A journey inside a gloomy psyche... – The Children of Misery by Stanisław Przybyszewski

Abstract

The dilogy The children of misery is not the greatest achievement in the literary heritage of Stanisław Przybyszewski. Nevertheless, the author of this article considered the work worthy of special attention with regard to the interesting view of the characters’ inward life. The writer presents the heroes affected by different kinds of insanity. They are strongly convinced of their ancestral curse which they believe, has left its tragical impress on them. They suffer from psycho-pathological disorders the basis of which is also huge unwillingness to a social existence. Within the circle of the novel’s madmen there are: an obsessed prophet, a woman tormented by a sexual fever, a psychopath desirous of the world’s extermination, a hysterical murder, an alcoholic, etc. The author of this article thoughly analyses the source and the dynamic development of the mental illness. The modernist writer emphasizes the substantial role of hereditary factors in creating the above mentioned behaviours.