Why is Evgeny Onegin called the “superfluous man”?
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« Evgeny Onegin" - the first Russian realistic socio-psychological novel, central work Pushkin, written by him in 1830. In the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” by A.S. Pushkin, a new type of hero, not previously encountered in Russian literature, is revealed - “ extra person" IN this work his role is played title character. Characteristics this personality: the meaninglessness and purposelessness of existence, lack of understanding of one’s place and role in life, disappointment, boredom, melancholy, “sharp, chilled mind”, judgments and interests that differ from generally accepted ones. In order to make sure that Onegin was a “superfluous person” , let's look at his biography. Eugene is a representative of the nobility, which was very important for the “superfluous man,” since the peasant could not relate to this type. Only a representative of the nobility can lead a lifestyle similar to a “superfluous man”: the nobles lived off the labor of others, did not know how to work, were smart and educated, unlike the peasants. It was from this great mind that Eugene came to realize his meaningless existence, which led the hero to suffering. Onegin is a secular man, not burdened with service. The young man leads a vain, carefree life full of entertainment, but he is not satisfied with the pastime that quite suits the people of his circle. Onegin was smarter than them, he thought and felt subtly, so he was worried and tormented by his aimless life, he did not want to devote it only to entertainment, like they did. Since Eugene was a nobleman, he was used to living on everything ready-made. Onegin was not accustomed to anything persistent and long-term; he was bored with monotonous work. Any systematic activity leads to disappointment. His upbringing did not teach him to work hard, he was bored with everything, and this led to thoughts about the worthlessness of his life, disappointment in it, boredom and sadness:
In short: Russian blues
I mastered it little by little;
He will shoot himself, thank God,
I didn't want to try
But I lost interest in life completely
Onegin tried to occupy himself with creativity, began to read books, but even here his efforts were in vain:
I read and read, but to no avail:
There is boredom, there is deception and delirium;
There is no conscience in that, there is no meaning in that
The hero is forced to leave St. Petersburg and move to the village. This circumstance gives rise to hope in his destiny for better life. Arriving in the village, Evgeniy tried to take up farming and eased the situation of the peasants on his estate: “he replaced the ancient corvée with a light quitrent.” But this does not occupy him for long.
The “superfluous person” perceives relationships with other people as something boring. The peculiarity of such a person is the inability to establish long-term relationships, because they bore him just like any other activity. He does not want to communicate with neighbors who can only talk “about haymaking and wine, about the kennel and their relatives.” Onegin prefers loneliness. For this, Evgeniy receives an unflattering description from the landowners: “Our neighbor is ignorant; crazy; he is a pharmacist...”
Evgeniy’s friendship with Lensky also ends tragically. Only with Vladimir Lensky One
Evgeny Onegin - the type of “superfluous man”
The novel "Eugene Onegin", written by A. S. Pushkin in 1823 - 1831, truly became the first truly realistic work. In it, the author reliably depicted contemporary reality, recreated a typical image in the image of Eugene Onegin young man 20s of the XIX century.
This is a representative of freedom-loving youth, but at the same time, bored, disappointed and dissatisfied. Onegin lives according to the principles of the surrounding society, but at the same time he is far from it in his interests and in his moral character, he turns out to be a “superfluous person.” Eugene Onegin opens up a whole “gallery of superfluous people” in Russian literature.
Let's try to explain the reasons why Onegin found himself outside the life around him. He received a typical education for his time, he was raised by the French:
At first Madame followed him.
Then Monsieur replaced her...
The home education Onegin received was very superficial. He learned “a little something and somehow.” As a result
He's completely French
He could express himself and wrote;
I danced the mazurka easily
And I'm having fun...
This was quite enough for “the world to decide that he was smart and very nice.” According to his social status, Onegin belonged to high society and led a typical lifestyle for this circle: attending theaters, balls, and receptions. The author describes in detail the routine for the “young rake”, but it turns out that Onegin has long been tired of this way of life, “he was bored with the noise of the world”, he “had completely lost interest in life”. The author tries to find the reasons for Onegin’s “Russian blues”.
Eugene Onegin lives in a secular society, follows its laws, but at the same time he is alien to it. The reason for this lies not in society, but in himself. Onegin lives without a goal in life, he has nothing to strive for, he languishes in inaction. Tired of the bright, hectic life of the world, “Onegin locked himself at home,” he tries to join in some activity:
I wanted to write, but it’s hard work
He felt sick; Nothing
It didn't come from his pen...
Onegin begins to read, but soon he “covered the shelf with books with mourning taffeta.” Onegin does not find a place for himself in life. He leaves St. Petersburg and goes to the village in the hope of finding himself, but even here, only for two days, a new solitary place seemed to him. And soon he “saw clearly that in the village there was the same boredom.” And here he turns out to be an “extra person.” Onegin is alien to provincial society, first of all, in his social status and education.
Here Evgeny has to go through two most serious tests: friendship and love, but he does not withstand them. Onegin kills his friend Lensky in a duel, and in his relationship with Tatyana such a trait of his character as selfishness manifests itself. Onegin could have prevented the death of his friend; it was in his will to prevent the duel, but he did not do this, being afraid " public opinion" As V. G. Belinsky accurately noted, Onegin is a “suffering egoist,” “a reluctant egoist.” This means that Eugene was a man with good inclinations, but he was spoiled by his secular upbringing and the social environment to which he belonged.
In his relationship with Tatyana, this negative trait of his character also manifested itself. Having read a letter from a young girl in which she confesses her love to him, Onegin responds with coldness and reprimands her. There may be two explanations for this: on the one hand, Onegin did not want to lose his freedom by marrying Tatyana, and on the other, he saw in her a provincial girl, unequal to him in social status. The latter is also confirmed by the fact that, having met Tatyana for the second time as a society lady who has become a “trendsetter,” Onegin passionately falls in love with the inaccessible princess, but now he has to listen to the refusal. Onegin again experiences disappointment, he again turns out to be “an unnecessary, superfluous person.”
The image of Evgeny Onegin is very contradictory. Negative traits his character - individualism, selfishness, coldness, practical inactivity - are combined in him with positive ones, such as “direct nobility of soul.” In him we see signs of progressiveness and enlightenment. The image of Eugene Onegin is typical of the era described in the novel, but at the same time he stands out from the environment to which he belongs. First of all, he is distinguished by a “sharp, cooled mind”, a penchant for “caustic argument” and “a joke with bile in half.” He is far from the secular and provincial nobility, which he surpasses with his intelligence, but he cannot be classified as a progressive youth, since he has no ideal in life to strive for.
Thus, Eugene Onegin becomes a “superfluous man.” Belonging to the light, he despises it. Onegin does not find his true purpose and place in life; he is burdened by his loneliness. In the words of Herzen, “Onegin... is an extra person in the environment where he is, not possessing the necessary strength of character to break out of it.”
Evgeny Onegin is an extra person.
The novel in verse by the great Russian poet and writer A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin” is named after the main character, whose image in Russian literature is considered to be “an extra person.”
From the work we learn that our hero is a young St. Petersburg aristocrat, who received a shallow and typical noble education for that time and was raised by a tutor, who “...taught the child everything in jest, / Didn’t bother him with strict morals...”.
Like all the “golden youth,” Eugene leads a luxurious and idle life, attending balls, theaters, and restaurants, while the young man achieves perfection in the “science of tender passion,” in which “he was a true genius.” But such an empty way of life soon bored him.
Home distinctive feature or even Onegin’s strangeness was his dissatisfaction and desire to find his place in life, since the secular environment in its own way stifled him. The young man, with his extraordinary mind, was critical of reality, and as a result of this attitude, he developed high demands on life. But at one time, no one taught Evgeniy how to work, so all his attempts to occupy himself with something useful activity were in vain.
Despite the fact that the young aristocrat was dissatisfied and even despised secular society, he obeyed its laws, fashion and did not try to change anything.
The hero only suppressed his irritation from having to do something that he did not see the point in, and other conflicts that overwhelmed Onegin. All these are symptoms of such an ailment as “Russian blues” or “English spleen”.
Although Evgeny Onegin was a calculating man with great potential and stood noticeably above the typical representatives of the “society,” his dependence on this society and consideration for the opinions of others deprived his soul of rebellion, dooming him to a superficial attitude towards everything. That is why the young man could not remain himself.
But the whole trouble is that Onegin is an egoist. The famous critic Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky called him a “reluctant egoist” or a “suffering egoist.” In this concept, he emphasizes mainly the influence of the hero’s environment in which he is brought up and grows. “The Light” forced Onegin to try on the mask of a cold and cynical person, living only by logic in order to suppress the voice of his heart. However, the mask gives a small crack when Evgeniy writes a letter to Tatyana Larina, into which he puts his whole soul, at that moment a true romantic takes over his impassive and chilled mind.
If he had listened to his heart from the very beginning, everything would have ended much better. Onegin would have had a chance for more happy life. Belinsky noted “Evil is hidden not in a person, but in society.”
Thus, Onegin’s personality is exceptionally deep and interesting, but his transformation into a “superfluous person” was inevitable, since it was society that made Eugene Onegin such.
Word count: 415.
Updated: 2017-04-14
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With the advent of the innovative novel by A.S. Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” entered Russian literature and a new literary type- “an extra person.” He is also known as the "Byronic hero" as he was popularized by the English poet George Byron. They called it the "superfluous man" literary hero belonging to the upper class, who, having abilities and prospects, cannot realize himself or find his place in life.
TO typical features“extra person” includes mental fatigue, deep skepticism, boredom and social passivity.
So is brief portrait the main character of A.S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”. But we will look at this image in more detail. This is a young rich nobleman who received an estate in the village as an inheritance from his uncle. And although Eugene Onegin is a unique character in Russian literature, he is completely ordinary for society. After all, Pushkin endowed him with features typical of that time socialite and a young rake. Eugene “had his hair cut in the latest fashion, dressed like a London dandy,” “he could speak and write in French perfectly,” “he danced the mazurka easily,” and “bowed at ease.”
But the author showed him as a man with a complex, contradictory character, which was also typical for that time. Onegin is too smart to be satisfied with life, himself, and those around him. He lost interest in social entertainment early on, and was shackled by boredom, melancholy, disappointment in society, skepticism - in general, the “blues” - a disease of “superfluous people”, a disease of an entire era.
The origins of this leprosy in most cases are in childhood. Little Eugene received the same upbringing as other noble boys. His French teacher “taught him everything jokingly,” “didn’t bother him with strict morals,” so Onegin received a superficial education. But he brilliantly knew social manners, knew how to dance, conduct a conversation, charm the ladies, and was a welcome guest at parties and balls. But their monotony and forced politeness became boring for the hero. And he became alien to this society.
Evgeny changes his situation - he moves to the village, but even there he lives as a recluse. Nature does not admire him, work was completely disgusting to him, he also found the conversations of provincial society boring and completely uninformative for himself. The only people he became friends with were a young man from a neighboring estate - Vladimir Lensky and the Larin family. Onegin developed a very strange relationship with the first: being completely different, “like ice and fire,” they found general topics for conversations and spent a lot of time together. However, Evgeny did not feel any attachment to the enthusiastic and dreamy romantic; he simply killed the boredom in varied conversations with him, in caustic jokes and arguments. Onegin did not value his friendship and as a result lost his only potential comrade.
With the Larin family, or rather with eldest daughter Tatiana and Evgeniy were connected precisely by love feelings. He managed to win the heart of a silent, sad girl, but since family life The hero seemed to be a complete boredom, a burdensome union, Onegin rejected Tatyana’s feelings. Later he realizes his mistake and explains himself, but even then he remains completely alone.
Yes, loneliness is the sad lot of the “extra person.” This type of literary hero is disappointed in the values of the world; he is not pleased with wealth, entertainment, nature, or art. He is dissatisfied with the surrounding society, cannot find a place for himself in it, and therefore is doomed to live in boredom and blues. And such is the fate of Evgeny Onegin. He is superfluous everywhere, suffering rudely and sincerely from his uselessness. Onegin is, indeed, the first “extra person” in Russian literature, but not the first in Russian society.
Updated: 2018-03-08
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With the poem “Eugene Onegin,” Pushkin began the theme of “superfluous” people in Russian literature. Following him, this problem was developed by Griboedov in the play “Woe from Wit”, M. Lermontov in the story “Hero of Our Time”, Turgenev in “Fathers and Sons” and in “Notes of an Extra Man”, Goncharov in “Oblomov” and other writers of that time .
Russian literature second half of the 19th century century brought to the fore the education of a new person, active, proactive and useful to society. That's when this expression first appeared - extra people. As a rule, these are wealthy and educated people. They are able to purposefully serve their fatherland and society. Capable, but unwilling. Service often meant fighting for democratic freedoms.
But Pushkin and his contemporaries were influenced by Byronic romanticism. They created images of dissatisfied, bored skeptics. An extra person in the early romantic literature Aleko appeared from, having fled from civilized society to a gypsy camp, but in it he did not find his place and purpose in life. Aleko served as a predecessor as a literary hero.
Why do we consider Evgeny Onegin an unnecessary person? It would seem that before us is a young man who has everything ahead. But Evgeniy lives. While he lived in St. Petersburg, all that interested him was entertainment: balls, theaters, drinking with friends, women, intrigue. The daily repetition of the same entertainment, the same conversations, the same faces led our hero to a skeptical attitude towards people.
Onegin does not seek to start a family, he does not serve anywhere. He lives on income from the peasants, but even here he does not lift a finger to somehow increase productivity or improve the lives of those who belong to him. No. We must give him credit for replacing corvee with quitrent, for which the peasants were grateful to him, and the neighboring landowners were wary. This was the end of his economic work. If we recall the famous proverb, we can say that Onegin did not build a house, did not plant a tree, and did not give birth to a child.
Onegin was capable of intrigue in order to disperse the blood and have fun. When he started flirting with someone on his name day, he didn't think much about the consequences. After all, a young and pretty creature with a doll-like face could take his flirting at face value and fall in love. He didn’t care how his advances with Olga were perceived or how she felt. It was important for him to stroke his own ego and infuriate him.
He does not talk about where Onegin went after the duel, where he was before meeting Tatyana. But having met Onegin in St. Petersburg, we again see an idle man who now consoles himself with love for someone else’s wife, and sees the meaning of his existence in the fact that he follows her to all the social events where she happens.
Literary critics believe that “extra people” appeared due to some kind of social instability, and if Russia were different social order, and a different political situation, they would not have existed. But that's not true. We can name many examples of people who lived and worked in these same years and in the same social social order, and at the same time gained fame, created a fortune for their descendants (that is, who grew a tree and built a house). Examples? We won't go far for them. These are the authors literary works who wrote the books mentioned. By the way, Onegin tried to take up the pen and write something, but it didn’t work out. Laziness and inability to do socially significant work turned out to be stronger than him.
But it wasn’t even laziness that gave birth to extra people. She herself was born from the absence of any purpose.
One of the literary critics The thought flashed that Onegin would take the path of fighting the autocracy and would end up in the ranks of the Decembrists. If this happens, it will not be out of conviction that one is right, and a desire to free the country from tyranny. But only out of a desire to occupy my idle mind with something, to get the adrenaline pumping in my blood.