The Novel 'Pan Podstolic' by Edward Tomasz Massalski among European Literary Utopias

Abstract

The novel by Massalski reveals distinctive features of an Enlightenment bourgeois Utopia, adapted to the national reality and achievements of scientific, technical and socioeconomic thoughts of the 19th century. The author of the article studies Massalski’s interpretation of Rousseau’s ideas and draws a comparison between the ideal socioeconomic structure of 'Pan Podstolic’s' estate and the Utopia of Claran manor in the novel, 'Julie, or the New Heloise'. Massalski created an artistic image of an ideal country estate, basing on reformative activities of educated compatriots. That image involves the experience of West European Utopias and national traditions of Enlightenment literature with a popular concept of class solidarity and the idea of 'a good master'.