In Quest of the Source of Light Some. Reflections on Roman Brandstaetter's Drama Powrót syna marnotrawnego

Abstract

Powrót syna marnotrawnego [The Return of the Prodigal Son] focuses on three different stories: the biblical story of the lost son, an event that took place in Rembrandt van Rijn, a painter from Leida, and the transformation that had undergone in Roman Brandstaetter, the author of the drama. Although the author himself constructs in his work the life of the Flemish author, on the basis of his own experiences, the drama is not only a story about concrete people. Rather, it is the experiences of particular people trying to find an answer to the question about the sense of faith and the essence of life. The key role in this text is the quest after light, both by the artist who by means of new plastic techniques seeks to comprehend reality, and the playwright who is constantly seeking his own place in the world. On the one hand light plays an essential role in the painter's work, but on the other it is a symbol of God who should be sought and found in various experiences of our life. It is important here to compare Rembrandt's and Brandstaetter's lives to the events from the Gospel of St Luke. In the way the drama is constructed, the analysis of its concrete parts, and reflection on the time described in the text the reader is brought closer to the understanding of suffering and painful transformations. They are all necessary on the way to approach nearer the source of light itself, that is God.