The image of Onegin greatly influenced further development Russian literature. Following Onegin came Pechorin and Rudin. This string of heroes was later called “superfluous people.” Pushkin emphasizes the typicality of the Onegins, their complete incapacity for real life.
And at the same time, Pushkin saw the hero’s uniqueness:
Inimitable strangeness
And a sharp, cool mind.
This is a flattering characteristic; it seems to promise a lot. But at the very first test, Onegin gives in to circumstances. But everything is in order...
So, Onegin is a typical young man of the late 20s - early 30s of the 19th century. His upbringing is no different from the upbringing of noble children of that time: “We all learned a little // Something and somehow...”. Evgeniy had a French tutor, fashionable in those days, who “... Slightly scolded for pranks // And took him for a walk in the Summer Garden...”. Onegin’s behavior in society is also dictated by fashion: “Keep silent in an important dispute // And make the ladies smile...”. The hero's day was scheduled minute by minute, with a complete lack of free time. But at the same time our hero is bored:
In short, Russian blues
I mastered it little by little...
What is the reason for this melancholy that has taken over almost the entire society? Pushkin gives the answer: the writer sees the morals and customs of the world as the culprit of all troubles. And who, if not Pushkin, would know about the customs of that time? No wonder he calls Onegin his “old friend.” He knows his tastes, habits and thoughts so well that one involuntarily gets the feeling that in the contradictory image of Onegin, in the description of his way of life, Pushkin to some extent expressed himself. Maybe that's why he allows himself to be very harsh on his character sometimes.
In addition, the defeat of the Decembrist uprising and the tightening of censorship on “intellectual activity” also played a role. These are the reasons for Onegin’s blues. But it wouldn’t be so bad if only the hero himself suffered from this. No, his “mental illness” made others suffer too.
Firstly, he refuses Tatyana’s love, not believing in the sincerity of her feelings, not being inspired by them. Only later, having traveled around the world, will he understand what he has done, but it will be too late - Tatyana is married to someone else, she has completely merged with other representatives of the world. There was no longer a shadow of her former passionate nature left in her heart.
Secondly, the coldness of his heart and soul led Evgeny to a stupid quarrel with his friend Lensky. Life in St. Petersburg made the hero cynical, so his assessment of Olga Larina, Vladimir’s beloved, is quite harsh. Lensky, like a real lover, challenges the offender. This step becomes fatal. The night before the duel, Lensky writes his last poems to Olga, and Onegin... is fast asleep.
This quarrel will end with the death of the “philosopher at eighteen years old.” On the fateful morning before the fight, Onegin appears as a “ball of prejudice,” a slave of secular convention:
And so public opinion!
Spring of honor, our idol!
Although involuntary, Onegin is still a murderer. This leaves an indelible imprint on him. No wonder he admits in a letter to Tatyana:
One more thing separated us...
Lensky fell an unfortunate victim...
It is from here that the turning point in the life of the main character begins: a hasty escape from the village, wanderings around native land and a growing sense of personal inferiority and uselessness:
Why wasn’t I wounded by a bullet in the chest?
I am young, the life in me is strong;
What should I expect? melancholy, melancholy!..
In the eighth chapter of the novel, another Onegin appears before us. He matured, became richer spiritually, deeper, more sincere. And the letter to Tatyana is proof of this. But he was late, Tatyana is not free. The journey has changed the hero greatly, but Tatiana’s refusal will change him no less. But the author says nothing more:
And here my hero,
In a moment that is evil for him,
Reader, we will now leave,
For a long time... Forever.
Thus, Pushkin emphasizes that Onegin was shaped by his environment. It was she who turned the once ardent soul into stone. And proof of Onegin’s ardor and warmth is none other than Vladimir Lensky, who, on the one hand, is the antipode of the real Eugene, on the other, his past image. That is why Pushkin utters an important, although a short phrase: “They got together...”
A bad mood sometimes becomes the subject of depiction of literature and the dominant mood not only literary work, but also the real consciousness of an entire people. At certain moments in life, the blues take hold not only of individuals, but also of entire countries.
Onegin's melancholy in Pushkin's novel is a completely new state of a new hero in new historical circumstances. The image of the world, the image of time, the image of the hero are permeated with a state of disappointment. The Onegin blues not only historical roots, but it also has a continuation in literature and in our modern life. Onegin blues- a very important experience of the experimental hero of an experimental literary work - does not appear immediately. It is prepared with every step, every new turn in the hero’s fate.
"My uncle is the most fair rules,
When I seriously fell ill,
He forced himself to respect
And I couldn't think of anything better.
His example to others is science;
But, my God, what a bore
…
To amuse the half-dead,
Adjust his pillows
It's sad to bring medicine,
Sigh and think to yourself:
When will the devil take you!
So thought the young rake,
Flying in the dust on postage,
By the Almighty will of Zeus
Heir to all his relatives."
The novel begins with penetration into inner world hero, from the hero's internal monologue. At the same time, the hero looks at himself and, as if from the outside, hears his inner voice. This is a split in his consciousness. Onegin thinks and at the same time thinks about what he thinks. The ability for introspection, the ability to see oneself from the outside, to control oneself is a property of a very developed person. This feeling is called reflection or inspection.
Onegin's blues appear at the end of the first chapter. Pushkin naturally talks about Onegin’s life: about the family where he was born.
“...Having served excellently and nobly,
His father lived in debt
Gave three balls annually
And finally squandered it.
Eugene's fate kept:
At first Madame followed him,
Then Monsieur replaced her.
The child was harsh, but sweet.
Monsieur l'Abbé, poor Frenchman,
So that the child does not get tired,
I taught him everything jokingly,
I didn’t bother you with strict morals,
Lightly scolded for pranks
And he took me for a walk to the Summer Garden...”
It tells in detail what happened to Onegin in his youth, “how early he could be a hypocrite,” how he learned to achieve reciprocity from women. Later, after tens and even a hundred years, there will appear drama schools, which will study ways for an actor to get used to a role. Pushkin brings out a man who in his life knew how to play different roles, knew how to play in different masks, portray himself in such a way that he himself believed in his reincarnation (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. Hypocrisy ()
Further, the novel tells in detail about how Onegin lived, how he spent his days and nights, about children's parties, balls, theatrical performances which constituted his leisure time. As a matter of fact, he had nothing but leisure. The person was not engaged in either government or military service. He himself was the master of his time, the master of his destiny. What more can a person dream of? His fate was in his own hands, he could control it himself. The inheritance from his uncle, who had honest rules, allowed him not to serve further. It would seem that he had everything that provides a person in life. And then the blues set in.
“...An illness whose cause
It's time to find it long ago,
Similar to the English spleen,
In short: Russian blues
I mastered it little by little;
He will shoot himself, thank God,
I didn't want to try
But he completely lost interest in life.
Like Child-Harold, gloomy, languid
He appeared in living rooms;
Neither the gossip of the world, nor Boston,
Not a sweet look, not an immodest sigh,
Nothing touched him
He didn’t notice anything..."
It is characteristic that discussions about the Russian melancholy appear after descriptions of luxurious dinners. Neither food, nor the love of women, nor any other entertainment can captivate Onegin. At the same time, it is important to mention Childe Harold - a hero who at that time occupied all consciousness, all free time and, perhaps, was even the main hero for Pushkin’s contemporaries.
The year 1824, the year when Pushkin wrote the first chapter of Eugene Onegin, turned out to be tragic for Byron's life. Lord Byron (Fig. 3) died long before Pushkin began writing “Eugene Onegin” in Chisinau. The poet received information that Byron died when he went to fight for freedom in Greece. A prosperous lord, he was doomed not only to wealth, but also to power.
Rice. 3. J. G. Byron ()
It was Byron who showed the path of seeking the spiritual needs that were needed by an outwardly prosperous person who did not need to fight for a place in the sun. Onegin's blues “..like an English spleen...”. But this is not just satiety, not just one of those masks that Onegin puts on; he is looking for the desire to find some new, some spiritual things that have not yet been described by anyone life goals that can spice up his life. In essence, a high-society rake is a little old man who, by the age of 26, had learned everything there was to know about life, tried everything there was to try, and was disappointed in everything he knew and everything he tried. Onegin's blues are hopeless. Lord Byron may go to fight for the freedom of a foreign people, or he may devote his life to the struggle for some ideals from the rostrum of the English Parliament, or choose some other path. Russian man noble origin, that great secular environment, that level of culture and erudition that Pushkin describes, is much less free to choose his path. First of all, he cannot obtain a foreign passport to travel abroad. During his life Pushkin never managed to travel outside Russian Empire: by personal instructions of the emperors, first Alexander, then Nicholas, Pushkin was limited in his movements. He even thought about fleeing abroad and drew up detailed plans, how you can deceive border guards.
What we call the blues has been found in literature since ancient times. In essence, this is what perhaps one of the most powerful literary parts of the Bible, the Old Testament, is devoted to. This is the book of the prophet, the book of Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of Vanities.” The recurring motif of the frailty of all things, disappointment in all human aspirations is an experience that appeared many millennia ago. The man realized that he was mortal, realized that all his life aspirations were meaningless and aimless, because the end result was hopeless trampling. Therefore, this experience becomes one of the most important experiences in literature. But in different historical moments, different stages of cultural history, experiencing disappointment in life, people interpreted it differently, felt it differently. A person sets life goals for himself and upon achieving them he experiences disappointment; everything he strived for turns out to be small and insignificant, and happiness, joy, satisfaction from life does not come with the achievement of a certain result. Success in life is determined by other, more significant, more important things. These philosophical arguments, very deep, very subtle, very complex for Pushkin’s light, kaleidoscopic novel, turn out to be natural and organic. In this sense, “Eugene Onegin” is among the largest, most significant phenomena in all world literature.
The main difference between the Russian blues and the English “spleen”, from the German sadness, the same one with which young Lensky arrives:
“..He is from foggy Germany
He brought the fruits of learning:
Freedom-loving dreams
The spirit is ardent and rather strange,
Always an enthusiastic speech...”
The impossibility of applying one’s strengths, one’s talents, one’s abilities is what gives rise to the Russian blues, making it the strongest and most inevitable emotion that suppresses all other emotions in the soul of Pushkin’s hero.
Russian melancholy is the main and dominant mood of Onegin. In essence, the Russian melancholy is what gives birth to Onegin as a hero of his time and as a very specific archetype of the Russian person.
If the hero of Western European novels is the type, image, character of his time, his place, his country, then Onegin, to a large extent, is the image that carries with him the archetype of the Russian man of modern times in general. Onegin is also an archetype of those people who found themselves in Russia in a state of internal emigration, those people who lived in Russia, but did not feel like subjects and citizens of this state. Onegin with his melancholy is also the archetype of a “superfluous” person, a person who is looking for a use for himself and cannot find it in life, either due to external circumstances, or due to the fact that he does not have any support inside him that allowed He would like to do something real, worthy, useful, necessary for people. In this sense, Onegin as a literary hero opens up a whole series of other heroes. The novel about Onegin begins a string of Russian novels, which after it reveal one big topic: where he is striving, what he is looking for, what a Russian person cannot find. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit”, “Eugene Onegin”, and then the novels of Goncharov, Turgenev, Herzen, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky are dedicated to this. It continues in all of them general history searches, tossing, aspirations and disappointments of the same literary hero, whom Lermontov will very soon designate as a hero of the time. But this is the topic of our next lessons.
Bibliography
- Korovina V.Ya., Zhuravlev V.P., Korovin V.I. Literature. 9th grade. - M.: Education, 2008.
- Ladygin M.B., Esin A.B., Nefedova N.A. Literature. 9th grade. - M.: Bustard, 2011.
- Chertov V.F., Trubina L.A., Antipova A.M. Literature. 9th grade. - M.: Education, 2012.
Homework
- What is the essence of Onegin’s “blues”?
- What is the difference between Russian spleen and English spleen?
- What is the role of Byron in the novel by A.S. Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin"?
- * Does a person need freedom if there are obstacles to enjoying such freedom?
- Internet portal Magister.msk.ru ().
- Internet portal Old.russ.ru ().
In the novel “Eugene Onegin”, Pushkin embodied one of his most significant plans - to create the image of a “hero of the time”, a bright, extraordinary person, but jaded, chilled, who had lost the ability to have a living feeling and withdrawn into himself. It turned out that the problem was solved only in the novel “Eugene Onegin” with the help of a new artistic method- realism.
It is no coincidence that Onegin’s “disease” associated with Western European Byronism strikes him, who was brought up and grew up “on the banks of the Neva”, in the very European city Russia. Onegin's isolation from the national soil is one of the main reasons for his “blueness.” Onegin receives a broad, but not deep, home education typical of nobles. Raised by French tutors, he is fluent French, dances well, dresses fashionably, can easily carry on a conversation, has impeccable manners - and all doors are open for him: “What more do we need? The world decided / That he is smart and very nice.” The consequences of this are that he does not find his place in the life of the country, does not see his connection not only with common interests, but also with people endowed with a “Russian soul.” Is this not one of the reasons that Onegin was never able to fully understand the truly Russian girl - Tatyana Larina?
Onegin spent eight whole years on social life. What does it consist of? Pushkin in more detail describes a typical day of Onegin, his activities and hobbies. Here is another most important reason for his “illness”: the monotony of life, only outwardly motley, but in fact revolving in a set circle. And its result is known: this is an illness “similar to the English spleen, in short: Russian blues,” which does not necessarily lead to suicide, but is certainly accompanied by a cooling of life. As V.G. said Belinsky about Onegin, “the inactivity and vulgarity of life choke him; he doesn't even know what he wants; but he knows, and knows very well, that he does not need, that he does not want, what self-loving mediocrity is so happy with, so happy.”
Yes, the question remains open. After all, there are such restless natures in the world who are not satisfied with anything, who are looking for something that even they do not fully understand, and never find, they try to find a worthy cause in life, but are only disappointed again and again - and still do not leave their searches. It was precisely these people that Russian literature later captured in the images of Pechorin, Lavretsky, Oblomov, calling them “superfluous.”
None of them were ever able to recover from their terrible illness. But maybe that’s the point, that every time we have to think again about its reasons and try to explain them using examples from our time.
Although seemingly simple and extremely understandable at first glance, it touches great amount problems human life, but the range of these problems almost doubles when the main aspect of Alexander Sergeevich’s life is added to everything else - his affiliation with Christianity.
“Eugene Onegin” is a work by A. S. Pushkin, which, like many of his other works, is subject to repeated deep research and rethinking. Although seemingly simple and extremely understandable at first glance, it touches a large number of problems of human life, but the range of these problems almost doubles when the main aspect of Alexander Sergeevich’s life is added to everything else - his affiliation with Christianity. It is Pushkin’s affiliation with Christianity that is the key to all of his work.
From wide range problems that the author raises in “Eugene Onegin”, it is most important to dwell on the theme of “Russian blues”. So, let's look at the plot of the novel. Young man Evgeny Onegin, full of life and energy, leads a rather wild lifestyle. He sleeps until lunch, then walks, in the evening they wait for him in several houses, which he happily visits, goes to the theater, where he eventually gets tired, and goes home to sleep, that is, he spends his life in fun and idleness. At the same time, he has no aspirations or desires, the only thing that occupies him is the “science of tender passion.” Leading such a way of life, which is very attractive to many young people of our time, Evgeniy believes that in this constant race of time, constant change of places, faces, impressions lies true life. Pushkin characterizes this life as “monotonous diversity,” which captivates a person, but in the end tires him with its monotony and leaves him with nothing.
Unlike the main character of the novel, for Pushkin as a Christian, the criterion for the truth of life is the integrity of morals:
Alas, for different fun I've ruined a lot of lives! But if morals had not suffered, I would still love balls.
Onegin is unable to understand this, and in the end he is overcome by “Russian blues” or “English spleen,” that is, in the words of the holy fathers, despondency. Speaking about Onegin’s blues, the author immediately points out two possible outcomes from this state. This is an attempt to shoot himself, from which the author takes his hero away, and meaningless life, which brings nothing but chaos to others.
Evgeny believes that the reason for his melancholy is the bustle of the city, but once in the village, within a few days he loses all interest in life, he is again overcome by despondency, which ultimately turns Onegin into a “living corpse” and the source of death. Where Onegin is, withering inevitably sets in: he brings Tatyana to a state similar to his, to indifference:
Alas, Tatyana is fading, It turns pale, goes dark and is silent! Nothing occupies her Her soul doesn't move.
Friendship with Lensky ends in a duel.
Equating the Russian blues with the English spleen, Pushkin shows that this is an ailment of all humanity. In the novel, the author notes that this disease penetrates into Russia from the West. All Russian society was infected with the ideas of the Enlightenment that came to Russia through English and French novels. This is the illness that Tatyana, the brightest hero of the novel, did not escape. Only the old generation, which has not read, can resist this blues foreign novels and was brought up on Christian ideas, and not on freethinking. The look of this old generation is shown to us by Tatyana’s nanny. As soon as Tatiana falls passionately in love, the nanny immediately identifies her condition as an illness and sprinkles her with holy water.
“I’m in love,” she whispered again She is sad for the old lady. - Dear friend, you are unwell. "Leave me: I'm in love."
However, Tatyana does not understand the full danger of the passion that has taken possession of her. In her letter, when Tatyana writes that she places herself not in the hands of God, but in the hands of Eugene, we see not a Christian way of thinking, but complete absorption in passion. But the author himself warns the reader against judgment and points out that she indulges in passion because of her youth and inexperience. Here Pushkin demonstrates the ambiguity of his protagonist Eugene Onegin. It would seem that a person who is interested only in the science of seduction should have taken advantage of this young girl’s inexperience, but having come into contact with Tatyana’s pure soul and having compassion for her, he warns her:
“You will love again: but... Learn to control yourself; Not everyone will understand you like I do; Inexperience leads to disaster."
With these words, Onegin seems to be shouting - do not succumb to the imaginary trick of passion, otherwise you will perish. Further, the author shows that under the guise of a bright feeling of love, destructive passion can creep into a person’s soul.
So your faithful friend Sometimes I get carried away: Satan jokes with love.
It is gratifying that Tatyana nevertheless overcame the blues, and this happened through the rejection of the passionate ideal proposed in the novels she read, through humility, patience and obedience to God.
I love you (why lie?), But I was given to someone else; I will be faithful to him forever
Tatyana's love for Onegin threatened her with death, and when she realized this, passionate love turned into true love, which is the victim.
For the first time, Tatyana understands what a terrible state Onegin is in when she has a dream. She sees that Evgeniy is seduced by passions. On the one hand, he controls them, but on the other, he himself is in their power. Seeing the spirit of contradiction in him, Tatyana realizes that she herself may die, but since she sincerely loves him, she is ready to die. The illusory image of the beloved, which was formed under the influence of foreign novels, is destroyed.
At Tatiana's birthday, Onegin appears in a slightly different image; he sees that Tatiana is embarrassed, and therefore tries not to draw attention to himself. However, the passions that remain unhealed in him immediately make themselves felt, and the old custom of seducing girls results in a duel, the reason for which was given by Onegin, and he was able to prevent it. Evgeniy realizes that he acted wrongly, but he is honored more valuable than life innocent person.
Of course there must be contempt At the cost of his funny words, But the whispers, the laughter of fools..." And here is public opinion! Spring of honor, our idol! And this is what the world revolves on!
And here you can see some parallel with the Holy Scriptures, namely: the similarity of Onegin with Pontius Pilate, who also, out of cowardice, betrayed Christ to be crucified. We see another problem: evil not only exists, it progresses. Onegin is faint-hearted, and until recently his close friend Lensky fears that Eugene will refuse the fight, disdaining his pride. The author shows that there is only one step to salvation - to humble yourself and forgive, but the indifference generated by Eugene’s blues leads to tragic events.
Shouldn't they laugh while Their hand is not stained, Shouldn't we part ways amicably?.. But wildly secular enmity Afraid of false shame.
After the murder of a friend, the cause of which was passion, Onegin falls into a state of even greater despondency. The spirit of despondency, which forced Evgeny to leave the noisy city, now drives him to the Caucasus. Ultimately, Evgeny ends up in Moscow, where he meets Tatyana. Having met her, he is resurrected to life, he begins to be interested in at least something. Tatyana, seeing in him the same passion that almost destroyed her at her first meeting with Onegin, remains faithful to the will of God and thereby saves herself from death.
Finishing his novel, A.S. Pushkin returns to the theme of the Russian blues and points to its main cause - idleness.
Blessed is he who celebrates Life early Left without drinking to the bottom Full glasses of wine. Who hasn't finished reading Her novel? Like me and my Onegin.
It was she who brought Eugene Onegin to the state of despondency in which he remains throughout the entire novel. Speaking about despondency, it is appropriate to quote from the works of Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov). Thus, he writes: “More and more larger number people no longer see the meaning in life. And when you observe this in old people facing death, the soul is not so amazed; but when young people, whose eyes have barely opened to the awareness of the life given to them, fall into despair from seeing the absurdity reigning in the world, then the heart grieves deeply. And there is no way to help them. When the desire for material comfort is satisfied, when, due to habit, they no longer see the value in this comfort, then mainly they feel the meaninglessness of their existence and refuse to accept this meaninglessness. And so one of the most important and main problems becomes the discovery of the true meaning of our appearance in the world... Many young people are languishing with a thirst for TRUTH..., but without having a vision in themselves of how to build this better life, they soon lose heart... Pushkin was still young when he wrote his brilliant poem: “A vain gift, an accidental gift, life, why were you given to me...”
We know that this poem was written by Pushkin during the period spiritual crisis. Saint Philaret helped the poet overcome this crisis, answering Pushkin: “Not in vain, not by chance...”. After this, Pushkin writes his famous poem“The Prophet”, in which we see the result of the author’s thoughts on the topic of despondency. He found a way out of the painful state of despondency; he chose God. That is why, at the end of Eugene Onegin, the poet easily says goodbye to his hero.
And suddenly he knew how to part with him, Like me and my Onegin.
So, the image of Eugene Onegin is the personification of that very blues that has consumed not only Russia, but almost all of humanity. Being at the peak of technological development, humanity has made its life as comfortable as possible, that is, it has simplified the commandment as much as possible, given by God- “By the sweat of your face you will eat your bread” (Gen. 3:19). But what did the person end up with? It turns out that peace as peace of mind is not determined by external wealth and comfort. Eugene’s heart is empty, it is looking for more and more new impressions, events, but all this is done only with the goal of finding peace.
Tatyana finds a way out: to let God into her heart, to remain faithful to the Divine commandment. And the author himself, who at some points is difficult to separate from the hero Eugene Onegin, understands that he needs to leave Eugene, or rather his train of thought, before he himself dies. By this, Pushkin shows his solution to the issue, however, the fate of Evgeny is unknown, he can either turn to God or share the fate of the hero of the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky's "Demons" Stavrogin, that prototype of the people who became the culprits of the disaster that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. Pushkin leaves Onegin a choice, the same choice faces us today: to create an illusory paradise on earth or, despising all inconveniences, to seek the Kingdom of Heaven, which, according to the Savior, is within us (cf. Luke 17:20).
Seeming at first glance simple and extremely understandable, it touches on a huge number of problems of human life, but the range of these problems almost doubles when the main aspect of Alexander Sergeevich’s life is added to everything else - his affiliation with Christianity.
A bad mood sometimes becomes the subject of depiction of literature and the dominant mood not only of a literary work, but also of the real consciousness of an entire people. At certain moments in life, the blues take hold not only of individuals, but also of entire countries.
Onegin's melancholy in Pushkin's novel is a completely new state of a new hero in new historical circumstances. The image of the world, the image of time, the image of the hero are permeated with a state of disappointment. The Onegin blues not only has historical roots, but it also has a continuation in literature and in our modern life. The Onegin blues - a very important experience of the experimental hero of an experimental literary work - does not appear immediately. It is prepared with every step, every new turn in the hero’s fate.
“My uncle has the most honest rules,
When I seriously fell ill,
He forced himself to respect
And I couldn't think of anything better.
His example to others is science;
But, my God, what a bore
…
To amuse the half-dead,
Adjust his pillows
It's sad to bring medicine,
Sigh and think to yourself:
When will the devil take you!
So thought the young rake,
Flying in the dust on postage,
By the Almighty will of Zeus
Heir to all his relatives."
The novel begins with insight into the hero's inner world, with the hero's internal monologue. At the same time, the hero looks at himself and, as if from the outside, hears his inner voice. This is a split in his consciousness. Onegin thinks and at the same time thinks about what he thinks. The ability for introspection, the ability to see oneself from the outside, to control oneself is a property of a very developed person. This feeling is called reflection or inspection.
Onegin's blues appear at the end of the first chapter. Pushkin naturally talks about Onegin’s life: about the family where he was born.
“...Having served excellently and nobly,
His father lived in debt
Gave three balls annually
And finally squandered it.
Eugene's fate kept:
At first Madame followed him,
Then Monsieur replaced her.
The child was harsh, but sweet.
Monsieur l'Abbé, poor Frenchman,
So that the child does not get tired,
I taught him everything jokingly,
I didn’t bother you with strict morals,
Lightly scolded for pranks
And he took me for a walk to the Summer Garden...”
It tells in detail what happened to Onegin in his youth, “how early he could be a hypocrite,” how he learned to achieve reciprocity from women. Later, after tens and even a hundred years, theater schools will appear that will study ways for an actor to get used to a role. Pushkin brings out a person who in his life knew how to play different roles, knew how to play in different masks, portray himself in such a way that he himself believed in his reincarnation (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. Hypocrisy ()
Further, the novel tells in detail about how Onegin lived, how he spent his days and nights, about children's parties, balls, theatrical performances that made up his leisure time. As a matter of fact, he had nothing but leisure. The man was not engaged in either government or military service. He himself was the master of his time, the master of his destiny. What more can a person dream of? His fate was in his own hands, he could control it himself. The inheritance from his uncle, who was an honest man, allowed him not to serve further. It would seem that he had everything that provides a person in life. And then the blues set in.
“...An illness whose cause
It's time to find it long ago,
Similar to the English spleen,
In short: Russian blues
I mastered it little by little;
He will shoot himself, thank God,
I didn't want to try
But he completely lost interest in life.
Like Child-Harold, gloomy, languid
He appeared in living rooms;
Neither the gossip of the world, nor Boston,
Not a sweet look, not an immodest sigh,
Nothing touched him
He didn’t notice anything..."
It is characteristic that discussions about the Russian melancholy appear after descriptions of luxurious dinners. Neither food, nor the love of women, nor any other entertainment can captivate Onegin. At the same time, it is important to mention Childe Harold - a hero who at that time occupied all consciousness, all free time and, perhaps, was even the main character for Pushkin’s contemporaries.
The year 1824, the year when Pushkin wrote the first chapter of Eugene Onegin, turned out to be tragic for Byron's life. Lord Byron (Fig. 3) died long before Pushkin began writing “Eugene Onegin” in Chisinau. The poet received information that Byron died when he went to fight for freedom in Greece. A prosperous lord, he was doomed not only to wealth, but also to power.
Rice. 3. J. G. Byron ()
It was Byron who showed the path of seeking the spiritual needs that were needed by an outwardly prosperous person who did not need to fight for a place in the sun. Onegin’s blues “..like an English spleen...”. But this is not just satiety, not just one of those masks that Onegin puts on; he is looking for the desire to find some new, some spiritual life goals that have not yet been described by anyone, which can enliven his life. In essence, a high-society rake is a little old man who, by the age of 26, had learned everything there was to know about life, tried everything there was to try, and was disappointed in everything he knew and everything he tried. Onegin's blues are hopeless. Lord Byron may go to fight for the freedom of a foreign people, or he may devote his life to the struggle for some ideals from the rostrum of the English Parliament, or choose some other path. A Russian person of noble origin, of that great secular environment, of that level of culture and erudition that Pushkin describes, is much less free to choose his path. First of all, he cannot obtain a foreign passport to travel abroad. During his life, Pushkin never managed to travel outside the Russian Empire: by personal instructions of the emperors, first Alexander, then Nicholas, Pushkin was limited in his movements. He even thought about fleeing abroad and made detailed plans on how to deceive the border guards.
What we call the blues has been found in literature since ancient times. In essence, this is what perhaps one of the most powerful literary parts of the Bible, the Old Testament, is devoted to. This is the book of the prophet, the book of Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of Vanities.” The recurring motif of the frailty of all things, disappointment in all human aspirations is an experience that appeared many millennia ago. The man realized that he was mortal, realized that all his life aspirations were meaningless and aimless, because the end result was hopeless trampling. Therefore, this experience becomes one of the most important experiences in literature. But at different historical moments, different stages of cultural history, experiencing disappointment in life, people interpreted it differently, felt it differently. A person sets life goals for himself and upon achieving them he experiences disappointment; everything he strived for turns out to be small and insignificant, and happiness, joy, satisfaction from life does not come with the achievement of a certain result. Success in life is determined by other, more significant, more important things. These philosophical arguments, very deep, very subtle, very complex for Pushkin’s light, kaleidoscopic novel, turn out to be natural and organic. In this sense, “Eugene Onegin” is among the largest, most significant phenomena in all world literature.
The main difference between the Russian blues and the English “spleen”, from the German sadness, the same one with which young Lensky arrives:
“..He is from foggy Germany
He brought the fruits of learning:
Freedom-loving dreams
The spirit is ardent and rather strange,
Always an enthusiastic speech...”
The impossibility of applying one’s strengths, one’s talents, one’s abilities is what gives rise to the Russian blues, making it the strongest and most inevitable emotion that suppresses all other emotions in the soul of Pushkin’s hero.
Russian melancholy is the main and dominant mood of Onegin. In essence, the Russian melancholy is what gives birth to Onegin as a hero of his time and as a very specific archetype of the Russian person.
If the hero of Western European novels is the type, image, character of his time, his place, his country, then Onegin, to a large extent, is the image that carries with him the archetype of the Russian man of modern times in general. Onegin is also an archetype of those people who found themselves in Russia in a state of internal emigration, those people who lived in Russia, but did not feel like subjects and citizens of this state. Onegin with his melancholy is also the archetype of a “superfluous” person, a person who is looking for a use for himself and cannot find it in life, either due to external circumstances, or due to the fact that he does not have any support inside him that allowed He would like to do something real, worthy, useful, necessary for people. In this sense, Onegin as a literary hero opens up a whole series of other heroes. The novel about Onegin begins a string of Russian novels, which after it reveal one big theme: where is the Russian man striving, what is he looking for, what cannot he find. Griboyedov’s comedy “Woe from Wit”, “Eugene Onegin”, and then the novels of Goncharov, Turgenev, Herzen, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky are dedicated to this. In all of them, the common story of the searches, tossing, aspirations and disappointments of that same literary hero, whom Lermontov will very soon designate as a hero of the time, continues. But this is the topic of our next lessons.
Bibliography
- Korovina V.Ya., Zhuravlev V.P., Korovin V.I. Literature. 9th grade. - M.: Education, 2008.
- Ladygin M.B., Esin A.B., Nefedova N.A. Literature. 9th grade. - M.: Bustard, 2011.
- Chertov V.F., Trubina L.A., Antipova A.M. Literature. 9th grade. - M.: Education, 2012.
Homework
- What is the essence of Onegin’s “blues”?
- What is the difference between Russian spleen and English spleen?
- What is the role of Byron in the novel by A.S. Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin"?
- * Does a person need freedom if there are obstacles to enjoying such freedom?
- Internet portal Magister.msk.ru ().
- Internet portal Old.russ.ru ().