The neglected desire of Witkiewicz's modern man, then, is for literary significance, not historical significance. When they lament that their lives do not have meaning, they are comparing their lives to the lives in the novels and plays they have read. There is no way to know if the life of modern man has any less meaning than that of the French aristocrat of the 17th Century. What we do know is that, since only the priesthood and the aristocracy had the time and skill to write literature in that period, the literature is invariably concerned with aristocrats.
Atrophy
Modern existence in Janulka is premised on the notion that the world will stagnate, go into atrophy, from a lack of meaning and vitality. However, this is only true for those who do not have to work for a living or who do not have arts to devote themselves to. In this sense, when in history have idle aristocrats not stagnated? It is entirely natural that a person who does nothing degenerates and goes into atrophy. In olden days, such a person, if he/she were an aristocrat, would merely have squandered his/her inheritance and blown his/her chances at gaining political power.
Technology and Bureaucracy
Most of the characters in Janulka are terrified by technology and bureaucracy, seeing them as...
Technology is represented by the poison gas of Von Plasewitz, "odourless and invisible gases that produce terrific psychological depression." Telling is the fact that these gases are seemingly innocuous and, indeed, will not kill a person, only sap away their joy and
love of life.
Bureaucracy is represented by Joel the Semite, who can assemble the entire machinery of government overnight. Rather, Joel has to, because the rulers are too lazy to deal with such boring matters. The fact that he is a "merchant in the grand manner" and "transcendentalist Zionist" evokes images of an international Jewish conspiracy. One can guess what the bureaucracy will be designed to do in Witkiewicz's world.
The Erotic
Being a
play about the
marriage of Princess Janulka, Witkiewicz uses this familiar setting to explore erotic themes which are bashfully concealed in traditional literature. Janulka is the sheltered, sex-starved princess and Master is part tortured Vampire, part Nietszchean Superman. Master, however, overintellecutalizes sex and is more into talking about it than having it.
There is also the Freudian tension between Fidjezco and Janulka, evidenced when Fidjezco pounds his fist after his daughter reappears from Master's quarters. All of the themes regarding forbidden erotic love are present here, with Master promising the possessive Fidjezco that he has not violated his precious daughter.
Bibliography
Stanley Hochman, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama: Volume 1 p. 164-168
The Witkiewicz Reader (1992) p. 155-207
Daniel Charles Gerould, Witkacy: Stanis-aw Ignacy Witkiewicz as an Imaginative Writer (1981) p. 234-243
