In a garden of feelings
II. Mother
Lucjan Dolewski’s mother is a character portrayed from the outset as unchanging in both her resolutions and habits. She has lived in the same place for years, has established rituals, and dislikes change. The house she lives in has a simple, bourgeois layout, and its neatness and finish suggest the modest needs of its inhabitants. It stands in stark contrast to Warska’s estate:
Several windows, each with four large, clean panes, looked out onto the courtyard, where the skeletons of stripped rose and lilac bushes were thickly protruding; a small porch with two posts and benches was surrounded by a wooden, green-painted trellis, on which bindweeds probably climbed in the summer (part I, chapter VII).
Even the vegetation, which is part of the description, is modest, confirming the nostalgic nature of the owner. Dolewska, like most of the characters in W klatce, is plagued by a disease of pretence and appearances. Proud of her son, she sacrifices her life for him, giving her best for the opportunity to educate her only child. She doesn’t strive for her own intellectual development; she is focused solely on ensuring that her son receives a proper education. And when she does, she plays—presumably temporarily, in place of a wife whom Lucjan doesn’t have—the role of caregiver, guardian of safety and comfort of a man highly respected for his profession. At the same time, taking advantage of her son’s social standing, she becomes a despot, which seems unjustified, considering Lucjan shies away from attention and self-promotion. Dolewska, on the other hand, treats everyone, even her own friends, with superiority. This megalomania, fuelled by her son’s prestigious profession, compels her to live by double standards. On one hand, she is a modest old lady, constantly searching for her keys, a somewhat awkward housewife unable to cope with her new circumstances. The doctor’s mother clearly struggles to cope with any situation, humiliating her servants, feigning modesty in front of her neighbours, and unable to cut the umbilical cord, subconsciously forcing her son to submit to her life. Unprepared for an independent existence, she nevertheless evokes liking and is an example of maternal devotion. Dolewska’s other side is revealed during Father Stanisław’s reception, when she realizes her pride and superiority over the fact that the Jodłowa heiress shows special favour to her son:
Joy spread across the old woman’s face; she saw that Klotylda treated the wealthy and elegant Mr. Rodrigo with great indifference, yet spoke to her son almost constantly and with obvious pleasure.
The mother’s heart leapt with pride at the sight of this beautiful, intelligent, brilliant, and wealthy woman publicly showing her son so much respect and kindness (part II, chapter IV).
Dolewska would not openly admit how much she cares about the relationship between these two, just as she does not admit to the women who support her that her son suffers from unrequited love:
As he entered his room, Dolewska followed him with her gaze; but Rzepowa looked at her searchingly in vain, noticing neither a tear in her eye nor the slightest change in her physiognomy. The mother’s courage, unwilling to expose her son’s suffering to public view, overcame her own sorrow (part II, chapter VIII).
Theodore Newcomb noted that a social role is “the consistent behaviour of an individual within a more or less stable relationship with another person or several people.” This is precisely how Dolewska behaves, for whom the image of her son-doctor and her own doctor’s mother is placed above all else. Living under the constant pressure of pretence has turned her into “one of the most irritating old women with whom Orzeszkowa is too eager to embellish her novels.”
A life built on sacrifice was filled with maternal pride, but also sadness, and Dolewska’s fate seems all the more tragic because all her sacrifices and care failed to bear the desired fruit. After her son’s death—not surprisingly—she succumbed to mental illness. “In the darkest corner of the room, on a low bench against the wall, the madwoman sat. Before her stood an empty cradle, and she, slowly moving it with her hand, sang in a low voice the song with which mothers lull their children to sleep” (part II, Epilogue). Orzeszkowa doesn’t elaborate on this theme; this illness is not the focus of the novel. It is symptomatic, however, that, as she succumbs to an illness beyond her control, Dolewska relives moments from her son’s childhood (she moves the cradle), confirming that she never let him grow up, even though she cared about his education and seemed proud of his actions.
