Słabość istot żywych. Ewolucja według Calpurnii Tate Jacqueline Kelly

The article is an analysis and interpretation of Jacqueline Kelly’s novel The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (situated in the context of the writer’s work and, more broadly, the trend of retro youth novels). Referring to the concept of catharsis constitutive of Greek tragedy (offered to the recipient to experience pity and fear), I would like to present The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate as a work that offers compassion, sadness and hope – a “weak” version of catharsis, adjusted to the sensitivity of the young reader, and, at the same time, not distorting the difficult truth about the world. Above all, the category of weakness, common to people and other human beings have been highlighted. The primary goal of the article is, therefore, to extract the axiological message of the novel. To do so, a compilation of various methodologies (comparative studies, ecocriticism, feminist criticism), and a research tool have been used.