Distrust and conflict in Boryna and Jagna’s marriage

Distrust and conflict in Maciej Boryna and Jagna’s marriage take shape after a public feast-day incident and persist even when the household appears to return to normal. Maciej’s jealousy turns the farmstead into a place of watchfulness and resentment; Jagna, first subdued by his hostility and then openly defiant, remains drawn to Antek. The marriage’s temporary calm proves fragile: authority is restored, but intimacy and trust are not.

The silence after the feast

At Maciej Boryna’s farmstead, the aftermath of the feast is marked not by an open quarrel but by a heavy hush. The household falls quiet beneath a sense of impending trouble, as though the roof itself might collapse. Maciej initially says nothing against Jagna, either to her or to her mother, Dominikowa. His silence does not signal forgiveness. He becomes bedridden with nausea, a pain in his side, and fever, while Dominikowa rubs his sides with hot oil and tries to persuade him that Jagna was not at fault for dancing. Her defense emphasizes the ordinary liberties of a young woman at an inn and presents the dance as something she was pressured into, not a deliberate affront to her husband.

Maciej’s sickbed becomes the setting for suspicion to gather force. He remembers what he has heard about Jagna, joins those reports to the incident, and grows consumed by anger and jealousy. He watches her with a hostile, searching gaze. Jagna, meanwhile, moves about the house pale and distracted, sighing and looking at him with the hurt of someone who expects condemnation. Her distress is intensified by the fact that she has heard nothing from Antek, who does not appear during the week; in fear, she sometimes looks toward the hayrick at dusk. She cannot speak openly about her longing or ask others for news of him.

A household under surveillance

The strain extends beyond the couple. Jagna repeatedly seeks refuge at Dominikowa’s home, but her mother is often away visiting the sick or at church; when she is present, she answers Jagna with stern looks and reproaches. Maciej’s illness and the tension in his household become village knowledge. An elder who serves as the Soltys warns him that gossip is like a fire that must burn itself out, and recalls having cautioned before the wedding that a young wife and an old husband would invite trouble. Maciej is angered by the remark and returns home.

Jagna takes his recovery as a sign that the crisis has passed. She tries to approach him again with sweetness and domestic familiarity, but Maciej cuts her short. Thereafter he does not caress or indulge her, or try to understand her thoughts. He scolds her over the work as if she were a hired servant rather than the woman of the house. Once recovered, he takes charge of the farmstead again: he works with Pietrek in the barn, threshing and handling the wheat, spends evenings mending harnesses or shaping farm tools, and rarely leaves the property. His control reaches into Jagna’s movements and possessions. He watches her closely and locks away her Sunday clothes, keeping the key himself.

The arrangement excludes Jagna from household authority as well as affection. Maciej gives orders to Józka of the Boryna Household, discusses practical matters with her, and assigns her to keep an eye on everything. Jagna is left to spin, wander without purpose, or retreat to her mother’s. When Dominikowa challenges Maciej, he rejects her advice and treats her warning about hypocrisy as unwelcome preaching. Dominikowa eventually stops pressing him, hoping the conflict will resolve itself. Maciej does not relent. At night, Jagna’s weeping sometimes makes him start up as though to go to her, but he checks himself and pretends he only meant to inspect the window or doors. The impulse to comfort her coexists with the resentment that keeps him away.

Jagna’s resistance and the damaged peace

After weeks of hostility, Jagna’s submission gives way to a direct contest over control. When Maciej reaches for the key to her belongings, she insists that the things inside are hers and that she can look after them herself. From that evening, the cottage becomes openly contentious. Maciej remains unchanged, but Jagna no longer gives way: she answers him at length and loudly, and begins acting deliberately out of spite.

Her resistance disrupts the household’s routines. She picks on Józka of the Boryna Household until the younger woman runs off in tears; she moves to another part of the house in the evening, leaving Maciej alone in the first chamber; and she has Pietrek play while she sings late into the night. On Sundays she dresses carefully and goes to church without waiting for her husband, lingering on the road with the young men. Maciej is astonished and furious, and tries to keep her conduct from becoming village talk, but cannot control her moods. For the sake of peace, he gives in more often. This is a shift in the household’s balance, not a reconciliation: Jagna gains room to act, while the couple remains divided by anger and distrust.

Reconciliation without restored trust

The priest’s sincere assurances eventually affect Maciej. The longer he considers the priest’s words, the calmer he becomes, and he gradually changes his treatment of Jagna. Outwardly, the house returns to its former state. The narrator nevertheless distinguishes restored routine from restored confidence: the household is compared to a broken pot that has been patched but still leaks through an unseen crack. Resentment and suspicion continue to seep through the marriage’s apparent harmony.

Maciej makes a genuine effort to soften, but he cannot give up watching Jagna’s every move. She does not forget his temper or harsh words, and his scrutiny deepens her anger and desire for revenge. The narrative connects his guarding and mistrust with her intensified longing for Antek. She arranges to meet Antek at the hayrick every few days, with help from Witek and, more decisively, Jagustynka, who acts as their go-between and shields their meetings from Maciej. Thus the return of domestic calm conceals a renewed breach: the marriage’s surface order survives, but surveillance, remembered injury, and Jagna’s secret meetings prevent it from becoming a trusting relationship.