Madame Curie Essay | Critical Essay #1

Madame Curie Critical Essay #1

Brent has a Ph.D. in American culture, specializing in film studies, from the University of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and teaches courses in the history of American cinema. In the following essay, Brent discusses Marie Curie's Polish national identity.

In the 1790s, Poland was divided among the three invading nations of Austria, Prussia, and Russia. This period of Partitioned Poland, during which Poland as a sovereign nation no longer existed, lasted some one hundred and twenty-three years. Polish national identity, however, remained strong over more than a century of political and cultural oppression. Repeated Polish uprisings culminated in the reunification of Poland as an independent nation in the years following World War I. Marie's childhood, growing up in an educated Polish family in Warsaw, was characterized by a strong awareness of her Polish identity under the force of an oppressive Russian empire. Eve Curie's biography of Marie Curie...
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