“My, dziewczęta XX wieku” ("We, the girls of the 20th century”). The rights, duties, and adulthood of a woman in the novel Hela by Zofia Bukowiecka

Abstract

The article presents the concept of a woman’s maturity proposed by Zofia Bukowiecka in her novel for girls Hela written in 1910. She shows the example of women present in the contemporary world by taking advantage of new possibilities and, at the same time, respecting tradition. It is shown that Bukowiecka treats maturity as an ability to take on some responsibilities resulting from the new rights that women were fighting for at that time. The author of the article argues that this concept is related to the general idea transmitted by the magazine Wieczory Rodzinne, in which the novel was published, which makes it a context well worth mentioning.