Straszno i śmieszno. Balladyna Juliusza Słowackiego i jej lektura w szkole

Balladyna by Juliusz Słowacki is a text which causes controversy as its interpretation cannot be unequivocal – it results from the plot based on the rule of parallelism and parody as well as its structure and its frame that is an evident sign of irony. The history of critical reception of Balladyna demonstrates how difficult it is simply to read this drama. It can be regarded as a quintessence of Romantic playing with conventions, but it contains many elements of pre- Romantic tradition and it also opens the aesthetic and worldview perspectives for modern and postmodern literature. Such multidimensional drama is included in a core curriculum at lower secondary school. It is a source of difficulties for teachers and students and it is often read in too simplified manner during the lessons. The aim of the article is to present a sugges-tion of such attitude towards the drama that can help to discover the play of ambiguous perspectives that is inscribed in it.