The Theme of Nationalism in "Pan Tadeusz" and "Gone with the Wind"

Nationalism is defined as "loyalty and devotion to a nation; a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups" in the Merriam Webster's Dictionary. This is a reoccurring theme in both Pan Tadeusz and Gone With the Wind. Adam Mickiewicz's Pan Tadeusz is an epic poem that takes place in Poland in the years of 1811 and 1812 while Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is set in the American south between 1861 and 1871. Through the development of characters and their lifestyles and cultures the theme of nationalism is clearly revealed in both works. Similarities emerge in the way the characters place their priorities, the way they handle their problems, and in the way they show loyalty to their homes. Both works could be considered romantic and historical. Gone With the Wind depicts the south through the beginning of the Civil War through the beginnings of Reconstruction. Mickiewicz displays Poland in the years between the affirmation of the Constitution of the Third of May and the take-off of Napoleon's Russian campaign. Neither novel focuses on strictly the historical significance of the times, both lead the readers through romantic stories that give insight to the traditional ways of life.

In Pan Tadeusz the characters spend immense time eating, drinking, and socializing. They are concerned with what they are wearing and drinking and who is doing what. Gossip runs rampant through the small territory they encompass. The same is true in Gone With the Wind; societies workings revolve around parties, clothes, drinks, and rumored talk about all the neighbors, whether friends or no...

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...tten in the present day of either society.

Pan Tadeusz and Gone With the Wind are both works that display affection of country. Neither openly glorifies their homelands; they just express the deep seeded love and respect felt by its inhabitants. They display the total irrelevance of foreign lands and foreign people, for in these territories people's lives revolve around each other and their personal affairs involved within the small confines of Poland and the south. What is so capturing to the reader in the works is the ability of both Margaret Mitchell and Adam Mickiewicz to show such immense nationalistic feelings while giving the reader a romantic storyline along with a historic recollection of the past.

Works Cited

Mickiewicz. Adam. Pan Tadeusz. New York: Hippocrene Books, 2000.

Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With the Wind. New York: Warner Books, 1993