Panny z prowincji. Ze wspomnień cyklisty Bolesława Prusa wobec mitów miłości

The article places the now forgotten short story by Bolesław Prus Ze wspomnień cyklisty in the mythological and metaliterary context. The prevalent role of amorous plots in this work thus becomes explained through a reference to the myth of Androgyne, solidified in Plato's Feast, that permeated Polish literature following the Romantic (A. Mickiewicz's Forefathers, Part IV) and modernist works (S. Przybyszewski's Androgyne). The article shows Prus's critical attitude to thus outlined tradition, which assumes a direct and spontaneous nature of amorous desire, since the story's protagonist only "falls in love' when other suitors appear with whom he can compete for women's favours. At the same time, the deconstruction of the androgynous myth reveals yet another concept of desire. Hence the text meets the requirements of the "constructive parody" described by M. Głowiński.