into Konrad - a new name, a new identity, a whole new self. He talks with his cellmates, they're buddies, they tell each other stories, news from the town, they sing songs. Konrad is hit with ✨bardic inspiration✨, he sings about becoming a vampire and taking revenge, then goes into the (Little) Improvisation about becoming an eagle and battling a black raven - he's in a prophetic trance but faints before he can finish his vision. He's left alone. When he comes around, oh hohoho, he goes into the Great Improvisation!!! It's Hamlet's Soliloquy for Poles, maybe even more than that. In it he achieves the heights of his poetic power, feeling, and love, so he metaphysically flies before the throne of God to plead for his people. He wants to rule over souls like God does to make the world a better place. Not receiving an answer, he starts blaspheming out of desperation. He faints just before speaking the worst offence and is then possessed by the devil and exorcized by the prison priest, Fr. Piotr, a bernardine monk. The demon tells the priest about another prisoner who is heavily tempted and needs his help, Jan Rollison. It's also revealed that it was Mother Mary who saved Konrad from offending God because he'd defended Her in an earlier scene ❤️ Then we have three other visions: a little patriot girl gets a sweet and cutesy one about flowers (it's got a beautiful line about St. John), Fr. Piotr gets a prophetic one in which he sees Poland crucified as the Christ of Nations that will resurrect eventually and by its suffering bless all other nations, along with a hero through which it will come - the mysterious Fourty-and-Four, and lastly the Russian Senator gets a haunting nightmare from demons about his falling out of grace with the Tsar. Then there's the Warsaw Salon and the Ball at Senator's, scenes filled with conversations about politics and revolutions, more stories, and a lot of Russians' hypocrisy. We find out Janek Rollison is tortured and was nearly killed by his tormentors who claimed his defenestration was a suicide attempt. His mother comes with Fr. Piotr to plead for him, but the Senator is cruel and unyielding, even the priest's warnings of divine punishment don't sway him. During the ball one of Senator's evil subordinates/"friends" dies, struck by lightning attracted by silver Russian coins (a Judas reference). Senator is prophecised to die, too. Just then Konrad is lead by two soldiers to be banished, his worst fear becoming reality. Though he doesn't remember Fr. Piotr, his heart recognizes him and so he bids him farewell and gives him a ring to sell and give money for the poor. In exchange he receives a prophecy. The last scene is another Dziady ritual, in which we see spirits of Senator and his subordinate, punished by God. Maryna tries to find Gustaw's spirit again but cannot summon him by his old name. At last she sees him in a wagon, his chest riddled with deep, piercing wounds, with a tiny wound on his forehead.

Epilogue to Part III

Now i don't know this one as well as the others, it's also more of a narrative poem than of a play, but from what i remember it follows a mysterious Pilgrim character on his adventures in foreign lands. To my (and my Polish teacher's hehe) interpretation the pilgrim is Konrad who lost his name and identity after his banishment and now roams the world as a mere no-name pilgrim, unable to create poetry in his language no one understands 💔

3. An English version for you to enjoy!

It's only part III and it's not perfect but i really encourage all of you reading this to give it a go!