The art of breaking up. Infelicitous engagements in Polish novels and memoirs from the turn of the 20th century

The article is devoted to a morally sensitive topic, created by situations which did not lead to marriage, but ended with a discrediting separation. It analyses socially accepted, although often false, reasons for splitting up, treated as shameful and without approval, frequently hidden under excuses provided by savoir-vivre handbooks. It also compares, in this case, the positions of women and men, reflecting on the attempt to protect the reputation of a young lady with a fixed social convention. Texts that refer to authentic biographical material, which were read by the contemporary readers as romans à clef violating moral taboos seem particularly interesting. Novels of manners are the basis for reflection, such as the works by Bolesław Prus Lalka [The Doll] and Emancypantki [Emancipated Women], Maria Rodziewiczówna Między ustami a brzegiem pucharu [Between the lips and the rim of the goblet] and Kądziel [Woman’s inheritance], Henryk Sienkiewicz Bez dogmatu [Without dogma] and Rodzina Połanieckich [Children of the Soil], Sewer Bajecznie kolorowa [Fabulously colourful], and Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer Anioł śmierci [Angel of death], but also the contents of memoirs of the period (by Anna Skarbek-Sokołowska, Magdalena Samozwaniec, Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński and more).