Cierpliwa, słodka i skromna. Cnoty niewieście w XIX w. według Klementyny z Tańskich Hoffmanowej i jej Pamiątki po dobrej matce czyli ostatnich jej rad dla córki

Abstract

Patient, Sweet, and Modest: Female Virtues according to Klementyna z Tańskich Hoffmanowa and Her Pamiątki po dobrej matce (A Memorial of a Dear Mother, or Her Last Pieces of Advice for Her Daughter) in the Nineteenth Century Klementyna Hoffmanowa (née Tańska) published her handbook Pamiątka po dobrej matce (A Memorial of a Dear Mother) in 1819. This collection of advice for girls and young women was an extremely popular publication and went through ten editions in the nineteenth century. Although the author was an educated woman interested in public affairs, in the Pamiątka she propagated a model of a woman subordinated to a man, fulfilling herself on a private level and, importantly, developing certain qualities to satisfy her family and husband: “My daughter! Do not worry that you belong to the weaker sex; her destiny is beauty: after all, she can be a beloved and useful woman. Nature endowed man with power, because it entrusted him with the defence of the weaker, opposing injustice, the punishment of vice […] God created woman more tender and weaker: she should soothe, soften, and make a brave companion happy” (p. 9, 7th edition). In the Pamiątka we find advice on health, appearance, duties, godliness, but also on the female sex and its qualities. In the second part of the guide, Hoffmanowa devotes chapter three to feminine virtues (“On the Virtues Needed by a Woman,” pp. 75–90); however, advice on the canon of desirable features and values can be found throughout the entire collection. “The virtue proper to our sex is sweetness; rare in a man, it seems impossible for a woman to do without it […] Sweetness is not only a charm, but also a weapon for us” (p. 79, 7th edition). In addition to sweetness, the author draws attention to patience, modesty, and cheerfulness, and in the event of “days of numbness in our lives,” which do not encourage cheerfulness at all, she recommends prayer and beseeching God for new strength. Hoffmanowa’s guidebook is worth looking at in the context of its proposed moral model, both in terms of its substantive richness and the frequency of its reprintings. While the proposed model of a woman might not have been shocking in 1819, its tenth edition in 1883 was in contrast to the developing women’s movements and women’s emancipation.