page_title: Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė
section_title: Writing career
hierarchical_section_title: Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė / Writing career
caption_attribution_description: 50 litas coin
context_page_description: Gabrielė Petkevičaitė was a Lithuanian educator, writer, and activist. Her pen name Bitė eventually became part of her last name. Encouraged by Povilas Višinskis, she joined public life and started her writing career in 1890. She was the founder and chair of the Žiburėlis society to provide financial aid to struggling students, one of the editors of the newspaper Lietuvos žinios, and an active member of the women's movement. In 1920, she was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania and chaired its first session. Her realist writing centered on exploring the negative impact of the social inequality. Her largest work, two-part novel Ad astra, depicts the rising Lithuanian National Revival. Together with Žemaitė, she co-wrote several plays. Her diary, kept during World War I, was published in 1925–1931 and 2008–2011.
context_section_description: Petkevičaitė began contributing news stories to Varpas in 1890 (after reading a complaint from Vincas Kudirka that the newspaper lacked correspondents). Her first fiction was published in periodicals (1894) and later as stand-alone works (1900). Her writing centered on social inequality and belonged to the literary realism movement. She saw inequality as the causes of economic suffering and moral decline, but believed that the rise of humanism would heal the misery. Petkevičaitė often contrasted harmony found in natural world with dysfunctional social classes. Short story Dievui atkišus (Offering it to God) about a girl seduced by a landowner is one of the most powerful social commentaries. Her two-part novel Ad astra (1933) depicted the rise of national consciousness during the Lithuanian National Revival, but was not well received by critics due to its sentimental tone and bland characterizations. Her diary, written during World War I, expressed her desire for beauty, peace, and ideal humanity. The diary is a good example of romantic attempts to escape from daily misery into the perfect word of nature and arts.
  In 1899, Petkevičaitė co-directed with Povilas Višinskis the first Lithuanian-language play America in the Bathhouse (Amerika pirtyje) in Palanga. Encouraged by the success, Petkevičaitė joined forces with another female writer Žemaitė and wrote several plays under the joint pen name Dvi Moteri (Two Women), including Velnias spąstuose (The Devil in a Trap, 1902), Kaip kas išmano, taip save gano (Each on His Own, 1904), Parduotoji laimė (Sold Happiness, 1905), Dublynė (The Bog, 1912), and others.
caption: 50 litas commemorative coin (2011). Inscription reads: For people, nation, state, culture.
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