The image of Onegin in the novel "Eugene Onegin"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The image of Onegin… How many times have completely different people taken up and will take on its coverage?.. Probably not even hundreds of thousands (considering the school curriculum and special areas of higher education). Most likely, Russians and foreigners tried to write about him millions of times. This iconic image not only captivates with its artistry and aesthetics; at one time he really inspired the intelligentsia of the early 19th century to lead Russia out of the impasse of social development onto the high road of social and industrial progress.

The place of "Eugene Onegin" in the work of Pushkin

The words of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin come to mind: “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands…” The classic himself considered his seven-year work on the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” a feat. It was an extremely honest view of the "poet, the first in Russian Parnassus" on the surrounding Russian society, including the high society. He wrote about his generation, and this gave him strength … For the first time, a domestic writer rose to the Calvary of realism and tried to honestly and highly artistically present what worried the most advanced people of Russia at that time. It was his favorite creation. Specially for him Pushkincame up with a specific "Onegin" stanza - 14 lines of iambic tetrameter with rhyming according to the formula CCddEffEgg.

Objectivity in showing the nobility of the early 19th century

Alexander Sergeevich, following the principles of realism, honestly and frankly showed that the social stratum of the nobility, in fact, the ruler of the Russian state, has ceased to be the driving force of progress. The nobility of the last century - people who were formed in the Catherine era, in which one could see both hot blood and the determination to perform deeds and feats for the Fatherland - degenerated. The glorious time of victories and the assertion of the glory of Russia in the golden XVIII century has sunk into oblivion. Service in the officer rank no longer appealed to the nobles. Representatives of high society were carried away by the race for ranks and awards. They enthusiastically engaged in various intrigues, intrigues. Often, the nobles put personal well-being and their privacy above the interests of society. In addition, they were the main political force interested in maintaining serfdom. After all, it was the right to command the fate of millions of people that formed the basis of their influence in the state.

Onegin's passivity is a product of high society education

Eugene Onegin is a representative of another, non-serving generation of the nobility of the early 19th century. Onegin is an officer in the past, but he was disappointed and quit (according to Pushkin, he was bored with "and scolding, and sabers, and lead"). Serving the Fatherland as the idea of creating a layer of society close to the monarch, characteristic of the golden 18th century, ceased to exist a hundred years later.relevant to nobles. Although these were the most educated people at that time.

This just helps readers of the novel to realize the extremely honest image of Onegin

An attempt by Pushkin, this amazing master of the word, creating the image of Evgeny, to capture, convey to readers the typical features of a controversial contemporary from the educated youth of Russia, in which forces are seething, thoughts sparkling, who, after all, has a certain capital and connections, is obvious, quite sufficient to realize something progressive and necessary. However, he is passive. He took on the role of an intelligent observer of the surrounding life, and not its participant. He is somewhat reminiscent of the marble boy from Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid". His charm, beauty, mind are cold. Perhaps that is why the image of Onegin is tragic …

Where could Yevgeny apply his strength?

This man with his economic knowledge, based on the historical situation, really had something to apply his strength. The Russian economy lagged behind. There were no railroads. Capitalist enterprises were in their infancy. Serfdom fettered the human resource of a vast country. However, he is inactive and, amazingly, the society does not push, does not mobilize him (a person, undoubtedly, advanced) to solve these important tasks. Russian society is amorphous, it is subject to the influence of high society. Noble youth, receiving a European (more precisely, pro-French) education, is completely socially disoriented from the very beginning! How deeply sucked her artificial, ephemeral world of higherlight!

Gendarmes suppression of the Decembrist movement

And the high society, by and large, is subordinated to the personal selfish interests of individual specific people. As we can see, the circle is closed. The real Catch-22! Wasn't this the impetus for the creation of the Decembrist movement? In response to the upheavals of progressive thought, Emperor Nicholas I, and then Alexander I (the latter, to a lesser extent), chose a plan to build a police power, a plan alien to the interests of the Russians. Pushkin, who was exiled to the south, also became a victim of this type of state. "Onegin", a novel in verse, began to be created precisely in the southern exile of the poet, thanks to friends, his stay in Siberia for "outrageous poems that flooded Russia" was replaced at the last moment, mitigating the punishment.

Pushkin's novel is a harbinger of change

Let's remember what words the famous novel-trilogy written by Professor Tolkien begins with. It begins with the exciting thought that change is being felt all over the world, in all its elements, that these changes are close, that they are about to come.

It seems to us that Alexander Sergeevich felt the same way a century earlier, on the eve of the creation of his outstanding work. The image of Onegin in the novel in verse, a landmark artistic and realistic work of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, served as a means to express and make felt the need for reform in Russia forty million people.

Pushkin's novel was a powerful intellectual blow to obsolete serfdom.

"Onegin" - folk work

There is another aspectin Pushkin's work. Recall that for Alexander Sergeevich himself, "Eugene Onegin" was a favorite work. The poet, following the adventures of his protagonist, creates an extremely broad picture of the Russian state. In the book, we meet characters of high society, and local nobles, and the peasantry. In addition to the actual display of all strata of society, Alexander Sergeevich demonstrates the tastes, fashion of that time, and the direction of social thought.

That is why Pyotr Pletnev, the poet's friend, called the novel a "pocket mirror", and Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky called it a highly folk work. And this is despite the fact that the image of Onegin in the novel is largely tied to high society. On the one hand, he despises it, neglecting its conventions, very clearly showing the reader that people "from there" are not distinguished by either deep knowledge or selfless work for the Fatherland. On the other hand, he cannot distance himself from him so much as to completely neglect his opinions and assessments. Alexander Sergeevich wrote about his hero that the high-society "spleen … ran after him … like a faithful wife."

Onegin becomes a local nobleman

We meet Yevgeny at the very beginning of the novel, when he, a poor nobleman, in the winter of 1819 suddenly becomes the heir to the deceased landowner, who is his uncle. The image of Onegin in Pushkin's novel, brought up by a French tutor, is indifferent to everything that the poet himself loved: the Russian language, Russian nature, folk culture, folklore. He is impeccableFrench, knows how to kindly conduct a conversation, owns the "science of tender passion." Alexander Sergeevich picturesquely talks about Onegin's visits to theaters and restaurants.

Before accepting the inheritance, he led the usual life for the youth of his circle, wasting it on salons, balls, receptions, theaters. However, salon manners disgusted him. He began to avoid invitations.

The image of Onegin in Pushkin's novel is a type of an educated nobleman who is aware of the perniciousness of serfdom. He is distinguished by a cold logical mind and nobility of soul. It is characteristic that, having taken possession of the estate, he replaced the corvée, which was heavy for the peasants, with “light dues”. However, he did not become an active owner of the peasant economy. As a typical representative of the ruling class, he does not feel the slightest need for any work useful to society. Having tried to take up literary work, he soon lost interest in this occupation, as Pushkin wrote sarcastically. Onegin, having become a local nobleman, remained a high society man. All previous upbringing did not instill in Eugene adaptation to any activity. For him, the whole way of life of people who create public goods is alien, does not arouse interest, and also the desire to participate actively in it. This remarkable, deep-minded person, like the Greek hero Antaeus, deprived of connection with his native land, looks powerless and useless, having no purpose in life.

Test of love

It is during Yevgeny's stay in the village that his character manifests itself. On the one hand, he avoids the company of empty andlimited surrounding landowners. On the other hand, as the analysis of Onegin shows, he does not stand the test of love.

The internal inconsistency of the protagonist of the novel is most clearly displayed in his relationship with Tatyana Larina. Tatyana is the most beloved character for Alexander Sergeevich himself among all those ever created by him. She, brought up on novels, saw in Eugene the “same” type of romantic hero and sincerely fell in love with him. Her letter of confession, written in the summer of 1820, is a masterpiece of literary expression of human feelings.

It should be recognized that the female images in the novel "Eugene Onegin", and especially Tatyana Larina, are much more natural than the protagonist of the novel, divorced from real folk reality, hovering in his thoughts. She, unlike the main character, has such a personality trait as closeness to the people's perception of the world, sincerity. She calls the noise and fuss of the world "the rags of a masquerade." Vissarion Belinsky called this display of "Russianness" in the image of Tatyana (which was completely absent in Evgenia) - a feat.

Indeed, before Pushkin's Tatyana, people and representatives of the nobility were rather opposed in art, but not associated in principle.

Test of Friendship

The literary hero Onegin is distinguished by "the soul of direct nobility." As Pushkin writes about him, Evgeny is a “good fellow” and his personal friend. Moreover, in one of his own illustrations for the novel, he shows himself next toOnegin at the railing of the Nevsky Bridge. Eugene is attached by soul to friends. An example is his friendship with Vladimir Lensky, an enthusiastic eighteen-year-old poet. He, having received an education in Germany, was imbued with the spirit of romanticism there. Being a poet, he is energetic, smartly composes enthusiastic poems. However, the analysis of Onegin shows that this friendship proceeds according to the laws of high society. In addition to spending pleasant time together at balls and at a party, as well as friendly advice to each other, such friendship assumed a huge ego for each of the young people. This fully allowed for the nurturing of mutual insults, and the opportunity to take revenge on a friend for some minor and temporary inconvenience.

The story of the duel between Onegin and Lensky on January 14, 1821, which ended tragically for the latter, looks absolutely stupid from the point of view of elementary common sense. Following the concepts of light, fearing to be branded as a coward, Eugene Onegin, who has a cold sharp mind, did not cancel the duel. The heroes of the novel, of course, could settle their relationship without resorting to weapons. The morals of high society imposed on them from the outside a depressive and inadequate pattern of behavior.

Eugene Onegin after the duel

In the winter of 1821, Onegin sets out on a journey. This was the custom among duelists - to leave, so that later, upon arrival, the gossip would subside. And Tatyana is getting married at the same time. Onegin, in 1823/1824, lives in Odessa (the chronology coincides with Pushkin's stay there). And in the winter of 1824/1825 he returned to St. Petersburg.

Here he meets Tatyana. He is already sincere. Ice his heartmelted. Eugene declares his love … However, Tatyana is already different … The mother of the family, the husband's wife, the keeper of the hearth. Above the movements of her soul, she feels a personal responsibility for the preservation of her family.

Pushkin… Onegin… Tatyana… What a wonderful picture of feelings the great master of the word has portrayed!

Significance of the image

Starting with Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, a tradition of depicting "heroes of time" appears in Russian literature. The classics, beginning precisely with Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, began to wonder who he was - a typical person for this time, who determines the progress of society. Following Pushkin's hero, Lermontov's Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin appeared before the public. A comparative description of Onegin and Pechorin shows that they are both nobles, their skepticism, disbelief in many ways are the fruits of Russia's internal gendarme policy after the events of December 14, a policy of distrust towards people. The essence of both these personalities is a protest against the surrounding reality, the desire to find and realize oneself.

Conclusion

The image of Onegin is a landmark for Pushkin's work. His juiciness and artistry have been admired and admired. This is not a gray personality, he is a textured character. He is distinguished by a deep mind, the ability to analyze and determine the real motives and levers of the process. He is good with people. Various images in the novel "Eugene Onegin" seem to be attracted by the magnetism of the protagonist of the novel.

It also has traitsautobiographical. However, the poet does not fully associate himself with Onegin. He does not idealize Eugene, pointing out his inherent shortcomings. He calls him his friend. Alexander Sergeevich associates himself with the “voice from the author.”

Pushkin's novel, as you know, ends with an unfinished action. Therefore, each reader himself has the right to independently speculate - whether Eugene will be able to find himself, or whether he will live his life in this way - aimlessly.