THE WOMAN OF THE LAKE IN THE BALLADS OF ADAM MICKIEWICZ

Abstract

This paper aims to look at how a newly shaped image structure of romanticism, such as the lake, served Adam Mickiewicz’s perception and implied inventions inherent to his artistic world. The lake is a transitive space where the two worlds (realistic and unrealistic) meet and whose anthropomorphic incarnation is the Woman of the Lake. Her mythological versions in the ancient and Nordic mythologies are revealed, and on this basis, her specific character structure and function in the ballads of Mickiewicz are outlined.