Pinskaja Šliachta

Pinskaja Šliachta [Pinsk Nobility] (1866) is one of the most famous plays by Vincent Dunin-Marcynkievič (1808–1884), a classic writer of Belarusian literature who stood at the origins of the national literary language and professional dramatic arts.

[1][2] The play shows the haughtiness and self-conceit of the Belarusian petty nobility, who feel insulted if called "peasants" though they do not differ much from the villagers in their life style or economic status.

The author shows his disenchantment with the role of the Belarusian gentry as a reaction to the failure of the January Uprising and consequent national humiliation.

At the same time Dunin-Marcynkievič ridicules the tsarist court and the pettifoggery and bribe-taking of the Russian imperial bureaucrats who themselves breach the law and deliver absurd judgements.

While the dumbfounded gentry is watching the imperial official settling their dispute and at the same time fleecing them of all their money, packages of loot are carried away in a squeaky cart.