Szekspir Antoniego Langego - dramatopisarza

Abstract

Antoni Lange’s fascination with Shakespeare’s literary output is evidenced for instance by his translation into Polish of two plays: Twelfth Night and As You Like It, as well as by numerous references in his dramas to the works of the Bard, especially in two tragedies: Wenedzi and Atylla. Lange shared Shakespeare’s interest in outstanding historical figures, in the search for principles governing history and historical legend, and in the analysis of the mechanisms of power and of the interrelationships between the ruler and the community or society. References to Hamlet can be easily traced in Wenedzi, for instance in the appearance in the play of the eponymous protagonist from the Shakespearian tragedy. Lange’s rendition of Hamlet as a character proves the playwright’s intention to deflect from the psychological interpretation, dominant in Europe since the Romantic period, in order to adopt the line of interpretation which started to gain prominence in Poland and associated the character of the famous Danish prince with the life of the nation. The so-called genealogical interpretation, situating Hamlet on a plane that extends beyond the individual into the social, corresponds with the message of Lange’s poem A ty, dusz trucicielu, idz mi precz Hamlecie! (begone, Hamlet, you soul poisoner).