Przeoczony polski Faust („Ścibor” Tomasza L. Potockiego)

Abstract

The article presents a forgotten drama Ścibor: baśń dramatyczna z drugiej połowy XVI wieku [Ścibor: a dramatic tale of the second half of the 16th century] (1911) by Tomasz L. Potocki. The author of the article collected and complemented data related to Potocki’s biography as the owner of the Zyple estate, a reformer in agriculture and forestry, and a social and educational activist in Suwałki Province. The author confirmed the authorship of the poems that Potocki published in “Tygodnik Suwalski” [The Suwałki Weekly]. The interpretation of the work involves an analysis of the motif of Faust and the theme of the Arian presence in Poland. The context, which explains the idea of the drama, is the analogy of the destruction of the nation and religion in the 16th century and during the Revolution of 1905. Through the combination of the Faust motif and the theme of the Arian sect, Potocki created his drama with its national and Catholic significance.