Konrad Wallenrod

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the historical Grandmaster of the Teutonic Knights, see Konrad von Wallenrode.

Konrad Wallenrod, a painting by Władysław Majeranowski (1844), National Museum in Warsaw.

Konrad Wallenrod is an 1828

narrative poem, in Polish, by Adam Mickiewicz, set in the 14th-century Grand Duchy of Lithuania
.

Mickiewicz wrote it, while living in

St. Petersburg, Russia, in protest against the late-18th-century partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg monarchy
.

Mickiewicz had been exiled to St. Petersburg for his participation in the Philomaths organization at Vilnius University.[1]

The poem helped inspire the Lithuanian and Polish

Tsar Nicholas I.[3]

Plot

In a preface, Mickiewicz briefly outlines the history of the region, describing the interactions among the Lithuanians, Prussians, Poles, and Russians.

Grand Master, but is awakened to his heritage by a mysterious minstrel singing at an entertainment event.[3] He then seeks vengeance by deliberately leading the Knights into a major military defeat.[3] It transpires that Wallenrod has a wife, Aldona, who has been living in seclusion. Konrad secretly meets her.[4] The Knights discover his treason and sentence him to death; Aldona refuses to flee with him, because she had previously sworn allegiance to God.[5] Konrad Wallenrod commits suicide by drinking poison.[6]

Cultural influences

The concept of "

chivalric values.[7] Mickiewicz was taken aback by the strength of the public response to his poem and regretted its publication; before his death, he expressed frustration at his financial inability to buy back and burn every copy of what he described as a mere "political pamphlet."[2][7]

Konrad Wallenrod has twice been turned into an opera: as

Ballade No.1 in G minor on this poem.[1]

The Polish author Joseph Conrad, who had been christened Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, may have selected the second part of his pen name as an hommage to the poem's protagonist.[8] Mickiewicz's poem influenced Conrad's frequent explorations of the conflict between publicly attested loyalty and a hidden affiliation with a national cause.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-533886-7
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-57958-422-1
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-520-04477-7
    .
  4. ^ "Konrad Wallenrod - charakterystyka - Adam Mickiewicz". poezja.org (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  5. ^ "Konrad Wallenrod - bohaterowie – Konrad Wallenrod - opracowanie – Zinterpretuj.pl" (in Polish). 2022-07-25. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  6. ^ "Konrad Wallenrod - streszczenie - Adam Mickiewicz". poezja.org (in Polish). Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8264-6844-4
    .
  8. JSTOR 2902971
    .
  9. ISBN 978-0-226-50447-6
    . wallenrod joseph conrad.
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