Personal Model of the Polish Woman During the Political Enslavement Period: Around Pamiątka po dobrej matce by Klementyna Tańska-Hoffman ; Wzór osobowy kobiety polskiej okresu niewoli politycznej: Wokół Pamiątki po dobrej matce Klementyny z Tańskich-Hoffmanowej

The aim of this article is to recollect a central (albeit forgotten) female role model popular in Polish culture during the Partitions of Poland, popularized in 1819 by a young Warsaw writer, Klementyna Tańska (married name: Hoffman), in her novel-guidebook for girls and young married women entitled Pamiątka po dobrej matce (A Souvenir from a Good Mother). The opinions of the bestseller author from two centuries ago should be viewed from a historical perspective, in close connection with their broad nineteenth-century context (historical, social, legal, cultural), taking into account the difficult and complex situation of Polish society during the period of political enslavement and the need, already recognized in the first years of the partitions, to protect national identity. Klementyna Tańska attributed this particular historical mission to Polish women, as wives, mothers, and citizens: women who were morally developed and educated in accordance with the possibilities and needs of the time. Although her plan contained some innovative elements, it was deliberately very cautious and traditional, accepting current legal regulations, restrictions and indications resulting from the Christian religion, as well as Polish social customs and patterns (e.g. patriarchy). The author was aware that only this kind of program had a chance of being socially accepted and implemented at that time. Tańska’s promotion of a strictly defined model of a Polish woman was her conscious choice she made from a social perspective. In fact, Klementyna Tańska herself already represented a decidedly new type of woman: free (she did not marry until the age of 31 and had no children), educated, professionally active, interested in public affairs, independent, also financially (thanks to her own work), and enterprising (while at the same time deeply religious and a declared patriot). However, looking at the model of a woman and the model of femininity she propagated, the author of Pamiątka po dobrej matce did not include all the ...