History Literature / PanTadeusz

1811, young Tadeusz Soplica comes back home just in time to witness the resolution of the quarrel his paternal uncle and the count Horeszko have about a (not so ancient) castle. He [[LoveAtFirstSight catches a glimpse of a very pretty girl]]...

* AccidentalPervert: See FullyClothedNudity

Art like good health; I never knew till now
How precious, till I lost thee.

Fun fact - the metre of Pan Tadeusz is 13-syllable alexandrine, a rather uncommon in English (compare Literature/TheFaerieQueene). The 1999 adaptation retains the rhymed dialogues, [[RuleOfCool which doesn't make it any less realistic.]]

** As a priest who studied in Rome, Father Robak counts too.
* BadassGrandpa: Maciej "The Rod" Dobrzyński, [[ThePatriarch the patriarch]] of [[TheClan Dobrzyński family]] is still quite fit and kicks Russians' ass during the battle.

** Though only the Count, a regular aristocrat, could be seen as this. The other characters are either middle-class landed gentry like the Judge and Podkomorzy, impoverished gentlemen like Rejent and Asesor, "grey" gentry (gentry so poor that they lived off farming, the only difference from peasants being their title, coat of arms and the way of clothing) like Dobrzyński family, and finally, "naked", that is landed gentry, whose only source of income was serving wealthier lords (Gerwazy to the Horeszkos, Wojski to the Soplicas).

* CoolOldGuy: Wojski - he's proficient at hunting, playing instruments, throwing knives, storytelling, settling quarrels, and he's the master of ceremony at the feasts organised by the Judge.

* DeathbedConfession: [[spoiler: Of Jacek Soplica towards Gerwazy]], who (finally and with some hesitation) [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming forgives]].
* DecoyProtagonist: The main protagonist seems to be Tadeusz, the first few chapters seem to confirm this...and after some time we discover that the main hero is Father Robak a.k.a. [[spoiler: Jacek Soplica, his father]].
* DescriptionPorn: Loads and loads. In 1999 adaptation it transforms into SceneryPorn
* DirtyCoward: Major Płut feels confident when arresting hungover gentlemen. When he later gets challenged to a duel, he frantically begs his second-in-command to take up the challenge claiming that as the commander he's irreplaceable.

** Captain Rykov, a decent, honorable Russian officer who wants to release the raiders unpunished and later admits that Poland should belong to the Polish, to Major Płut - a Polish renegade who gleefully says about hanging, flogging and banishing to Syberia " Polish rebels".

* FoodPorn: The feast in the finale, [[DescriptionPorn described in details]].

* FullyClothedNudity: Having arrived back home, Tadeusz enters his old room onyl to [[MeetCute walk in on its current resident]] [[TheIngenue Zosia]] dressed only in her nightie - she runs away into the garden.

** Although they do manage to kill some Poles in the battle, the most notable being Father Robak, they are easily shot one by one by [[OneManArmy Tadeusz]]. He demands a duel lest he [[BadassBoast kill all of them "like wolves in a den"]]. Upon seeing this captain Rykov [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness fearfully]] tells major Płut to do something or there will be no one left alive.

* OccupiersOutOfOurCountry: Poland under Russian rule, of course it's constantly lurking in the background. And sometimes getting out - father Robak's [[RedemptionQuest working on it all the time]].

* PlanetOfSteves: The Dobrzyński family, where men are names either Bartek or Maciej. They recognise each other using nicknames, usually after their cool and weird weaponry.

* RetiredBadass: Wojski, Gerwazy (although he does not seem [[BadassGrandpa retired]] at all) and Father Robak (who's quite busy working on OccupiersOutOfOurCountry).

Fun fact - the metre of Pan Tadeusz is 13-syllable alexandrine, a rather uncommon in English (compare Literature/TheFaerieQueene).

* AllThereInTheManual: The author wrote footnotes explaining in details many aspects of the story and describing some mentioned characters, items and details

* BadassBookworm: The Count, well...[[IncrediblyLamePun counts.]]

* CoolOldGuy: Wojski - he's proficient at hunting, playing instruments, throwing knives, storytelling, he's basically the master of ceremony at the feasts organised by the Judge.

** Captain Rykov, a decent, honorable Russian officer who wants to release the raiders unpunished and later admits that Poland should belong to the Polish, to Major Płut - a Polish renegade who gleefully says about hanging, flogging and banishing to Syberia "those bastard Poles".

* ARealManIsAKiller: Upon hearing that there is a bear in the forest, the Judge summons all men to [[TheGreatHunt a hunt]] next day.

* RealManIsAKiller: Upon hearing that there is a bear in the forest, the Judge summons all men to [[TheGreatHunt a hunt next day]].

* TheAtoner: Jacek Soplica.

** Averted with Tadeusz, who [[spoiler: only finds out that Father Robak was in fact Jacek Soplica, his father]] long after the latter dies.

** Although they do manage to kill some Poles in the battle, the most notable being Father Robak, they are easily shot one by one by Tadeusz.

* DrivenToSuicide: PlayedForLaughs along with some other Romantic tropes. After his breakup with Telimena, Tadeusz feels an "irresistible desire to drown in mud".

** Also the late competing hunters, Tadeusz Reytan and duke Carl de Nassau are mentioned by Wojski.

** Because newly-freed peasants were subject to heavt taxation, Tadeusz circumvents this by officially adopting all of them (i.e. [[TruthInTelevision admitting them into his own coat of arms).]]

* CampBadass: Being rather a [[TheDandy dandy]] than camp, the Count proves quite formidable.
** In the finale, Rejent, quite a proficient huntsman, swaps his traditional Polish clothing to a French attire (forced by his fiancee, Telimena, which breaks his spirit. [[(HenpeckedHusband We can only guess how it ended)]].

* ForeignCultureFetish: The Count, to Italy. He also seems to pose as a DashingSpaniard.

* DescriptionPorn: Loads and loads.
* DirtyCoward: Colonel Płut feels confident when arresting hungover gentlemen. When he later gets challenged to a duel, he frantically begs his second-in-command to take up the challenge claiming that as the commander he's irreplaceable.

* ForeignCultureFetish: The Count, to Italy.

* FullyClothedNudity: Tadeusz [[MeetCute walks in]] on [[TheIngenue Zosia]] dressed only in her nightie - she runs away into the garden.

->O Lithuania, my country, thou\\Art like good health; I never knew till now\\How precious, till I lost thee.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: The Count, which doesn't stop him from showing some feats of real badassery.

* Cloudcuckoolander: The Count, which doesn't stop him from showing some feats of real badassery.

** According to Podkomorzy, the unconditional admiration for French culture and politics is what led to the downfall of Poland.

* ParentalMarriageVeto: Of the old mr. Horeszko against Jacek Soplica, who was keen on marrying his only daughter. [[spoiler: Delivered in a particularily cruel way]].

* [[ScrewTheWarWerePartying Screw The Raid, We're Partying!]]: Aaand then the Russians come. Oops.

National epic poem of Poland and Lithuania, written by Polish-Lithuanian poet Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855). "Pan Tadeusz" tells the fictional story of the struggle between Soplica and Horeszko, two noble families living near Vilnius, Lithuanian capital. Written in years 1832-1832, the poem was meant to comfort the members of Polish emigration in France after the trauma of the lost November Uprising. Gained a cult following among Polish intellectual class ("intelligentsia"), eventually becoming the CultClassic of Polish literature.

Pan Tadeusz contains examples of:

* TheAtoner: Jacek Soplica, the main protagonist.

* CoolSword: Scyzoryk ("penknife"), Gerwazy's rapier.

* DrivenToSuicide: Played for laughs. After a quarrel with Telimena, Tadeusz feels an "irresistible desire to drown in mud".

** Averted in case of Tadeusz, the Judge and the whole Soplica family. Telimena ironically lampshades that.

* JewsLoveToArgue: This trope could be called "Poles Love To Argue". Almost all of main and secondary plots revolve around people arguing. TruthInTelevision as one of goals Mickiewicz tried to achieve was to soothe bitter squabbles among Polish community in France.
** Technically averted. Jankiel, the only Jew in the story, tries to dismantle the idea of Count's followers' raid on the Soplica family's manor.
* MemeticBadass: Napoleon Bonaparte, for both narrator and protagonist. Also a result of AuthorTract.
** Also the late competing hunters, Tadeusz Reytan and duke Carl de Nassau are often mentioned by Wojski.
* MilesGloriosus: The Count. At many points he mentions how he captured and executed a band of brigands in Sicily. A little averted, though, as he shows his prowess while dueling with captain Rykov.
* RetiredBadass: Wojski, Gerwazy (although he does not feel reitred at all) and Father Robak.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: After the death of his master, Gerwazy wages his private war against Soplica family.

National epic poem of Poland and Lithuania, written by Polish-Lithuanian poet Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855). "Pan Tadeusz" tells the fictional story of the struggle between Soplica and Horeszko, two noble families living near Vilnius, Lithuanian capital. Written in years 1832-1832, the poem was meant to comfort the members of Polish emigration in France after the trauma of the lost November Uprising. Gained a CultFollowing among Polish intellectual class ("intelligentsia"), eventually joining the canon of Polish literature.

** Technically averted. Jankiel, the only Jew in the story, tries to dismantle the idea of Count's followers' raid on the Soplicas' manor.

* RoaringRampageOfVengeance

National epic poem of Poland and Lithuania, written by Polish-Lithuanian poet Adam Mickiewicz. Pan Tadeusz tells the fictional story of the struggle between two noble families living nearby Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. Written in years 1832-1832, the poem was meant to comfort the members of Polish emigration in France after the trauma of the lost November Uprising.

National epic poem of Poland and Lithuania, written by Polish-Lithuanian poet Adam Mickiewicz. Pan Tadeusz tells the fictional story of the struggle between two noble families living nearby Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. Written in years 1832-1832, the poem was meant to comfort the members of Polish emigration in France after the trauma of the lost November Uprising. Though not so popular at the beginning, it eventually made its way to being on of the most important pieces of Polish literature (if not the top one).

* BadassPreacher: Father Robak. He's got a freaking <i> scar </i> across his face! The narrator openly states that his youth must have been spent somewhere else than seminar. True.

* TheAtoner: Jacek Soplica, the main protagonist
* CoolSword: Scyzoryk ("penknife"), Gerwazy's rapier.