The Morality of Mrs. Dulska (play)
| The Morality of Mrs. Dulska (Moralność pani Dulskiej) | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Gabriela Zapolska |
| Characters |
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| Date premiered | Krakόw, 1906 |
| Original language | Polish |
| Genre | 'a petty-bourgeois tragic farce' |
| Setting | Polish Galicia |
The Morality of Mrs. Dulska (Polish: Moralność pani Dulskiej) is a play by Gabriela Zapolska that debuted in Krakow in 1906. Hailed as a key work in early modern Polish drama, Zapolska's play tackles issues of social justice, socialism, morality, conscience, and the performative duality of social identity. It has inspired many film adaptations and has appeared on stage in many forms, even as a musical comedy.
Mrs. Dulska’s view that "a secure living is the base of life... And as for a husband, you can train him" perfectly encapsulates the elements of bourgeois realism employed by Zapolska to bitingly skewer the inadequacy and hypocrisy of bourgeois life. As dramatist Alan P. Barr notes, "The Morality of Mrs. Dulska belongs to the social-protest literature that irritated the conservative sentiments of turn-of-the-century Europe". Zapolska's best known work, the enduringly popular play utilizes satiric wit to address the middle-class sensibilities of turn-of-the-century Galicia.
Mrs. Dulska is the tyrannical landlady of a nice tenement building who is prideful, clever, and above all else, concerned with appearances. Known for her thrifty nature and exploitive treatment of her tenants, she is a merciless embodiment of the bourgeois middle-class.
She exercises no sympathy or compassion toward those who rent from her. A first-floor tenant's attempted suicide by phosphorus necrosis is met with indifference, as is the fate of Hanka, her maid, whom she 'effectively prostitutes' to her son in an attempt to contain and control his philandering ways. Mela and Hesia, her daughters, are ignorant to the facts of life which she refuses to impart to them, instead insisting that they practice for their music lessons. Mr. Dulski, battered after years of his ruthless and over-bearing wife, remains neutrally bland.
Mrs. Dulska's obsession is with her son, over whom she is wildly possessive. She is so afraid that he will abandon her that she bends to his every whim, especially with his relationship with Hanka that she foists upon them to curb his philandering. Despite this, he still resents her, particularly after she goes to great lengths to prevent his marriage to Hanka as she is horrified at what it will do to their social standing and their bloodline if he marries a poor peasant girl who is also their maid. Hanka is pregnant, and Zbyszko wants to marry her, but Mrs. Dulska tells her to get her registration book and get out, endeavoring to get her and the scandal that accompanies her out of their home.
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