Rzeczpospolita pozorów pełna

Abstrakt

The article shows what was the role of appearances in a public life and in belles-lettres in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and in the Polish partitioned territories (1795-1918). The appearances dealt with the titles which were often purely honorable and did not involve any obligations. In 19th-century belles lettres one can find characters of merchants who did not unduly interested in their shops (vide Wokulski in Lalka [The Doll] by Bolesław Prus) or of judges for whom the nobleman’s honor was more valuable than jurisdiction (cf. Zemsta [The Revenge] by Alexander Fredro). Commanders-in-chief (hetmans) had also their share in the fall of the Polish Republic, since they were not interested in the army of inconsiderable manpower. The bishops, then, contributed in the fall of religious life – they did not sufficiently take care of dioceses they were entrusted to.