The very same sabre is the origin of a certain story. After bringing The Deluge to an end, Sienkiewicz went on a journey to Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Henryk Groppler, an emigre politician, hosted the artist in Constantinople and gave him an antique Persian sabre. ‘It is for Sir Michael’, claimed Groppler, sensing that the last part of the Trilogy was going to feature the heroic acts of the knight. It had been well-known for a long time that Sienkiewicz had a soft spot for Michael Wołodyjowski, an ideal soldier. The knight who comically wiggled his moustache and became famous in With Fire and Sword for his courage and fencing proficiency (proved by winning his duel with Bohun), was already a colonel in The Deluge, but only in Sir Michael did the author show him in all his glory.
Sienkiewicz set the action against the Turkish invasion of Poland (1668-1673) and included important historical occurrences: the free election of Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, the battle of Kamianets-Podilskyi, and the Polish victory at Khotyn. The action takes place in three different locations that are delineated by Lech Ludorowski (the chair of the Henryk Sienkiewicz Association in Lublin) on the basis of the themes and the diverse style of narration.
The story of the love affairs of two women – Basia Jeziorowska (called ‘Hajduczek’ by Zagłoba) and Krzysia Drohojowska – is blended with one of friendship between two brothers-in-arms – Michael Wołodyjowski and Ketling. In the third part of The Trilogy there are no duels (except for fun), instead, we observe an accumulation of comic figures. Old companions appear: Skrzetuski and Kmicic (these two only for a moment), and Zagłoba, who discourages the titular protagonist from staying in the Camaldolese Hermit Monastery. Where did the idea come from? As we remember from the earlier parts of The Trilogy, Wołodyjowski was going to get married to Anusia Borzobohata. Wars and battles postponed the marriage and the woman in her forties stop fitting the chosen romantic convention (so Sienkiewicz decided to kill her off). Ryszard Koziołek finds a well-developed idea in this treatment. The devastated Wołodyjowski stays in a state of suspension but his ‘guilty conscience goes down to the new phantasm of a living woman’ (first Krzysia and later Basia are his new objects of affection). According to the literature specialist, mourning favours new passions.
The following parts of the novel describe Wołodyjowski’s marriage and his authority at Chrebtijiw. Borderland’s colourfulness, a motive often used by romanticists is joined by the threads of betrayal and Azja Tuhajbejowicz’s (son of Tuhaj-Bej) feelings towards Basia. Her kidnapping, self-liberation, and exhausting getaway through desolation is borrowed from the literary convention of the adventure fiction genre. Basia finally gets home, but Azja has a tragic end – he dies in extreme pain after being impaled. Although Sienkiewicz’s contemporary critics were appalled with the realistic description of this scene (Stanisław Tarnowski claimed that Sienkiewicz ‘wrote something that a great, noble artist should had never been written’), modern critics defend him, saying that real occurrences and the cruelty of war deserve a realistic depiction.
The last chapters of the novel bring back the epic rhetoric which was present both in With Fire and Sword and The Deluge. Kamianets seems to be the Polish Troy (like Zbarazh and Częstochowa), while Wołodyjowski becomes the Polish Hector. A courageous defence ends with the heroic death of the commandant and his friend Ketling. The epilogue, which covers Sobieski’s victories at Khotyn, ends with the words: ‘This is the end of a series of books written over years with a lot of efforts for the strengthening of hearts’.
The historical cycle was praised by foreign readers and critics for its artistic values – a colourful story about values acknowledged by everyone: courage, friendship, and faithfulness. Polish readers were not only intrigued by the adventurous story with narration skilfully stylized on the language used in the 17th century, but also liked the way Sienkiewicz restored the memory of Polish victories. Władysław Reymont, who read Sir Michael when working on a railway, sighed: ‘What is the use of my job? What is the use of my chief and all the railways in the world? Let them vanish, if only I can go on reading (…)’.
Of the loudest opponents of the novel, the harshest opinions were given by Wacław Nałkowski and Stanisław Brzozowski, who condemned The Trilogy for antidemocratic and antisocial origins and pronunciation. Nowadays, researchers point at the hidden democratic potential of the presented stories. Maciej Gloger claims that the potential lies in showing a national community which refers to ‘the well-established values with which each and every individual who seeks for identity may identify’. This is the aspect on which Sienkiewicz will focus in all his future novels, which would be based in his contemporary times.
Henryk Sienkiewicz
Sir Michael
Published in installments between May 1887 and May 1888
The first book edition: 1888
Translated by: Jeremiah Curtin (1893)
Author: Agnieszka Warnke, January 2010, translated by Antoni Wiśniewski, April 2016