Przestrzenie tęsknoty w wybranych dramatach Jerzego Szaniawskiego

The aim of this article is to analyse metaphorical spaces in two dramas by Jerzy Szaniawski: Murzyn. Komedia w trzech aktach [A Negro. A comedy in three acts] from 1917 and Kowal, pieniądze i gwiazdy. Sztuka w trzech aktach [A blacksmith, money, and stars. A play in three acts] from 1948. Drawing attention to the fact that the world presented in most of Szaniawski’s dramas is connected with the province, the author demonstrates how realistic spaces, far from the tumult of the big world, contrast with the metaphorical spaces of the protagonists’ longing, freedom and dreams. These spaces are extremely complex and varied, marking out and at the same time differentiating the mental area in which the protagonists function and influencing their decisions.