Pushkin worked on the novel for over eight years. The novel was, according to Pushkin, “the fruit of a mind of cold observations and a heart of sorrowful observations.” Pushkin called his work a feat - of all his creative heritage, only “Boris Godunov” he characterized with the same word. Against a broad background of pictures of Russian life, the dramatic fate of the best people of the noble intelligentsia is shown.

Pushkin began work on Onegin in 1823, during his southern exile. The author abandoned romanticism as the leading creative method and began to write a realistic novel in verse, although the influence of romanticism is still noticeable in the first chapters. Initially, it was assumed that the novel in verse would consist of 9 chapters, but Pushkin subsequently reworked its structure, leaving only 8 chapters. He excluded the chapter “Onegin’s Travels” from the work, which he included as an appendix. One chapter also had to be completely excluded from the novel: it describes how Onegin sees military settlements near the Odessa pier, and then there are comments and judgments, in some places in a too harsh tone. It was too dangerous to leave this chapter - Pushkin could be arrested for revolutionary views, so he destroyed this chapter.

The novel was published in verse in separate chapters, and the release of each chapter became a major event in modern literature. The first chapter of the novel was published in 1825. In 1831, the novel in verse was completed and published in 1833. It covers events from 1819 to 1825: from the foreign campaigns of the Russian army after the defeat of Napoleon to the Decembrist uprising. These were the years of development of Russian society, the reign of Alexander I. The plot of the novel is simple and well known. At the center of the novel is a love affair. The novel “Eugene Onegin” reflected the events of the first quarter of the 19th century, that is, the time of creation and the time of action of the novel approximately coincide.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin created a novel in verse similar to Lord Byron’s poem “Don Juan”. Having defined the novel as “a collection of motley chapters,” Pushkin emphasizes one of the features of this work: the novel is, as it were, “open” in time, each chapter could be the last, but it could also have a continuation. And thus the reader draws attention to the independence of each chapter of the novel. The novel has become an encyclopedia of Russian life in the 1820s, since the breadth of the novel’s coverage shows readers the whole reality of Russian life, as well as a multi-plot and description of different eras.

This is what gave V. G. Belinsky the basis to conclude in his article “Eugene Onegin”:

“Onegin can be called an encyclopedia of Russian life and a highly folk work.”

In the novel, as in the encyclopedia, you can find out everything about the era: how they dressed, what was in fashion, what people valued most, what they talked about, what interests they lived. “Eugene Onegin” reflects the whole of Russian life. Briefly, but quite clearly, the author showed a fortress village, lordly Moscow, secular St. Petersburg. Pushkin truthfully depicted the environment in which the main characters of his novel, Tatyana Larina and Evgeny Onegin, live. The author reproduced the atmosphere of the city noble salons in which Onegin spent his youth.

The novel is written in a special “Onegin stanza”. Each stanza consists of 14 lines of iambic tetrameter.

The first four lines rhyme crosswise, lines five through eight rhyme in pairs, lines nine through twelfth are connected in a ring rhyme. The remaining 2 lines of the stanza rhyme with each other.

Image of Evgeny Onegin

The novel “Eugene Onegin” was created by Pushkin over the course of eight years (from 1823 to 1831). If the first chapters of the novel were written by a young poet, almost a youth, then the final chapters were written by a person with considerable life experience. This “growing up” of the poet is reflected in this work.
The main character - Eugene Onegin - just like the poet himself, grows up, gets smarter, gains life experience, loses friends, gets mistaken, suffers. What are the stages of his life?
With the title of the novel, Pushkin emphasizes the central position of Onegin among other heroes of the work.
Onegin is a secular young man, a metropolitan aristocrat, who received a typical upbringing for that time under the guidance of a French tutor - education in the spirit of literature, divorced from national and popular soil. He leads the lifestyle of the “golden youth”: balls, walks along Nevsky Prospect, visiting theaters. Although Eugene studied “something and somehow,” he still has a high level of culture, differing in this respect from the majority of noble society.
Pushkin's hero is a product of this society, but at the same time he is alien to it. His nobility of soul and “sharp, cool mind” set him apart from the aristocratic youth and gradually lead to disappointment in life and dissatisfaction with the political and social situation:

No: his feelings cooled down early;
He was tired of the noise of the world;
The beauties didn't last long
The subject of his usual thoughts;
The betrayals have become tiresome;
Friends and friendship are tired,
Then, I couldn’t always
Beef-steaks and Strasbourg pie
Pouring a bottle of champagne
And pour out sharp words,
When you had a headache;
And although he was an ardent rake,
But he finally fell out of love
And scolding, and saber, and lead.

The emptiness of life torments Onegin, he is overcome by melancholy and boredom, and he leaves secular society, trying to engage in socially useful activities.
The lordly upbringing and lack of habit of work (“he was sick of persistent work”) played their role, and Onegin does not complete any of his undertakings. He lives “without purpose, without work.” In the village, Onegin behaves humanely towards the peasants, but does not think about their fate; he is more tormented by his own moods, the feeling of the emptiness of life.
Having broken with secular society, cut off from the life of the people, he loses touch with people. He rejects the love of Tatyana Larina, a gifted, morally pure girl, unable to unravel the depths of her needs and the uniqueness of her nature. Onegin kills his friend Lensky in a duel, succumbing to class prejudices, afraid of “the whispers, the laughter of fools.”
In a depressed state of mind, he leaves the village and begins wandering around Russia. These wanderings give him the opportunity to look at life more fully, reevaluate his attitude to the surrounding reality, and understand how fruitlessly he wasted his life.
Onegin returns to the capital and finds the same picture of the entertainment of secular society. His love for Tatyana, now a married woman, flares up in him. But Tatyana unraveled the selfishness and selfishness underlying feelings for her, and rejected Onegin’s love. Through Onegin's love for Tatyana, Pushkin shows that his hero is capable of moral rebirth. This is a person who has not cooled down to everything; the forces of life are still boiling in him, which, according to the poet’s plan, should have awakened in Onegin the desire for social activity.
The image of Eugene Onegin opens up a whole gallery of “superfluous people” in Russian literature. Following him, the images of Pechorin, Oblomov, Rudin, and Laevsky were created. All these characters are an artistic reflection of Russian reality.

History of creation

Pushkin began work on Onegin in 1823, during his southern exile. The author abandoned romanticism as the leading creative method and began to write a realistic novel in verse, although the influence of romanticism is still noticeable in the first chapters. Initially, it was assumed that the novel in verse would consist of 9 chapters, but Pushkin subsequently reworked its structure, leaving only 8 chapters. He excluded the chapter “Onegin’s Travels” from the work, which he included as an appendix. After this, the tenth chapter of the novel was written, which is an encrypted chronicle of the life of the future Decembrists.

The novel was published in verse in separate chapters, and the release of each chapter became a major event in modern literature. In 1831, the novel in verse was completed and published in 1833. It covers events from 1819 to 1825: from the foreign campaigns of the Russian army after the defeat of Napoleon to the Decembrist uprising. These were the years of development of Russian society, during the reign of Tsar Alexander I. The plot of the novel is simple and well known. At the center of the novel is a love affair. And the main problem is the eternal problem of feelings and duty. The novel “Eugene Onegin” reflected the events of the first quarter of the 19th century, that is, the time of creation and the time of action of the novel approximately coincide. Reading the book, we (the readers) understand that the novel is unique, because previously there was not a single novel in verse in world literature. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin created a novel in verse similar to Byron’s poem “Don Juan”. Having defined the novel as “a collection of motley chapters,” Pushkin emphasizes one of the features of this work: the novel is, as it were, “open” in time, each chapter could be the last, but it could also have a continuation. And thus the reader draws attention to the independence of each chapter of the novel. The novel has become an encyclopedia of Russian life of the 20s of the century before last, since the breadth of coverage of the novel shows readers the whole reality of Russian life, as well as the multiplicity of plots and descriptions of different eras. This is what gave V. G. Belinsky the basis to conclude in his article “Eugene Onegin”:

“Onegin can be called an encyclopedia of Russian life and a highly folk work.”

In the novel, as in the encyclopedia, you can find out everything about the era: how they dressed, what was in fashion, what people valued most, what they talked about, what interests they lived. “Eugene Onegin” reflects the whole of Russian life. Briefly, but quite clearly, the author showed a fortress village, lordly Moscow, secular Petersburg. Pushkin truthfully depicted the environment in which the main characters of his novel, Tatyana Larina and Evgeny Onegin, live. The author reproduced the atmosphere of the city noble salons in which Onegin spent his youth.

Plot

The novel begins with a grumpy speech by the young nobleman Eugene Onegin, dedicated to the illness of his uncle, which forced him to leave St. Petersburg and go to the sick bed in the hope of becoming the heir of the dying man. The narrative itself is told on behalf of the nameless author, who introduced himself as a good friend of Onegin. Having thus outlined the plot, the author devotes the first chapter to a story about the origin, family, and life of his hero before receiving news of a relative’s illness.

Lotman

"Eugene Onegin" is a difficult work. The very lightness of the verse, the familiarity of the content, familiar to the reader from childhood and emphatically simple, paradoxically create additional difficulties in understanding Pushkin’s novel in verse. The illusory idea of ​​the “understandability” of a work hides from the consciousness of the modern reader a huge number of words, expressions, phraseological units, hints, and quotes that are incomprehensible to him. Thinking about a poem that you have known since childhood seems like unjustified pedantry. However, once we overcome this naive optimism of the inexperienced reader, it becomes obvious how far we are from even a simple textual understanding of the novel. The specific structure of Pushkin’s novel in verse, in which any positive statement by the author can immediately and imperceptibly be turned into an ironic one, and the verbal fabric seems to slide, transmitted from one speaker to another, makes the method of forcibly extracting quotes especially dangerous. To avoid this threat, the novel should be considered not as a mechanical sum of the author’s statements on various issues, a kind of anthology of quotes, but as an organic artistic world, the parts of which live and receive meaning only in relation to the whole. A simple list of problems that Pushkin “poses” in his work will not introduce us to the world of “Onegin”. An artistic idea implies a special type of transformation of life in art. It is known that for Pushkin there was a “devilish difference” between poetic and prosaic modeling of the same reality, even while maintaining the same themes and problematics.

Comments on the novel

One of the first comments on the novel was a small book by A. Volsky, published in 1877. Commentaries by Vladimir Nabokov, Nikolai Brodsky, Yuri Lotman, S. M. Bondi became classic.

Psychologists about the work

Influence on other works

• The type of “superfluous man” introduced by Pushkin in the image of Onegin influenced all subsequent Russian literature. The closest visual example is the surname "Pechorin" in Lermontov’s “Hero of Our Time,” just as Onegin’s surname is derived from the name of a Russian river. Many psychological characteristics are also similar.
• In the modern Russian novel "Onegin Code", written under a pseudonym Brain Down, we are talking about the search for the missing chapter of Pushkin’s manuscript.
• In Yesenin's poem "Anna Snegina".

Notes

Links

• Pushkin A. S. Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse // Pushkin A. S. Complete Works: In 10 volumes - L.: Science. Leningr. department, 1977-1979. (FEB)
• “Eugene Onegin” with full comments by Nabokov, Lotman and Tomashevsky on the “Secrets of Craft” website
• Lotman Yu. M. Novel in verses by Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”: Special course. Introductory lectures to the study of text // Lotman Yu. M. Pushkin: Biography of the writer; Articles and notes, 1960-1990; "Eugene Onegin": Commentary. - St. Petersburg: Art-SPB, 1995. - P. 393-462. (FEB)
• Lotman Yu. M. Roman A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”: Commentary: A manual for teachers // Lotman Yu. M. Pushkin: Biography of the writer; Articles and notes, 1960-1990; "Eugene Onegin": Commentary. - St. Petersburg: Art-SPB, 1995. - P. 472-762. (FEB)
• Onegin Encyclopedia: In 2 volumes - M.: Russian Way, 1999-2004.
• Zakharov N.V. Onegin Encyclopedia: thesaurus of the novel (Onegin Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. / Under the general editorship of N. I. Mikhailova. M., 2004) // Knowledge. Understanding. Skill. - 2005. - No. 4. - P. 180-188.
• Fomichev S. A. “Eugene Onegin”: Movement of the plan. - M.: Russian way, 2005.
• Bely A.A. "Genie ou neige" Questions of literature No. 1, . P.115.

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2010.

The history of the creation of the novel "Eugene Onegin"

Pushkin worked on the novel for over seven years. During this time, much has changed in Pushkin’s life and in the nature of his work. The most important thing was that since 1925 he turned from a romantic poet into a realist poet. If earlier, like any romantic, in his poems, his main task was to pour out his soul, to reflect in the plots and images of the poems his own feelings, experiences, suffering inflicted on him in life, then becoming a realist artist, he strives not so much talk about yourself as about life itself, not so much to pour out your feelings, but to carefully observe, study, and artistically generalize the surrounding reality.

Pushkin began work on Onegin in 1823, during his southern exile. The author abandoned romanticism as the leading creative method and began to write a realistic novel in verse, although the influence of romanticism is still noticeable in the first chapters. Initially, it was assumed that the novel in verse would consist of 9 chapters, but Pushkin subsequently reworked its structure, leaving only 8 chapters. He excluded the chapter “Onegin’s Travels” from the work, which he included as an appendix. After this, the tenth chapter of the novel was written, which is an encrypted chronicle of the life of the future Decembrists.

The novel was published in verse in separate chapters, and the release of each chapter became a major event in modern literature. In 1831, the novel in verse was completed and published in 1833. It covers events from 1819 to 1825: from the foreign campaigns of the Russian army after the defeat of Napoleon to the Decembrist uprising. These were the years of development of Russian society, the reign of Tsar Alexander I. The plot of the novel is simple and well known. At the center of the novel is a love affair. And the main problem is the eternal problem of feelings and duty. The novel “Eugene Onegin” reflected the events of the first quarter of the 19th century, that is, the time of creation and the time of action of the novel approximately coincide.

The novel is unique, because previously there was not a single novel in verse in world literature. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin created a novel in verse similar to Byron’s poem “Don Juan”. Having defined the novel as “a collection of motley chapters,” Pushkin emphasizes one of the features of this work: the novel is, as it were, “open” in time, each chapter could be the last, but it could also have a continuation. And thus the reader draws attention to the independence of each chapter of the novel. The novel has become an encyclopedia of Russian life of the 20s of the century before last, since the breadth of the novel’s coverage shows readers the whole reality of Russian life, as well as the multiplicity of plots and descriptions of different eras.

This is what gave the basis to V.G. Belinsky in his article “Eugene Onegin” concludes: “Onegin can be called an encyclopedia of Russian life and a highly folk work.”

In the novel, as in the encyclopedia, you can find out everything about the era: how they dressed, what was in fashion, what people valued most, what they talked about, what interests they lived. “Eugene Onegin” reflects the whole of Russian life. Briefly, but quite clearly, the author showed the fortress village, lordly Moscow, secular Petersburg. Pushkin truthfully depicted the environment in which the main characters of his novel, Tatyana Larina and Evgeny Onegin, live. The author reproduced the atmosphere of the city noble salons in which Onegin spent his youth.

At the very beginning of his work on Eugene Onegin, Pushkin wrote to the poet Vyazemsky: “I am now writing not a novel, but a novel in verse - a devilish difference.”

In fact, the poetic form gives Eugene Onegin features that sharply distinguish it from an ordinary prose novel. In poetry, the poet does not just tell or describe, he somehow especially excites us with the very form of his speech: rhythm, sounds. The poetic form conveys the poet’s feelings and excitement much more powerfully than the prosaic form. Each poetic turn, each metaphor acquires a special brightness and persuasiveness in poetry. Pushkin created a special form for his lyrical novel. The verses do not flow in a continuous stream, as in almost all of his poems, but are divided into small groups of lines - stanzas, with fourteen verses (lines) each, with a definition, a constantly repeating arrangement of rhymes - the so-called “Onegin stanza”, which consists of fourteen verses of iambic tetrameter. These fourteen verses are divided into four groups: three quatrains and one couplet (final).

The novel "Eugene Onegin" is written in verse. This is amazing: in a small book of a novel, the poet managed to reflect the life of the Russian people and nobility in the 19th century, managed to capture the life of Russia, the life and customs of many segments of the population. He managed to resolve one of the most difficult topics of human life - the topic of love. This is an eternal theme of Russian literature.

“Eugene Onegin” reflected the entire life of Russian society at the beginning of the 19th century. However, two centuries later, this work is interesting not only in historical and literary terms, but also in terms of the relevance of the questions that Pushkin posed to the reading public. Everyone, opening the novel, found something of their own in it, empathized with the characters, noted the lightness and mastery of the style. And quotes from this work have long become aphorisms, they are pronounced even by those who have not read the book itself.

A.S. Pushkin created this work for about 8 years (1823-1831). The history of the creation of “Eugene Onegin” began in Chisinau in 1823. It reflected the experience of “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, but the subject of the image was not historical and folklore characters, but modern heroes and the author himself. The poet also begins to work in line with realism, gradually abandoning romanticism. During the period of Mikhailovsky exile, he continued to work on the book, and completed it during his forced imprisonment in the village of Boldino (Pushkin was detained by cholera). Thus, the creative history of the work absorbed the most “fertile” years of the creator, when his skill evolved at breakneck speed. So his novel reflected everything that he learned during this time, everything that he knew and felt. Perhaps the work owes its depth to this circumstance.

The author himself calls his novel “a collection of motley chapters,” each of the 8 chapters has relative independence, because the writing of “Eugene Onegin” took a long time, and each episode opened a certain stage in Pushkin’s life. The book was published in parts, each release becoming an event in the world of literature. The complete edition was published only in 1837.

Genre and composition

A.S. Pushkin defined his work as a novel in verse, emphasizing that it is lyrical-epic: the plot line, expressed by the love story of the heroes (epic beginning), is adjacent to digressions and author’s reflections (lyrical beginning). This is why the genre of Eugene Onegin is called a “novel.”

"Eugene Onegin" consists of 8 chapters. In the first chapters, readers get acquainted with the central character Evgeny, move with him to the village and meet their future friend - Vladimir Lensky. Further, the drama of the story increases due to the appearance of the Larin family, especially Tatyana. The sixth chapter is the culmination of the relationship between Lensky and Onegin and the escape of the main character. And in the finale of the work there is a denouement of the storyline of Evgeniy and Tatiana.

Lyrical digressions are related to the narrative, but it is also a dialogue with the reader; they emphasize the “free” form, the closeness to an intimate conversation. The same factor can explain the incompleteness and openness of the ending of each chapter and the novel as a whole.

About what?

A young nobleman, already disillusioned with life, inherits an estate in the village and goes there, hoping to dispel his blues.

It begins with the fact that he was forced to sit with his sick uncle, who left his family nest to his nephew. However, the hero soon becomes bored with rural life; his existence would become unbearable if not for his acquaintance with the poet Vladimir Lensky. Friends are “ice and fire,” but differences did not interfere with friendly relations. will help you figure this out.

Lensky introduces his friend to the Larin family: the old mother, sisters Olga and Tatyana. The poet has long been in love with Olga, a flighty coquette. The character of Tatyana, who herself falls in love with Evgeny, is much more serious and integral. Her imagination had been picturing a hero for a long time; all that remained was for someone to appear. The girl suffers, is tormented, writes a romantic letter. Onegin is flattered, but understands that he cannot respond to such a passionate feeling, so he gives a harsh rebuke to the heroine. This circumstance plunges her into depression, she anticipates trouble. And trouble really came. Onegin decides to take revenge on Lensky because of an accidental disagreement, but chooses a terrible means: he flirts with Olga. The poet is offended and challenges yesterday's friend to a duel. But the culprit kills the “slave of honor” and leaves forever. The essence of the novel “Eugene Onegin” is not even to show all this. The main thing worth paying attention to is the description of Russian life and the psychologism of the characters, which develops under the influence of the depicted atmosphere.

However, the relationship between Tatiana and Evgeniy is not over. They meet at a social evening, where the hero sees not a naive girl, but a mature woman in full splendor. And he falls in love. He is also tormented and writes a message. And he meets with the same rebuke. Yes, the beauty did not forget anything, but it’s too late, she was “given to someone else”: . The failed lover is left with nothing.

The main characters and their characteristics

1. Evgeny Onegin is the main character of the novel. It carries within itself dissatisfaction with life, fatigue from it. Pushkin talks in detail about the environment in which the young man grew up, about how the environment shaped his character. Onegin's upbringing is typical of the nobles of those years: a superficial education aimed at being successful in decent society. He was not prepared for real business, but exclusively for secular entertainment. Therefore, from a young age I was tired of the empty glitter of balls. He has “direct nobility of soul” (he feels a friendly attachment to Lensky, does not seduce Tatyana, taking advantage of her love). The hero is capable of deep feelings, but is afraid of losing freedom. But, despite his nobility, he is an egoist, and narcissism underlies all his feelings. The essay contains the most detailed description of the character.
2. Very different from Tatyana Larina, this image appears ideal: an integral, wise, devoted nature, ready to do anything for love. She grew up in a healthy environment, in nature, and not in the light, so real feelings are strong in her: kindness, faith, dignity. The girl loves to read, and in books she drew a special, romantic image, shrouded in mystery. It was this image that was embodied in Evgenia. And Tatyana gave herself up to this feeling with all passion, truthfulness and purity. She did not seduce, did not flirt, but took upon herself the courage to confess. This brave and honest act did not find a response in Onegin’s heart. He fell in love with her seven years later, when she shone in the world. Fame and wealth did not bring happiness to the woman; she married someone she didn’t love, but Eugene’s courtship is impossible, family vows are sacred to her. More about this in the essay.
3. Tatiana's sister Olga is not of great interest, there is not a single sharp corner in her, everything is round, it is not for nothing that Onegin compares her to the moon. The girl accepts Lensky's advances. And any other person, because why not accept, she is flirtatious and empty. There is immediately a huge difference between the Larin sisters. The youngest daughter took after her mother, a flighty socialite who was forcibly imprisoned in the village.
4. However, it was the flirtatious Olga that the poet Vladimir Lensky fell in love with. Probably because it’s easy to fill the emptiness with your own content in dreams. The hero still burned with a hidden fire, felt subtly and analyzed little. He has high moral concepts, so he is alien to the light and is not poisoned by it. If Onegin talked and danced with Olga only out of boredom, then Lensky saw this as a betrayal, his former friend became an insidious tempter of a sinless girl. In Vladimir’s maximalist perception, this is immediately a break in relations and a duel. The poet lost in it. The author poses the question, what could await the character if the outcome is favorable? The conclusion is disappointing: Lensky would have married Olga, become an ordinary landowner and become vulgar in routine vegetation. You may also need .

Themes

• The main theme of the novel “Eugene Onegin” is extensive - this is Russian life. The book shows life and upbringing in the world, in the capital, village life, customs and activities, typical and at the same time unique portraits of characters are drawn. Almost two centuries later, the heroes contain features inherent in modern people; these images are deeply national.
• The theme of friendship is also reflected in Eugene Onegin. The main character and Vladimir Lensky were in close friendship. But can it be considered real? They got together by chance, out of boredom. Evgeniy sincerely became attached to Vladimir, who warmed the hero’s cold heart with his spiritual fire. However, just as quickly he is ready to insult a friend by flirting with his beloved, who is happy about it. Evgeny thinks only about himself, the feelings of other people are absolutely unimportant to him, so he could not save his comrade.
• Love is also an important theme of the work. Almost all writers talk about it. Pushkin was no exception. True love is expressed in the image of Tatiana. It can develop against all odds and remain for life. No one loved and will love Onegin as much as the main character. If you miss this, you remain unhappy for the rest of your life. Unlike the sacrificial, all-forgiving feelings of the girl, Onegin’s emotions are self-love. He was afraid of a timid girl who had fallen in love for the first time, for whose sake he would have to give up the disgusting but familiar light. But Evgeny was captivated by the cold, secular beauty, with whom visiting was already an honor, let alone loving her.
• Theme of the extra person. The trend of realism appears in Pushkin’s works. It was the environment that raised Onegin to be so disappointed. It was precisely this that preferred to see superficiality in the nobles, the focus of all their efforts on creating secular splendor. And nothing else is needed. On the contrary, upbringing in folk traditions, the company of ordinary people made the soul healthy and the nature whole, like Tatyana’s.
• Theme of devotion. Tatyana is faithful to her first and strongest love, but Olga is frivolous, changeable and ordinary. Larina's sisters are completely opposite. Olga reflects a typical secular girl, for whom the main thing is herself, her attitude towards her, and therefore she can change if there is a better option. As soon as Onegin said a couple of pleasant words, she forgot about Lensky, whose affection was much stronger. Tatyana’s heart is faithful to Evgeniy all her life. Even when he trampled on her feelings, she waited a long time and could not find another (again, unlike Olga, who was quickly consoled after Lensky's death). The heroine had to get married, but in her soul she continued to be faithful to Onegin, although love had ceased to be possible.

Problems

The problematics in the novel “Eugene Onegin” are very indicative. It reveals not only psychological and social, but also political shortcomings and even entire tragedies of the system. For example, the outdated, but no less creepy, drama of Tatyana’s mother is shocking. The woman was forced into marriage, and she broke under the pressure of circumstances, becoming an evil and despotic mistress of a hated estate. And here are the current problems raised

• The main problem that is raised throughout realism in general, and by Pushkin in Eugene Onegin in particular, is the destructive influence of secular society on the human soul. A hypocritical and greedy environment poisons the personality. It imposes external requirements of decency: a young man must know a little French, read a little fashionable literature, be decently and expensively dressed, that is, make an impression, seem, and not be. And all the feelings here are also false, they only seem. That is why secular society takes away the best from people, it cools the brightest flame with its cold deception.
• Eugenia’s blues is another problematic issue. Why does the main character become depressed? Not just because he was spoiled by society. The main reason is that he does not find the answer to the question: why is all this? Why does he live? To go to theaters, balls and receptions? The absence of a vector, direction of movement, awareness of the meaninglessness of existence - these are the feelings that overcome Onegin. Here we are faced with the eternal problem of the meaning of life, which is so difficult to find.
• The problem of selfishness is reflected in the image of the main character. Realizing that no one would love him in a cold and indifferent world, Eugene began to love himself more than anyone else in the world. Therefore, he doesn’t care about Lensky (he only relieves boredom), about Tatyana (she can take away his freedom), he thinks only about himself, but for this he is punished: he remains completely alone and is rejected by Tatyana.

Idea

The main idea of ​​the novel “Eugene Onegin” is to criticize the existing order of life, which dooms more or less extraordinary natures to loneliness and death. After all, there is so much potential in Evgenia, but there is no business, only social intrigue. There is so much spiritual fire in Vladimir, and besides death, only vulgarization in a feudal, suffocating environment can await him. There is so much spiritual beauty and intelligence in Tatyana, and she can only be the hostess of social evenings, dress up and carry on empty conversations.

People who do not think, do not reflect, do not suffer - these are the ones for whom the existing reality suits. This is a consumer society that lives at the expense of others, which shines while those “others” vegetate in poverty and filth. The thoughts that Pushkin thought about deserve attention to this day and remain important and pressing.

Another meaning of “Eugene Onegin”, which Pushkin laid down in his work, is to show how important it is to preserve individuality and virtue when temptations and fashions are rampant around, subjugating more than one generation of people. While Evgeny was chasing new trends and playing the cold and disappointed hero Byron, Tatyana listened to the voice of her heart and remained true to herself. Therefore, she finds happiness in love, albeit unrequited, and he finds only boredom in everything and everyone.

Features of the novel

The novel “Eugene Onegin” is a fundamentally new phenomenon in the literature of the early 19th century. He has a special composition - it is a “novel in verse”, a lyric-epic work of large volume. In lyrical digressions, the image of the author, his thoughts, feelings and ideas that he wants to convey to readers emerges.

Pushkin amazes with the ease and melodiousness of his language. His literary style is devoid of heaviness and didacticism; the author knows how to talk about complex and important things simply and clearly. Of course, a lot needs to be read between the lines, since harsh censorship was merciless even towards geniuses, but the poet is also not a natural person, so he was able to tell in the elegance of verse about the socio-political problems of his state, which were successfully hushed up in the press. It is important to understand that before Alexander Sergeevich, Russian poetry was different; he made a kind of “revolution of the game.”

The peculiarity also lies in the image system. Evgeny Onegin is the first in the gallery of “superfluous people”, who contain enormous potential that cannot be realized. Tatyana Larina “raised” female images from the place of “the main character needs to love someone” to an independent and complete portrait of a Russian woman. Tatyana is one of the first heroines who looks stronger and more significant than the main character, and does not hide in his shadow. This is how the direction of the novel “Eugene Onegin” manifests itself - realism, which will more than once open the theme of the superfluous person and touch upon the difficult fate of women. By the way, we also described this feature in the essay “”.

Realism in the novel "Eugene Onegin"

"Eugene Onegin" marks Pushkin's transition to realism. In this novel, the author first raises the topic of man and society. A personality is not perceived separately, it is part of a society that educates, leaves a certain imprint or completely shapes people.

The main characters are typical, but at the same time unique. Eugene is an authentic secular nobleman: disappointed, superficially educated, but at the same time not like those around him - noble, intelligent, observant. Tatyana is an ordinary provincial young lady: she was brought up on French novels, filled with the sweet dreams of these works, but at the same time she is “Russian in soul,” wise, virtuous, loving, harmonious in nature.

It is precisely in the fact that for two centuries readers see themselves and their acquaintances in the heroes, it is precisely in the inescapable relevance of the novel that its realistic orientation is expressed.

Criticism

The novel “Eugene Onegin” evoked a great response from readers and critics. According to E.A. Baratynsky: “Everyone interprets them in their own way: some praise them, others scold them, and everyone reads them.” Contemporaries criticized Pushkin for the “labyrinth of digressions”, for the insufficiently defined character of the main character, and careless language. The reviewer Thaddeus Bulgarin, who supported the government and conservative literature, especially distinguished himself.

However, V.G. understood the novel best. Belinsky, who called it “an encyclopedia of Russian life,” is a historical work, despite the absence of historical characters. Indeed, a modern lover of belles lettres can study Eugene Onegin from this point of view to learn more about the noble society of the early 19th century.

And a century later, the comprehension of the novel in verse continued. Yu.M. Lotman saw complexity and paradox in the work. This is not just a collection of quotes familiar from childhood, it is an “organic world”. All this proves the relevance of the work and its significance for Russian national culture.

What does it teach?

Pushkin showed the life of young people and how their fate could turn out. Of course, fate depends not only on the environment, but also on the heroes themselves, but the influence of society is undeniable. The poet showed the main enemy that affects young nobles: idleness, aimlessness of existence. Alexander Sergeevich’s conclusion is simple: the creator calls not to limit oneself to secular conventions and stupid rules, but to live life to the fullest, guided by moral and spiritual components.

These ideas remain relevant to this day; modern people are often faced with a choice: to live in harmony with themselves or to break themselves for the sake of some benefits or public recognition. By choosing the second path, chasing illusory dreams, you can lose yourself and discover with horror that your life is over and nothing has been done. This is what you need to fear most.

Eugene Onegin is the hero of the novel of the same name in verse, created by. The character has become one of the most striking, colorful types of Russian classical literature. The character of the hero combines dramatic experiences, cynicism, and an ironic perception of the world. The line of relationship with revealed the hero’s inner world, revealing the weak and strong sides of the nobleman.

History of character creation

The Russian classic began work on the composition in 1823, while in exile in Chisinau. By that time, Pushkin’s work had begun to move away from romantic traditions - the author turned to a realistic style of writing. The novel describes events from 1819 to 1825, the late period of the reign of the Emperor. The critic called Pushkin’s work “an encyclopedia of Russian life.” The characters in the poetic work reliably depict the social strata - nobility, landowners, peasantry - characteristic of the beginning of the 19th century, and the atmosphere of this time is conveyed with incredible accuracy.

While working on the creation of the novel, the author planned to present to the public the image of a hero typical of a secular noble society, contemporary with himself. At the same time, in the story of Eugene one can find features that bring Onegin closer to romantic characters, “superfluous people” who have lost interest in life, are bored, and are prone to bouts of blues. Alexander Pushkin wanted to make the hero a supporter of the Decembrist movement in the future, but due to strict censorship he abandoned this idea.

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The characteristics of the main character are carefully thought out by the writer. Pushkin scholars find in the description of Onegin’s character traits of Alexander Chaadaev, Alexander Griboedov and the author himself. The hero became a combination of the distinctive features of several prototypes and a collective image of the era. Researchers are still arguing over whether the hero was a “stranger” and “superfluous” person in the era or was an idle thinker who happily lived out his time.

For the genre of novel in verse, the Russian classic chose a special stanza, called “Onegin”. Alexander Sergeevich also introduced lyrical digressions on various topics into the essay. It cannot be said that the poet defines one main idea in the text - there are many of them, since the novel touches on many problems.

The fate and image of Evgeny Onegin

Alexander Sergeevich talks in detail about the hero’s biography of his childhood and youth. Onegin is a nobleman born in St. Petersburg. From childhood, the boy receives an upbringing typical of noble children. The child is raised by invited French tutors madame, monsieur l "Abbé. Their lessons are not particularly strict - the knowledge gained by Eugene is quite enough for years later to shine in the world with his wit, demonstrating “reading”, manners, and the ability to maintain small talk.

The character is a real dandy who knows a lot about fashion. Onegin dresses like an English dandy, and in his office there are “Combs, steel files, / Straight scissors, curved ones / And brushes of thirty kinds / For both nails and teeth. Ironizing the hero's narcissism, the narrator compares the St. Petersburg dandy with the windy Venus.

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Evgeny Onegin and Tatyana Larina

Evgeniy leads an idle lifestyle, is a regular guest at St. Petersburg balls, and attends ballets and performances. The young man is surrounded by the attention of the ladies, but over time, endless novels, the love of “according coquettes” begin to weigh down the hero, like the entire St. Petersburg world. Onegin's father, living in debt, squanders his fortune. Therefore, a letter from a rich uncle who is dying and calling his nephew to the village, which came to the character in the midst of the blues, becomes an opportunity for Onegin to try something new in life.

Soon the hero becomes the heir to his uncle's village estate. For some time, everything here seemed new to the young man and inspired by its beauty, but on the third day, the familiar views already caused Eugene boredom. At first, the neighboring landowners came to visit the new owner, but later, finding him cold and strange, they stopped visiting. At the same time, a young nobleman Vladimir Lensky arrives in the village. Having studied abroad, filled with freedom-loving speeches and having an ardent soul, the young man becomes interesting to Onegin.

Different, like poetry and prose, young people become friends “for want of anything to do.” Soon the St. Petersburg dandy is already bored in the company of the young romantic, whose speeches and ideas seem funny. Among other things, Vladimir shares with his friend his feelings for his neighbor’s daughter, and invites his friend to go visit the Larins to introduce his beloved. Without harboring hopes of seeing something interesting in the house of the village landowner, Evgeniy nevertheless agrees.

Olga and her older sister Tatyana evoke conflicting feelings in the character. On the way home, he shares his thoughts with Lensky, surprised that of the two girls he chose Olga, who was not interesting in anything except her beauty. Tatyana Larina seemed to Evgeny to be an interesting person, not like those ladies that the young man had previously seen in the world. Tatyana herself was greatly impressed by the appearance of the capital’s guest in their house. The inexperienced girl, brought up on French novels, immediately saw her betrothed in Evgenia.

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Evgeny Onegin and Vladimir Lensky

Overwhelmed by strong feelings, Tatyana writes a letter to the hero. Onegin, having experience in love affairs, decides not to play with the girl, not to deceive her feelings, but to teach the young landowner a lesson. Arriving again at the Larins, the young man openly tells Olga’s sister that he is not cut out for family life. The nobleman also advises the heroine to learn to control herself, because a dishonest person could be in his place: “Not everyone, like me, will understand you; /Inexperience leads to trouble.”

Time passes, Onegin no longer visits the Larins' house. Tatiana's name day is approaching. On the eve of the celebration, the girl sees a strange dream. She dreams that a bear is overtaking her in the forest. The predator picks up the heroine, emotionlessly submissive, brings her to the house and leaves her on the threshold. Meanwhile, a feast of evil spirits is taking place in the house, and Eugene himself sits at the head of the table. The girl's presence becomes obvious to the feasting guests - everyone wants to take possession of Tatyana. But suddenly all the evil spirits disappear - Onegin himself leads Larina to the bench.

At this moment Lensky and Olga enter the room - their arrival angers the hero. Suddenly the character takes out a long knife and kills Vladimir. Tatiana's dream becomes prophetic - her name day is colored by tragic events. Local landowners arrive at the Larins' house, and Lensky and Onegin are invited here. The poet's wedding to the beautiful Olga is due to take place soon, and the young hero is looking forward to this event. Evgeny, seeing Tatiana’s trembling gaze, gets irritated and decides to entertain himself by flirting with his younger sister.