The image of Tatyana Larina in Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”
Belinsky called Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin” “the most sincere work” of Alexander Sergeevich. And the author himself considered this novel his best creation. Pushkin worked on it with great passion, devoting his whole soul to creativity, all of yourself. And, undoubtedly, the images of the main characters of the novel are very close to the author. In each of them he reflected some of his own characteristics. They became almost family to Pushkin. The author is closest to the image of Tatyana, who, in essence, is the ideal of a Russian woman for Pushkin. This is exactly how he imagined a true Russian woman: sincere, fiery, trusting and, at the same time, possessing spiritual nobility, a sense of duty and a strong character.
In the portrait of Tatyana, Pushkin does not give an external appearance, but rather an internal portrait of her: “... Wild, sad, silent...”. This is an atypical image, attracting not with its beauty, but with its inner world. Pushkin emphasizes the difference between Tatyana and Olga:
Not your sister's beauty,
Nor the freshness of her ruddy
If she wouldn’t attract anyone’s eyes, he says about Tanya and then repeats more than once that Tatyana is ugly. But the image of this meek, thoughtful girl attracts the reader and the author himself with its charm and unusualness.
In the second chapter of the novel we meet a girl whose favorite circle of life consists of nature, books, the village world with stories nanny's tales, with her warmth and cordiality.
Thoughtfulness, her friend
From the most lullabies of days,
The flow of rural leisure
Decorated her with dreams.
Reading the novel, you will notice that in those stanzas where Tatyana is spoken about, there is always a description of nature. It is not for nothing that Pushkin many times conveys Tanya’s state of mind through images of nature; he thereby emphasizes the deep connection that exists between the village girl and nature. For example, after Onegin’s stern sermon, “dear Tanya’s youth fades: this is how the shadow of a barely born day dresses the storm.” Tanya’s farewell to her native places, native fields, meadows is accompanied by a tragic description of autumn:
Nature is tremulous, pale,
How the victim is lavishly decorated...
Tanya’s entire inner world is in tune with nature, with all its changes. Such closeness is one of the signs of a deep connection with the people, which Pushkin greatly valued and respected. The Song of the Girls, consoling Tanya, attachment to “Grey-haired Phillipyevna”, fortune-telling - all this again tells us about Tanya’s living connection with the folk element.
Tatyana (Russian soul,
Without knowing why)
With her cold beauty
I loved Russian winter.
Loneliness, alienation from others, gullibility and naivety allow the “tender dreamer” to confuse Onegin with the hero of the novel, to appropriate for herself “someone else’s delight”, “someone else’s sadness”.
But, soon seeing that the hero of her dreams is not at all what she imagined him to be, she tries to understand Onegin. The girl writes an ardent, passionate letter to Onegin and receives a stern sermon in response. But this coldness of Eugene does not kill Tanya’s love; the “stern conversation” in the garden only revealed to Tanya Onegin’s hard-heartedness, his ability to ruthlessly respond to sincere feelings. Probably, the birth of “that indifferent princess” with whom Onegin is struck and wounded in the eighth chapter begins already here.
But, meanwhile, even Lensky’s death did not destroy the deep feeling that Tatyana felt for Onegin:
And in cruel loneliness
Her passion burns more intensely,
And about distant Onegin
Her heart speaks louder.
Onegin left, and, it seems, irrevocably. But Tatiana, before visiting his house, continues to refuse everyone who wooed her. Only after visiting the “young cell” and seeing how and how Evgeniy lived, she agrees to go to the “bride market” in Moscow, because she begins to suspect something terrible for herself and for her love:
What is he? Is it really imitation?
An insignificant ghost, or else -
Muscovite in Harold's cloak?
interpretation of other people's whims,
Fashion vocabulary words?
Isn't he a parody?
Although Eugene’s inner world is not limited to the books he read >
Tanya does not understand this and, making erroneous conclusions, becomes disappointed in love and in her hero. Now she faces a boring road to Moscow and the noisy bustle of the capital.
In the “district young lady” Tatiana, “everything is outside, everything is free.” In the eighth chapter we meet the indifferent princess”, “the legislator of the hall”. The old Tanya, in whom “everything was quiet, everything was simple,” has now become a model of “impeccable taste,” a “true ingot” of nobility and sophistication.
But it cannot be said that now she is truly an “indifferent princess”, incapable of experiencing sincere feelings, and that not a trace remains of the former naive and timid Tanya. The feelings are there, they’re just well and firmly hidden now. And that “carefree charm” of Tatiana is a mask that she wears with art and naturalness. The light made its own adjustments, but only external ones; Tatiana’s soul remained the same. That trusting “girl” still lives inside her, loving the “Russian winter”, hills, forests, the village, ready to give “all this glitter, and noise, and child for a shelf of books, for a wild garden...”. Now the impetuosity and recklessness of feelings have been replaced in her by self-control, which helps Tanya withstand the moment when the embarrassed, “awkward” Evgeniy is left alone with her.
But still, Tatiana’s main advantage is the spiritual nobility of her truly Russian character. Tatyana has a high sense of duty and self-esteem, namelyso she found the strength to suppress her feelings and say to Onegin:
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Tatyana in the novel in verse by A.S. Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” is truly the ideal of a woman in the eyes of the author himself. She is honest and wise, capable of ardent feelings and nobility and devotion. This is one of the highest and most poetic female images in Russian literature.
At the beginning of the novel, Tatyana Larina is a romantic and sincere girl who loves solitude and seems like a stranger in her family:
Dick, sad, silent,
Like a forest deer is timid,
She is in her own family
The girl seemed like a stranger.
Of course, in the Larin family, where serious and deep feelings are not honored, no one understood Tanya. Her father is unable to understand her passion for reading, and her mother did not read anything herself, but heard about books from her cousin and loved them in absentia, from a distance.
Tatyana truly grew up as a stranger to the Larins. It’s not for nothing that she writes to Onegin: “Nobody understands me.” She is thoughtful, reads a lot, and partly romance novels have shaped her idea of love. But real love is not always like love stories from books, and men from novels are extremely rare in life. Tatyana seems to live in her own imaginary world, conversations about fashion are alien to her, games with her sister and friends are completely uninteresting to her:
She was bored and the ringing laughter
And the sound of their windy pleasures...
Tatyana has her own idea of the ideal world, of her beloved man, who, of course, should be like the hero from her favorite novels. Therefore, she imagines herself to match him with the heroine of Rousseau or Richardson:
Now with what attention she
Reading a sweet novel
With such living charm
Drinks seductive deception!
Having met Onegin, the naive girl saw in him her hero, whom she had been waiting for so long:
And she waited... The eyes opened;
She said: it's him!
Tatyana falls in love with Onegin from the first minutes and cannot think about anything but him:
Everything is full of it; everything to the maiden dear
Incessantly magical power
Talks about him.
Onegin in Tatiana's thoughts has little in common with a real man: he appears to the girl in love as an angel, a demon, or a Grandison. Tatyana is fascinated by Eugene, but she herself “drew” his image for herself, largely anticipating events and idealizing her lover:
Tatiana loves seriously
And he surrenders unconditionally
Love like a sweet child.
Tatyana is a romantic and naive girl who has no experience in love affairs. She is not one of those women who knows how to flirt and flirt with men, and she takes the object of her love very seriously. In her letter to Onegin, she honestly admits her feelings for him, which speaks not only of her sincerity, but also of her inexperience. She did not know how to be hypocritical and hide her feelings, did not want to intrigue and deceive; in the lines of this letter she bared her soul, confessing to Onegin her deep and true love:
Another!.. No, no one in the world
I wouldn't give my heart!
It is destined in the highest council...
That is the will of heaven: I am yours;
My whole life was a pledge
The faithful's meeting with you;
I know you were sent to me by God,
Until the grave you are my keeper...
Tatyana “entrusts” her fate into the hands of Onegin, having no idea what kind of person he is. She expects too much from him, her love is too romantic, too sublime, the image of Onegin that she created in her imagination does not correspond much to reality.
Nevertheless, Tatyana accepts Onegin’s refusal with dignity; she silently and carefully listens to him, without appealing to his pity and without begging for reciprocal feelings. Tatyana speaks about her love only to her nanny; no one else from her family knows about her feelings for Onegin. With her behavior, Tatyana evokes respect from readers; she behaves with restraint and decentness, does not hold a grudge against Onegin, and does not accuse him of unrequited feelings.
Lensky's murder and Onegin's departure deeply wound the girl's heart, but she does not lose herself. During long walks, she reaches Onegin's estate, visits the library of the empty house and finally reads the books that Eugene read - of course, not romance novels. Tatyana begins to understand the one who has settled in her heart forever: “Isn’t he a parody?”
At the request of her family, Tatyana marries an “important general,” because without Onegin, “all her lots were equal.” But her conscience does not allow her to become a bad wife, and she tries to live up to her husband’s status, especially since her beloved man gave her fair advice: “Learn to control yourself.” It is precisely this, the famous socialite, the unapproachable princess, that Onegin sees her upon returning from his voluntary exile.
However, even now her image in the work remains the image of a beautiful and worthy girl who knows how to remain faithful to her man. At the end of the novel, Tatyana reveals herself to Onegin from the other side: as a strong and majestic woman who knows how to “control herself,” which he himself taught her in his time. Now Tatyana does not follow her feelings; she restrains her ardor, remaining faithful to her husband.
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Women whose behavior and appearance differ from the generally accepted canons of the ideal have always attracted the attention of both literary figures and readers. The description of this type of people allows us to lift the veil of unknown life quests and aspirations. Tatyana Larina's image is ideal for this role
Family and childhood memories
Tatyana Larina belongs to the nobility by origin, but all her life she was deprived of an extensive secular society - she always lived in the village and never strived for an active city life.
Tatyana's father Dmitry Larin was a foreman. At the time of the actions described in the novel, he is no longer alive. It is known that he died young. “He was a simple and kind gentleman.”
The girl's mother's name is Polina (Praskovya). She was extradited as a girl under duress. For some time she was depressed and tormented, experiencing a feeling of attachment to another person, but over time she found happiness in family life with Dmitry Larin.
Tatyana also has a sister, Olga. She is not at all similar in character to her sister: cheerfulness and coquetry are a natural state for Olga.
An important person for Tatyana’s development as a person was her nanny Filipyevna. This woman is a peasant by birth and, perhaps, this is her main charm - she knows many folk jokes and stories that so captivate the inquisitive Tatyana. The girl has a very reverent attitude towards the nanny, she sincerely loves her.
Name selection and prototypes
Pushkin emphasizes the unusualness of his image at the very beginning of the story, giving the girl the name Tatyana. The fact is that for the high society of that time the name Tatyana was not typical. This name at that time had a pronounced folk character. In Pushkin's drafts there is information that initially the heroine had the name Natalya, but later Pushkin changed his intention.
Alexander Sergeevich mentioned that this image is not without a prototype, but did not indicate who exactly played such a role for him.
Naturally, after such statements, both his contemporaries and researchers of later years actively analyzed Pushkin’s environment and tried to find the prototype of Tatyana.
Opinions on this issue are divided. It is possible that multiple prototypes were used for this image.
One of the most suitable candidates is Anna Petrovna Kern - her similarity in character with Tatyana Larina leaves no doubt.
The image of Maria Volkonskaya is ideal for describing the tenacity of Tatyana's character in the second part of the novel.
The next person who bears a resemblance to Tatyana Larina is Pushkin’s sister Olga. In terms of her temperament and character, she ideally matches the description of Tatyana in the first part of the novel.
Tatyana also has a certain similarity with Natalya Fonvizina. The woman herself found a great resemblance to this literary character and expressed the opinion that she was the prototype of Tatyana.
An unusual suggestion about the prototype was made by Pushkin’s lyceum friend Wilhelm Kuchelbecker. He found that the image of Tatiana was very similar to Pushkin himself. This similarity is especially evident in chapter 8 of the novel. Kuchelbecker states: “the feeling with which Pushkin is filled is noticeable, although he, like his Tatyana, does not want the world to know about this feeling.”
Question about the heroine's age
In the novel, we meet Tatyana Larina during her growing up period. She is a girl of marriageable age.
The opinions of researchers of the novel on the question of the girl’s year of birth differed.
Yuri Lotman claims that Tatyana was born in 1803. In this case, in the summer of 1820 she just turned 17 years old.
However, this opinion is not the only one. There is an assumption that Tatyana was much younger. Such thoughts are prompted by the nanny’s story that she was married off at the age of thirteen, as well as the mention that Tatyana, unlike most girls her age, did not play with dolls at that time.
V.S. Babaevsky puts forward another version about Tatyana’s age. He believes that the girl should be much older than Lotman’s supposed age. If the girl had been born in 1803, then the girl’s mother’s concern about the lack of options for her daughter’s marriage would not have been so pronounced. In this case, a trip to the so-called “bride fair” would not yet be necessary.
Appearance of Tatyana Larina
Pushkin does not go into a detailed description of Tatyana Larina’s appearance. The author is more interested in the heroine's inner world. We learn about Tatyana's appearance in contrast to the appearance of her sister Olga. The sister has a classic appearance - she has beautiful blond hair and a ruddy complexion. In contrast to this, Tatyana has dark hair, her face is excessively pale, devoid of color.
We invite you to familiarize yourself with A. S. Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin”
Her look is full of despondency and sadness. Tatyana was too thin. Pushkin notes, “no one could call her beautiful.” Meanwhile, she was still an attractive girl, she had a special beauty.
Leisure and attitude towards needlework
It was generally accepted that the female half of society spent their free time doing needlework. The girls, in addition, also played with dolls or various active games (the most common was burners).
Tatiana does not like to do any of these activities. She loves listening to the nanny's scary stories and sitting by the window for hours.
Tatyana is very superstitious: “She was worried about omens.” The girl also believes in fortune telling and that dreams don’t just happen, they carry a certain meaning.
Tatyana is fascinated by novels - “they replaced everything for her.” She likes to feel like the heroine of such stories.
However, Tatyana Larina’s favorite book was not a love story, but a dream book “Martyn Zadeka became later / Tanya’s favorite.” Perhaps this is due to Tatyana’s great interest in mysticism and everything supernatural. It was in this book that she could find the answer to the question that interested her: “he gives her joy / in all her sorrows / and sleeps with her without leaving.”
Personality characteristics
Tatyana is not like most girls of her era. This applies to external data, hobbies, and character. Tatyana was not a cheerful and active girl who was easily given to coquetry. “Wild, sad, silent” is Tatyana’s classic behavior, especially in society.
Tatyana loves to indulge in daydreams - she can fantasize for hours. The girl has difficulty understanding her native language, but is in no hurry to learn it; in addition, she rarely engages in self-education. Tatyana gives preference to novels that can disturb her soul, but at the same time she cannot be called stupid, rather the opposite. Tatyana's image is full of “perfections”. This fact is in sharp contrast to the rest of the characters in the novel, who do not possess such components.
Due to her age and inexperience, the girl is too trusting and naive. She trusts the impulse of emotions and feelings.
Tatyana Larina is capable of tender feelings not only in relation to Onegin. With her sister Olga, despite the striking difference between the girls in temperament and perception of the world, she is connected by the most devoted feelings. In addition, she develops a feeling of love and tenderness towards her nanny.
Tatiana and Onegin
New people coming to the village always arouse interest among the permanent residents of the area. Everyone wants to meet a newcomer, learn about him - life in the village is not distinguished by the variety of events, and new people bring with them new topics for conversation and discussion.
Onegin's arrival did not go unnoticed. Vladimir Lensky, who was lucky enough to become Evgeniy’s neighbor, introduces Onegin to the Larins. Evgeny is very different from all the inhabitants of village life. His manner of speaking, behaving in society, his education and ability to conduct a conversation pleasantly amaze Tatyana, and not only her.
However, “the feelings in him cooled down early,” Onegin “has completely lost interest in life,” he is already bored with beautiful girls and their attention, but Larina has no idea about this.
Onegin instantly becomes the hero of Tatiana's novel. She idealizes the young man; he seems to her like he came straight out of the pages of her books about love:
Tatiana loves seriously
And he surrenders unconditionally
Love like a sweet child.
Tatyana suffers for a long time in languor and decides to take a desperate step - she decides to confess to Onegin and tell him about her feelings. Tatyana writes a letter.
The letter carries a double meaning. On the one hand, the girl expresses indignation and grief associated with Onegin’s arrival and her love. She has lost the peace in which she lived before and this leads the girl to bewilderment:
Why did you visit us
In the wilderness of a forgotten village
I would never have known you.
I wouldn't know bitter torment.
On the other hand, the girl, having analyzed her position, sums up: Onegin’s arrival is salvation for her, it is fate. Due to her character and temperament, Tatyana could not become the wife of any of the local suitors. She is too alien and incomprehensible for them - Onegin is another matter, he is able to understand and accept her:
It is destined in the highest council...
That is the will of heaven: I am yours;
My whole life was a pledge
The faithful date with you.
However, Tatiana’s hopes were not justified - Onegin does not love her, but was just playing with the girl’s feelings. The next tragedy in the girl’s life is the news of the duel between Onegin and Lensky, and the death of Vladimir. Evgeniy is leaving.
Tatyana falls into a blues - she often comes to Onegin’s estate and reads his books. Over time, the girl begins to understand that the real Onegin is radically different from the Eugene she wanted to see. She just idealized the young man.
This is where her unfulfilled romance with Onegin ends.
Tatiana's dream
Unpleasant events in the girl’s life, associated with the lack of mutual feelings for the object of her love, and then death, two weeks before the wedding of Vladimir Lensky’s sister’s fiancé, were preceded by a strange dream.
Tatyana always attached great importance to dreams. This same dream is doubly important for her, because it is the result of Christmas fortune-telling. Tatyana was supposed to see her future husband in a dream. The dream becomes prophetic.
At first, the girl finds herself in a snowy clearing, she approaches a stream, but the passage through it is too fragile, Larina is afraid of falling and looks around for an assistant. A bear appears from under a snowdrift. The girl gets scared, but when she sees that the bear is not going to attack, but on the contrary, he offers her his help, extends his hand to him - the obstacle has been overcome. However, the bear is in no hurry to leave the girl; he follows her, which scares Tatyana even more.
The girl tries to escape from her pursuer - she goes into the forest. Tree branches catch her clothes, take off her earrings, tear off her scarf, but Tatyana, gripped by fear, runs forward. The deep snow does not allow her to escape and the girl falls. At this time, a bear overtakes her; he does not attack her, but picks her up and carries her further.
A hut appears ahead. The bear says that his godfather lives here and Tatyana can warm up. Once in the hallway, Larina hears the sound of fun, but it reminds her of a wake. Strange guests - monsters - are sitting at the table. The girl is overcome with both fear and curiosity; she quietly opens the door - the owner of the hut turns out to be Onegin. He notices Tatyana and heads towards her. Larina wants to run away, but she can’t - the door opens and all the guests see her:
... Fierce laughter
It sounded wild; everyone's eyes
Hooves, trunks are crooked,
Tufted tails, fangs,
Mustaches, bloody tongues,
Horns and fingers are bone,
Everything points to her
And everyone shouts: mine! my!
The imperious owner calms the guests - the guests disappear, and Tatyana is invited to the table. Olga and Lensky immediately appear in the hut, causing a storm of indignation on the part of Onegin. Tatyana is horrified by what is happening, but does not dare to intervene. In a fit of anger, Onegin takes a knife and kills Vladimir. The dream ends, it’s morning already.
Tatyana's marriage
A year later, Tatiana’s mother comes to the conclusion that it is necessary to take her daughter to Moscow - Tatiana has every chance of remaining a virgin:
At Kharitonya's alley
Cart in front of the house at the gate
Stopped. To the old aunt
The patient has been suffering from consumption for four years,
They have arrived now.
Aunt Alina joyfully received the guests. She herself was unable to get married at one time and lived alone all her life.
Here, in Moscow, Tatyana is noticed by an important, fat general. He was struck by Larina’s beauty and “meanwhile he couldn’t take his eyes off her.”
Pushkin does not reveal the general’s age, as well as his exact name, in the novel. Alexander Sergeevich calls Larina’s admirer General N. It is known that he took part in military events, which means that his career advancement could occur at an accelerated pace, in other words, he received the rank of general without being at an advanced age.
Tatyana does not feel even a shadow of love towards this man, but still agrees to the marriage.
The details of their relationship with her husband are not known - Tatyana came to terms with her role, but she did not have a feeling of love for her husband - it was replaced by affection and a sense of duty.
Love for Onegin, despite the debunking of his idealistic image, still did not leave Tatyana’s heart.
Meeting with Onegin
Two years later, Evgeny Onegin returns from his journey. He does not go to his village, but visits his relative in St. Petersburg. As it turned out, during these two years, changes occurred in the life of his relative:
“So you're married! I didn’t know before!
How long ago?” - About two years. -
“On whom?” - On Larina. - “Tatyana!”
Onegin, who always knows how to restrain himself, succumbs to excitement and feelings - he is overcome by anxiety: “Is it really her? But exactly... No...".
Tatyana Larina has changed a lot since their last meeting - they no longer look at her as a strange provincial girl:
The ladies moved closer to her;
The old women smiled at her;
The men bowed lower
The girls walked by more quietly.
Tatyana learned to behave like all secular women. She knows how to hide her emotions, is tactful towards other people, there is a certain amount of coolness in her behavior - all this surprises Onegin.
Tatyana, it seems, was not at all stunned, unlike Evgeny, by their meeting:
Her eyebrow didn't move;
She didn't even press her lips together.
Always so brave and lively, Onegin was at a loss for the first time and did not know how to speak to her. Tatyana, on the contrary, asked him with the most indifferent expression on her face about the trip and the date of his return.
Since then, Evgeniy has lost peace. He realizes that he loves a girl. He comes to them every day, but feels awkward in front of the girl. All his thoughts are occupied only with her - from the very morning he jumps out of bed and counts the hours remaining until they meet.
But the meetings do not bring relief either - Tatyana does not notice his feelings, she behaves with restraint, proudly, in a word, just like Onegin himself towards her two years ago. Consumed by excitement, Onegin decides to write a letter.
Noticing a spark of tenderness in you,
“I didn’t dare believe her,” he writes about the events of two years ago.
Evgeniy confesses his love to a woman. “I was punished,” he says, explaining his past recklessness.
Like Tatyana, Onegin entrusts her with the solution to the problem that has arisen:
Everything is decided: I am in your will
And I surrender to my fate.
However, there was no answer. The first letter is followed by another and another, but they remain unanswered. Days pass - Evgeniy cannot lose his anxiety and confusion. He comes to Tatyana again and finds her sobbing over his letter. She was very similar to the girl he met two years ago. Excited Onegin falls at her feet, but
Tatyana is categorical - her love for Onegin has not yet faded, but Evgeny himself ruined their happiness - he neglected her when she was unknown to anyone in society, not rich and not “favored by the court.” Evgeny was rude to her, he played with her feelings. Now she is the wife of another man. Tatyana does not love her husband, but she will “be faithful to him forever,” because it cannot be any other way. Another scenario is contrary to the girl’s life principles.
Tatyana Larina as assessed by critics
Roman A.S. Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” has become the subject of active research and scientific-critical activity for several generations. The image of the main character Tatyana Larina became the cause of repeated controversy and analysis.
- Yu. Lotman in his works he actively analyzed the essence and principle of writing Tatiana’s letter to Onegin. He came to the conclusion that the girl, having read novels, recreated “a chain of reminiscences primarily from the texts of French literature.”
- V.G. Belinsky, says that for Pushkin’s contemporaries the release of the third chapter of the novel became a sensation. The reason for this was Tatyana’s letter. According to the critic, Pushkin himself, until that moment, did not realize the power produced by the letter - he calmly read it, just like any other text.
The style of writing is a little childish, romantic - this touches, because Tatyana was not yet aware of the feelings of love “the language of passions was so new and inaccessible to the morally dumb Tatyana: she would not have been able to understand or express her own feelings if she had not resorted to to the help of the impressions left on her.” - D. Pisarev I wasn’t so inspired by Tatyana’s image. He believes that the girl’s feelings are fake - she inspires them herself and thinks that it is the truth. During the analysis of the letter to Tatiana, the critic notes that Tatiana is still aware of Onegin’s lack of interest in her person, for she puts forward the assumption that Onegin’s visits will not be regular; this state of affairs does not allow the girl to become a “virtuous mother.” “And now, by your grace, I, a cruel man, must disappear,” writes Pisarev. In general, the image of a girl in his concept is not the most positive and borders on the definition of a “hillbilly”.
- F. Dostoevsky believes that Pushkin should have named his novel not after Evgeniy, but after Tatiana. Since this heroine is the main character in the novel. In addition, the writer notes that Tatyana has a much greater intelligence than Evgeniy. She knows how to act correctly in current situations. Her image is noticeably firm. “A firm type, standing firmly on its own soil,” Dostoevsky says about her.
- V. Nabokov notes that Tatyana Larina has become one of her favorite characters. As a result, her image turned “into the ‘national type’ of the Russian woman.” However, over time, this character was forgotten - with the beginning of the October Revolution, Tatyana Larina lost her significance. For Tatyana, according to the writer, there was another unfavorable period. During Soviet rule, the younger sister Olga occupied a much more advantageous position in relation to her sister.
"Eugene Onegin" is a novel in verse. If not the best, then one of the best works of the great Russian classic. A.S. Pushkin for the first time reveals Tatyana Larina, who is an ideal for him, which he tenderly and lovingly praises.
It is believed that the prototype of the heroine was a real woman who left after her husband, who was exiled to Siberia.
The ideal image of the heroine in the novel “Eugene Onegin”
Pushkin calls his heroine a simple and at the same time very common name - Tatyana. Her character is sincere, folk, natural, but nevertheless she cannot be called a simpleton. The heroine's sincerity is combined with the extraordinary depth of her soul.
She is a big lover of books, brought up on them and the stories of her nanny, and is different from her surroundings. Tatyana is not used to being affectionate with her parents and playing with other children, like all her peers. She appears to readers as a girl somewhat removed from the rest of society. For Pushkin, this is the ideal image of the heroine in the novel “Eugene Onegin”.
She loves nature and lives according to its rhythms and laws, feeling her unity with it.
Public opinion is not so important for a girl. But she lives in a world of ideals, sincere soulfulness, high spiritual morality and purity.
She prefers country life, closeness to nature, which she feels and loves. Then, having gotten married, living in St. Petersburg and leading a social life, she will remember with longing the life that she had in her beloved village.
A.S. Pushkin, “Eugene Onegin”: heroes and their love
Pushkin describes two vivid images of the main characters in his novel. This is Tatyana Larina, Evgeny Onegin, who oppose each other and at the same time attract. The girl’s pure and sincere soul comes into contact with a young man who has already seen a lot in his life and is disillusioned with life. Onegin's spiritual emptiness and Larina's soul filled to the brim are dramatically revealed in the novel.
It would seem that love should work miracles, and Tatyana, who is strong and sincerely in love, will definitely be able to change everything. Eugene Onegin, however, rejects her after her confession and leaves her completely at a loss. Was it love or passion? Tatyana, being a dreamy girl, fell in love not with a real person, but with an image she invented, which she drew in her dreams.
The young man, who attracted her with his aloofness and mystery, those traits that were inherent in her, nevertheless turned out to be not the romantic hero from her dreams and dreams. He turned out to be an empty, disappointed and even corrupted man by the secular life of the capital. But, despite this, noble nobility lived deeply in him, and Tatyana was not deceived. Eugene Onegin left, leaving the girl in complete confusion.
He had a chance to change and find the soulfulness that he once had. But it was too complex and incomprehensible for him, and the young man or “young old man,” as critics sometimes called him, decided to simply retire and continue his usual way of life.
Much later, Tatyana Larina and Evgeny Onegin will meet in St. Petersburg. And then the fire of passion will no longer burn her, but Onegin. Tatyana, in turn, having become a high society lady, will not lose her ability to love. However, this time she will reject Eugene - not in order to take revenge or follow the norms accepted in society.
She loves him, no matter what, and does not hide it from him. But she continues to be guided in life by her high spiritual and moral principles and cannot break the vow given to her destined husband. At the same time, she understands that Onegin is not driven by passion and selfish pride. And how can she answer otherwise? Decide to have an extramarital affair? By doing this, she would not only desecrate her love, but also betray herself, sacrificing her inner rules of life.
V.G. Belinsky about Tatyana
The ideal image of the heroine in the novel “Eugene Onegin” was described in detail by V.G. Belinsky, calling it the image of the truth of a Russian woman, and the novel a real encyclopedia of Russian life.
Tatyana, in his perception, is a deep and strong woman, without the painful contradictions of complex souls, which sometimes they themselves are not able to understand. She is whole, united and pure in nature. And it doesn’t matter who she is today: a society lady or a simple girl from the village. Wherever she is, high spiritual integrity does not leave her, and no matter what happens to her, she is guided by the values living within her.
Tatiana and Olga
Tatyana, the ideal image of the heroine in the novel Eugene Onegin, is the complete opposite of her sister Olga. The latter is a flighty girl with a carefree and narrow-minded disposition. Her image is fully revealed in her disdainful attitude towards the young man who fell in love with her - Lensky, who, because of her frivolous behavior, challenges Onegin to a duel and dies there.
Tatyana cannot be spiritually friends with her flighty sister; she needs depth and meaningfulness in her own and other people’s thoughts and actions, which Olga cannot give her.
Natural image
Tatyana is able to contemplate beauty, feel harmony, understand the language of nature and love the world around her. She loves to watch the sunrise and think about the moon, walk through fields and meadows, admire beautiful natural landscapes, especially in winter, and even
Its image is close to the pagan one, when people lived in unity with the world around them, with nature, without separating themselves from it and finding in nature all the answers to the questions they had. Tatyana believes in superstitions, omens, fortune telling and dreams. And this belief further strengthens her connection with nature.
Social image
Social life is a burden for the girl. Her deep inner nature resists falsehood, but she is forced to come to terms with it and live as fate ordered her. By the end of the novel, the naive village girl learned to put on a cold secular mask and walk around in it, like all the people around her. But, despite this, she does not lose her essence and spiritual qualities.
Favorite Quotes
Those who read, studied and studied the novel “Eugene Onegin” in school can remember quotes from it all their lives. Thanks to the beautiful and light style of the great Russian poet, the poems are remembered quickly and for a long time: “Wild, sad, silent, like a timid forest deer...”
In the novel “Eugene Onegin”, quotes characterizing the image of Tatiana, vividly and simply depicting the Russian, remain in the memory of young people, help in comprehending the mysterious Russian soul and a deeper understanding of themselves.
In the novel “Eugene Onegin,” Pushkin managed to present all the diversity of life in contemporary Russia, depict Russian society “in one of the most interesting moments of its development,” create typical images of Onegin and Lensky, in whose person the “main, that is, male side” of this society. “But perhaps the greater feat of our poet is that he was the first to reproduce, in the person of Tatyana, a Russian woman,” wrote Belinsky.
Tatyana Larina is the first realistic female character in Russian literature. The heroine's worldview, her character, her mental makeup - this is revealed in the novel in great detail, her behavior is psychologically motivated. But at the same time, Tatyana is the poet’s “sweet ideal”, the “novel” embodiment of his dream of a certain type of woman. And the poet himself often speaks about this on the pages of the novel: “Tatiana’s letter is in front of me; I cherish him sacredly...”, “Forgive me: I love my dear Tatyana so much!” Moreover, the personality of the heroine, to a certain extent, embodied the poet’s own worldview.
Readers immediately felt these author's accents. Dostoevsky, for example, considered Tatiana, and not Onegin, to be the main character of the novel. And the writer’s opinion is quite reasonable. This is an integral, extraordinary, exceptional nature, with a truly Russian soul, with a strong character and spirit.
Her character remains unchanged throughout the novel. In various life circumstances, Tatyana’s spiritual and intellectual horizons expand, she gains experience, knowledge of human nature, new habits and manners characteristic of a different age, but her inner world does not change. “The portrait of her as a child, so masterfully written by the poet, is only developed, but not changed,” wrote V. G. Belinsky:
Dick, sad, silent,
Like a forest deer is timid,
She is in her own family
The girl seemed like a stranger...
Child herself, in a crowd of children
I didn’t want to play or jump
And often alone all day
She sat silently by the window.
Tatyana grew up as a thoughtful and impressionable girl, she did not like noisy children's games, fun entertainment, she was not interested in dolls and needlework. She loved to dream alone or listen to her nanny's stories. Tatyana's only friends were fields and forests, meadows and groves.
It is characteristic that, when describing village life, Pushkin does not depict any of the “provincial heroes” against the backdrop of nature. Habit, the “prose of life”, preoccupation with economic concerns, low spiritual needs - all this left its mark on their perception: local landowners simply do not notice the surrounding beauty, just as Olga or old lady Larina do not notice it,
But Tatyana is not like that, her nature is deep and poetic - she is given the ability to see the beauty of the world around her, given the ability to understand the “secret language of nature”, given the ability to love God’s light. She loves to greet the “sunrise of dawn”, to be carried away by her thoughts to the twinkling moon, to walk alone among the fields and hills. But Tatyana especially loves winter:
Tatiana (Russian soul.
Without knowing why)
With her cold beauty
I loved the Russian winter,
There is frost in the sun on a frosty day,
And the sleigh and the late dawn
The glow of pink snows,
And the darkness of Epiphany evenings.
The heroine thus introduces the motif of winter, cold, and ice into the narrative. And winter landscapes then often accompany Tatyana. Here she is, telling fortunes on a clear, frosty night at baptism. In a dream, she walks “through a snowy meadow”, sees “motionless pines” covered with shreds of snow, bushes, rapids covered in a blizzard. Before leaving for Moscow, Tatyana “is afraid of the winter journey.” V. M. Markovich notes that the “winter” motif here is “directly close to that harsh and mysterious sense of proportion, law, fate, which forced Tatiana to reject Onegin’s love.”
The heroine's deep connection with nature remains throughout the entire narrative. Tatyana lives according to the laws of nature, in complete agreement with her natural rhythms: “The time has come, she fell in love. Thus, the fallen grain of Spring is revived by fire.” And her communication with the nanny, belief in the “legends of the common people of old times,” dreams, fortune telling, signs and superstitions - all this only strengthens this mysterious connection.
Tatyana’s attitude towards nature is akin to ancient paganism; in the heroine, the memory of her distant ancestors, the memory of her family, seems to come to life. “Tatiana is all native, all from the Russian land, from Russian nature, mysterious, dark and deep, like a Russian fairy tale... Her soul is simple, like the soul of the Russian people. Tatyana is from that twilight, ancient world where the Firebird, Ivan Tsarevich, Baba Yaga were born...” wrote D. Merezhkovsky.
And this “call of the past” is expressed, among other things, in the heroine’s inextricable connection with her family, despite the fact that there she “seemed like a stranger’s girl.” Pushkin portrays Tatyana against the backdrop of her family’s life story, which takes on an extremely important meaning in the context of understanding the heroine’s fate.
In her life story, Tatyana, without wanting this, repeats the fate of her mother, who was taken to the crown, “without asking her advice,” while she “sighed for another, Whom She liked much more with her heart and mind...”. Here Pushkin seems to anticipate Tatiana’s fate with a philosophical remark: “A habit has been given to us from above: It is a substitute for happiness.” It may be objected to us that Tatyana is deprived of a spiritual connection with her family (“She seemed like a stranger in her own family”). However, this does not mean that there is no connection here, an internal, deep one, that very natural connection that constitutes the very essence of the heroine’s nature.
In addition, Tatyana was raised by a nanny from childhood, and here we can no longer talk about the lack of a spiritual connection. It is to the nanny that the heroine confides her heartfelt secret, handing over a letter for Onegin. She remembers her nanny with sadness in St. Petersburg. But what is Filipyevna’s fate? The same marriage without love:
“How did you get married, nanny?” —
So, apparently, God ordered. My Vanya
Was younger than me, my light,
And I was thirteen years old.
The matchmaker went around for two weeks
To my family, and finally
My father blessed me.
I cried bitterly out of fear,
They unraveled my braid while crying,
Yes, they took me to church singing.
Of course, the peasant girl here is deprived of freedom of choice, unlike Tatyana. But the situation of marriage itself, its perception, is repeated in Tatyana’s fate. Nyanino “So, apparently, God ordered” becomes Tatyanin “But I was given to someone else; I will be faithful to him forever.”
The fashionable passion for sentimental and romantic novels also played a big role in shaping the heroine’s inner world. Her very love for Onegin manifests itself “in a bookish way,” she appropriates to herself “someone else’s delight, someone else’s sadness.” The men she knew were uninteresting to Tatyana: they “provided so little food for her exalted... imagination.” Onegin was a new man in the “village wilderness”. His mystery, secular manners, aristocracy, indifferent, bored appearance - all this could not leave Tatyana indifferent. “There are creatures whose fantasy has much more influence on the heart than how they think about it,” wrote Belinsky. Not knowing Onegin, Tatiana imagines him in the images of literary heroes well known to her: Malek-Adel, de Dinard and Werther. In essence, the heroine does not love a living person, but an image created by her “rebellious imagination.”
However, gradually she begins to discover Onegin’s inner world. After his stern sermon, Tatyana remains confused, offended and bewildered. She probably interprets everything she hears in her own way, understanding only that her love was rejected. And only after visiting the hero’s “fashionable cell”, looking into his books, which contain the “sharp mark of nails,” Tatyana begins to comprehend Onegin’s perception of life, people, and fate. However, its discovery does not speak in favor of the chosen one:
What is he? Is it really imitation?
An insignificant ghost, or else
Muscovite in Harold's cloak,
interpretation of other people's whims,
A complete vocabulary of fashion words?..
Isn't he a parody?
Here the difference in the worldviews of the heroes is especially clearly exposed. If Tatyana thinks and feels in line with the Russian Orthodox tradition, Russian patriarchy, and patriotism, then Onegin’s inner world was formed under the influence of Western European culture. As V. Nepomnyashchy notes, Eugene’s office is a fashionable cell, where instead of icons there is a portrait of Lord Byron, on the table there is a small statue of Napoleon, the invader, the conqueror of Russia, Onegin’s books undermine the basis of the foundations - faith in the Divine principle in man. Of course, Tatyana was amazed to discover not only an unfamiliar world of someone else’s consciousness, but also a world that was deeply alien to her, hostile at its core.
Probably, the ill-fated duel, the outcome of which was the death of Lensky, did not leave her indifferent. A completely different, non-book image of Onegin formed in her mind. This is confirmed by the second explanation of the heroes in St. Petersburg. Tatyana does not believe in the sincerity of Evgeniy’s feelings; his persecution offends her dignity. Onegin's love does not leave her indifferent, but now she cannot respond to his feelings. She got married and devoted herself entirely to her husband and family. And an affair with Onegin in this new situation is impossible for her:
I love you (why lie?),
But I was given to another;
I will be faithful to him forever...
This choice of the heroine reflected a lot. This is the integrity of her nature, which does not allow lies and deception; and clarity of moral ideas, which excludes the very possibility of causing grief to an innocent person (husband), or frivolously disgracing him; and bookish-romantic ideals; and faith in Fate, in the Providence of God, implying Christian humility; and the laws of folk morality, with its unambiguous decisions; and an unconscious repetition of the fate of the mother and nanny.
However, in the impossibility of unity of Pushkin’s heroes there is also a deep, symbolic subtext. Onegin is the hero of “culture”, civilization (moreover, Western European culture, alien to Russian people at its very core). Tatiana is a child of nature, embodying the very essence of the Russian soul. Nature and culture in the novel are incompatible - they are tragically separated.
Dostoevsky believed that Onegin now loves in Tatyana “only his new fantasy. ...Loves fantasy, but he is a fantasy himself. After all, if she follows him, then tomorrow he will be disappointed and look at his hobby mockingly. It has no soil, it is a blade of grass carried by the wind. She [Tatyana] is not like that at all: even in despair and in the suffering consciousness that her life has been lost, she still has something solid and unshakable on which her soul rests. These are her childhood memories, memories of her homeland, the rural wilderness in which her humble, pure life began...”
Thus, in the novel “Eugene Onegin” Pushkin presents us with the “apotheosis of the Russian woman.” Tatyana amazes us with her depth of nature, originality, “rebellious imagination,” “living mind and will.” This is an integral, strong personality, capable of rising above the stereotypical thinking of any social circle, intuitively feeling the moral truth.