To your village at the same time
The new landowner galloped
And equally rigorous analysis
In the neighborhood, he gave a reason.
By the name of Vladimir Lensky,
With a soul straight from Goettingen,
Handsome, in full bloom of years,
Kant's admirer and poet.
He is from foggy Germany
Bring the fruits of learning:
freedom dreams,
The spirit is ardent and rather strange,
Always an enthusiastic speech
And shoulder-length black curls.
Pushkin gives such a description of his hero. A young landowner of noble origin, Vladimir Lensky could not evoke any other feelings than sympathy, respect, indulgence for his youth. He was one of the most profitable suitors in the entire province, and therefore the landlord families, where their daughters grew up, willingly accepted and welcomed him. In addition to his wealth, he was handsome. His black wavy hair, light flexible figure could excite any girl's heart.
But the young man's heart was captured by Olga Larina, who
... he loved, as in our summers
They no longer love; as one
The mad soul of a poet
Still condemned to love:
Lensky was smart, talented, wrote lyric poetry. Not a fiance, but a dream. He studied and was educated in Germany, in Göttingen, where, in addition to knowledge, he acquired freedom-loving idealistic ideas, and was a supporter of Kant's philosophy. He had not yet had time to be disappointed in life, which he looked at through rose-colored glasses.
Lensky was youthfully sentimental. Love for was his first and only love, it was pure and bright, like a forest spring.
A little boy, captivated by Olga,
I don't know the pain of the heart yet,
He was a touching witness
Her infantile amusements;
In the shadow of the protective oak forest
He shared her fun
And crowns were read to the children
Friends, neighbors, their fathers.
About Olga, Vladimir speaks with the delight of an unspoiled youth.
And Olga herself never gave rise to either jealousy or anxiety. Perhaps, there were simply no prerequisites and conditions for this.
The image of Lensky was necessary in the novel, as an antipode to Onegin. And although they became close and became friends, Lensky and Onegin are completely different people.
They agreed. Wave and stone
Poetry and prose, ice and fire.
But it was not the very male friendship for which people are ready to go through fire and water. At least, such a feeling of attachment to Lensky was not born in Onegin's soul. And what kind of friendship is this if people are ready to become enemies because of a misunderstanding.
From his ignorance and inexperience, the young poet took a joke, perhaps an evil one, as a betrayal and deceit. But when the next morning he met with Olga, all the same sweet and direct, he realized that he got excited. And not finding in himself the spirit and reason to make peace with Onegin,
He thinks: “I will be her savior,
I will not tolerate a corrupter
Fire and sighs and praises
Tempted a young heart;
So that the despicable, poisonous worm
I sharpened a stalk of a lily;
To a two-morning flower
Withered still half-opened.
All this meant, friends:
I'm shooting with a friend.
On the eve of the fight, the young man did not sleep all night. Whether it was the excitement before the first duel in his life, or he was oppressed by a premonition of death. Most likely the second. This premonition resulted in his elegiac lines:
And I, maybe I'm the tomb
I will descend into the mysterious canopy,
And the memory of the young poet
Swallow the slow Leta,
The world will forget me; notes
Will you come, maiden of beauty,
In the quotation characteristics used in this article, Lensky is shown from all sides, in Pushkin's lines his thoughts, actions, spiritual impulses are vividly depicted.
Literary critics accuse the young man of ignorance of life. What could a young man know at 18? Is it his fault that Vladimir Lensky grew up like a greenhouse plant in a closed educational institution where there was book theory, philosophy, art, but no one ever spoke to him about life, that there are dark sides to it : greed, hypocrisy, cunning, meanness.
Pushkin nowhere describes the state of his estate. How was it managed? By whom? How did his peasants live? But this fact could show whether the young man put his knowledge into practice, or whether he used it only in disputes with Onegin and others like him, if he suddenly happened to meet an educated person.
Pushkin sees two prospects for Lensky's future: the first is that, having found meaning in life, he could develop his literary talent and turn into a "life-giving voice", and the second -
The youth of summer would pass away:
In it, the ardor of the soul would have cooled.
He would have changed a lot.
I would part with the muses, get married,
In the village, happy and horned,
Would wear a quilted robe;
Really know life
I would have had gout at forty,
Drank, ate, missed, got fat, sickly,
And finally in your bed
I would die among the children,
Crying women and doctors.
And why did you miss it? After all, Lensky could apply his knowledge in practice, find the meaning of life in the development of his economy, in the application of progressive technologies and economic programs, you raised children. Yes, he could be happy that his people, his family are happy. What's wrong with that?
Why should the purpose of the life of advanced youth be to shoot the kings? True, Belinsky saw a portrait of Lensky in the unfortunate writers who besieged the magazines.
“The Lenskys have not died out even now; they just got reborn. There was nothing left in them that was so charmingly beautiful in Lenskoye; they do not have the virginal purity of his heart, they only have pretensions to greatness and passion to smear paper.
Studying the works of A.S. Pushkin, we are increasingly imbued with respect for his literary activity. The constant interest in his works makes us dive deeper and deeper into the world of his creations. Everything that belongs to Pushkin's pen is capacious, beautiful, impressive. His immortal works will be studied by more than one generation of readers.
"Eugene Onegin" is a novel to which Pushkin devoted eight long years. The value of this novel for our cultural and spiritual life is undeniable. The novel is written according to the new canons - it is a novel in verse. The novel "Eugene Onegin" is a philosophical, historical novel.
Onegin and Lensky are the two central figures of the novel. In order to understand what these characters are, to understand the concept of the personality of these people, to penetrate deeper into the author's intention, we will give their comparative characteristics.
The comparative characteristics of the heroes are given according to the following criteria:
upbringing,
education,
character,
ideals,
relation to poetry
relationship to love
attitude to life.
Upbringing
Eugene Onegin. Onegin, by right of birth, belongs to a noble family. Under the guidance of a French tutor, Onegin, “having fun and luxury a child”, was brought up in the spirit of aristocracy, far from truly Russian, national foundations.
“At first Madame followed him,
Then Monsieur replaced her ...
Slightly scolded for pranks
And he took me for a walk in the Summer Garden"
Vladimir Lensky. Humanly attractive character. A handsome man, “black curls to the shoulders”, a rich man, youthfully enthusiastic and ardent. On what ideals Lensky was brought up, the author is silent.
Education
Eugene Onegin
“We all learned little by little, something and somehow,” A.S. Pushkin wisely remarks. Onegin was taught in such a way "so that the child would not be exhausted."
Prince P.A. Vyazemsky, a friend of A.S. Pushkin, wrote at one time that according to the canons of that time, insufficient knowledge of the Russian language was allowed, but ignorance of French was not allowed.
"He's completely French.
Could speak and write
What other knowledge did Eugene shine with? He was a little familiar with classical literature, Roman, Greek. He was interested in history (“from Romulus to the present day”). He had an idea about the social sciences (“he knew how to judge how the state gets richer and how it lives”), political economy (“but read Adam Smith”).
“A small scientist, but a pedant:
He had a lucky talent
No compulsion to speak
Touch everything lightly
With a learned look of a connoisseur.
In general, Onegin can be described as an intelligent person, critical of reality, able to weigh all the pros and cons.
Vladimir Lensky
"Half-Russian" student at the University of Göttingen. Pretty smart, passionate about philosophy (“an admirer of Kant”) and poetry.
"He's from foggy Germany
Bring the fruits of learning ... "
Perhaps he had a bright future, but, most likely,
"... the poet
An ordinary one was waiting for a fate.
Ideals
Eugene Onegin. In order to understand Onegin's ideals, one must understand the very concept of "ideal". The ideal is what we strive for. What was Onegin aiming for? To harmony. Which way did he go? Onegin's path is a struggle between the eternal (national) and the temporal (that which has settled in the character of the hero thanks to society and the ideals of a foreign, introduced philosophy).
Vladimir Lensky. Lensky's ideal is eternal love and holy friendship to the grave.
Character
Eugene Onegin. The character of Onegin is contradictory, complex, as his time is complex and contradictory.
What is he, Onegin?
Onegin is lazy (“which occupied his melancholy laziness all day long”), proud, indifferent. He is a hypocrite and a flatterer, a hunter to slander and criticize. He likes to draw attention to himself, to philosophize. At the feast of life, Onegin is superfluous. He clearly stands out from the crowd around him, seeks to seek the meaning of life. He is tired of hard work. Boredom, spleen, loss of orientation in life, skepticism are the main signs of "superfluous people", to which Onegin belongs.
Vladimir Lensky. Lensky is the exact opposite of Onegin. There is nothing rebellious in Lensky's character.
What is he, Lensky?
Enthusiastic, freedom-loving, dreamy. He is a romantic, a sincere person, with a pure soul, not spoiled by the world, direct, honest. But Lensky is not ideal. The meaning of life for him is a mystery.
"The purpose of our life for him
Was a tempting mystery…”
Lensky and Onegin are different. But at the same time, they are similar: both do not have a worthwhile business, reliable prospects, they lack firmness of spirit.
Attitude towards poetry
Eugene Onegin.“Yawning, I took up the pen, I wanted to write ...” What literary material did Onegin decide to take on? It is unlikely that he was going to write poetry. "He could not iambic from chorea, No matter how hard we fought, to distinguish ...". At the same time, it cannot be said that Onegin was averse to poetry. He did not understand the true purpose of poetry, but he was engaged in poetry. He wrote epigrams. (An epigram is a small satirical poem that ridicules a person or social phenomenon).
"And make the ladies smile
Fire of unexpected epigrams"
Vladimir Lensky. Lensky's attitude to poetry is the most favorable. Lensky is a poet, romantic, dreamer. And who is not a romantic at eighteen? Who does not secretly write poetry, does not awaken the lyre?
Attitude towards love
Eugene Onegin.“In love, being considered an invalid, Onegin listened with an air of importance ...” Onegin’s attitude to love is skeptical, with a certain amount of irony and pragmatism.
Vladimir Lensky. Lensky is a singer of love.
"He sang love, obedient to love,
And his song was clear ... "
Attitude to life
Eugene Onegin. Onegin's views on life: life is meaningless, empty. There is no worthy goal in life to strive for.
Vladimir Lensky. Romance, with an ardent spirit and enthusiastic speeches, is alien to a deep look at life.
Conclusion
A.S. Pushkin is the great son of the Russian land. He was given the opportunity to open a new page in Russian literature.
Onegin and Lensky are antipodes. Onegin is a man in whom a good beginning is dormant, but his superficial "ideals" lead to constant conflicts, internal disharmony.
Lensky is freedom-loving, dreamy and enthusiastic, he firmly believes in his ideals. But he is cut off from his native soil, he has no inner core.
What is he, a contemporary of Pushkin? When you read, or rather, enjoy reading Pushkin's masterpiece, it seems that Alexander Sergeevich wrote about himself.
He calls his protagonist "my good friend", among Onegin's friends there are friends of Pushkin himself, and Pushkin himself is invisibly present everywhere in the novel. However, it would be too primitive to say that Onegin is a self-portrait. Pushkin's soul is too complex and incomprehensible, too multifaceted and contradictory to be reflected in one "typical representative" of the "golden age". Perhaps that is why the young idealist Lensky lived his short bright life in the novel - also part of the poet's soul. Onegin and Lensky, both beloved by the author, so similar and different, close and distant, like the poles of one planet, like two halves of one soul ... How youth inevitably ends, how inevitably the maturity of the mind comes, and with it conformism, so inevitable for Pushkin in the novel, the death of a young romantic.
Eugene Onegin receives a typical aristocratic upbringing. Pushkin writes: “At first, Madame went after him, then Monsieur replaced her.” They taught him everything jokingly, but Onegin nevertheless received the minimum knowledge that was considered mandatory in the nobility. Pushkin, making sketches, seems to recall his youth:
* We all learned a little
* Something and somehow,
* So education, thank God,
* It is not surprising for us to shine ...
* He is perfectly French
* Could speak and write;
* Easy mazurka danced
* And bowed at ease;
* What do you want more?
* Light decided
* That he is smart and very nice.
In his mind, Onegin is much higher than his peers. He knew some classical literature, had an idea about Adam Smith, read Byron, but all this does not lead to romantic, fiery feelings, like in Lensky, or to a sharp political protest, like in Griboedov's Chatsky. A sober, "chilled" mind and satiety with the pleasures of the world led to the fact that Onegin loses interest in life, he falls into a deep blues:
* The blues was waiting for him on guard,
* And she ran after him,
* Like a shadow or a faithful wife.
Out of boredom, Onegin tries to look for the meaning of life in any activity. He reads a lot, tries to write, but the first attempt did not lead to anything. Pushkin writes: "But nothing came out of his pen." In the village where Onegin goes to collect his inheritance, he makes another attempt at practical activity:
* He is a yoke of ancient corvée
* I replaced the quitrent with an easy one;
* And the slave blessed fate.
* But in his corner he pouted,
* Seeing terrible harm in this,
* His prudent neighbor...
But the lordly aversion to work, the habit of freedom and peace, lack of will and pronounced egoism - this is the legacy that Onegin received from the "high society".
In contrast to Onegin, another type of noble youth is given in the image of Lensky. Lensky plays an essential role in understanding Onegin's character. Lensky is a nobleman, he is younger than Onegin in age. He was educated in Germany: He is from foggy Germany He brought the fruits of learning, The spirit is ardent and rather strange ...
The spiritual world of Lensky is associated with a romantic worldview, he is "an admirer of Kant and a poet." Feelings dominate his mind, he believes in love, in friendship, in the decency of people, he is an irreparable idealist who lives in a world of beautiful dreams. Lensky looks at life through rose-colored glasses, he naively finds his soul mate in Olga, the most ordinary girl. Onegin was indirectly the cause of Lensky's death, but in fact he dies from rough contact with cruel reality. What do Onegin and Lensky have in common? Both belong to a privileged circle, they are smart, educated, in their inner development, they stand above those who surround them, the romantic soul of Lensky is looking for beauty everywhere. Onegin went through all this, tired of the hypocrisy and depravity of secular society. Pushkin writes about Lensky: “He was an ignoramus dear at heart, he was cherished by hope, and a new brilliance and noise of the world.” Onegin listened to Lensky's ardent speeches with the smile of an elder, he tried to restrain his irony: “And he thought: it's stupid for me to interfere with his momentary bliss; and without me the time will come; let him live for the time being and believe in the perfection of the world; let us forgive the fever of youth and youthful fever and youthful delirium. For Lensky, friendship is an urgent need of nature, while Onegin is friends "for the sake of boredom", although in his own way he is attached to Lensky. Lensky, who does not know life, embodies a no less common type of advanced noble youth, just like Onegin, disappointed in life.
Pushkin, opposing two young people, nevertheless notes common traits of character. He writes: “They got along. Wave and stone, poetry and prose, ice and fire are not so different from each other. "Not so different." How to understand this phrase? In my opinion, what unites them is that they are both egocentric, they are bright individuals who are focused only on their supposedly unique personality. "The habit of counting everyone as zeros, and as ones - oneself" sooner or later had to lead to a break. Onegin is forced to kill Lensky. Despising the world, he still cherishes his opinion, fearing ridicule and reproach for cowardice. Because of a false concept of honor, he destroys an innocent soul. Who knows what the fate of Lensky would have been if he had survived. Perhaps he would have become a Decembrist, or perhaps just a layman. Belinsky, analyzing the novel, believed that Lensky was waiting for the second option. Pushkin writes: “In many ways he would have changed, parted with the muses, married, happy in the village and would wear a quilted robe with horns.”
I think Onegin was, after all, internally deeper than Lensky. His "sharp, cool mind" is much more pleasant than Lensky's sublime romanticism, which would quickly disappear, as flowers disappear in late autumn. Only deep natures can experience dissatisfaction with life, Pushkin is closer to Onegin, he writes about himself and about him: L was embittered, he is gloomy, We both knew the game of passions, The life tormented us both, In both hearts the heat died down.
Pushkin openly admits his sympathy for him, many lyrical digressions in the novel are devoted to this. Onegin suffers deeply. This can be understood from the lines: “Why am I not wounded by a bullet in the chest? Why am I not a frail old man, like this poor farmer? I am young, my life is strong; what should I expect? melancholy, melancholy!..” Pushkin embodied in Onegin many of those traits that would later appear in individual characters of Lermontov, Turgenev, Herzen, Goncharov and other writers. And such romantics as Lensky cannot withstand the blows of life: they either reconcile with it or perish.
1. The beginning of Lensky's friendship with Onegin
2. Relations with the Larin family
3. Duel
In the novel by A. S. Pushkin, we meet two young people, educated nobles, rich enough to spend time idly and not depend on anyone. This is Onegin and Lensky. They met in the village; their estates were in the neighborhood, and the men arrived there at about the same time: Onegin from St. Petersburg, and Lensky from Germany, where he studied at the university. The neighbors did not like Eugene: he did not want to communicate with them and did not say “yes” and “no”. And Vladimir, on the contrary, was liked by many, especially girls.
Handsome, in full bloom of years,
Kant's admirer and poet.
He is from foggy Germany
Bring the fruits of learning:
freedom dreams,
The spirit is ardent and rather strange,
Always an enthusiastic speech
And shoulder-length black curls.
Eugene, of course, was not as educated: "We all learned a little something and somehow." Of course, this is ironic, but still Onegin did not graduate from the university and did not know how to write poetry. His main skill was in the seduction of women, Onegin was spoiled by female attention, an idle lifestyle, because he spent most of his life at balls and in entertainment.
Lensky, on the other hand, was not spoiled by the high society, he retained in his soul the lofty ideals of honor, love and friendship. Lensky expressed all the enthusiasm of his feelings, his sincerity in poetry, he was not only fond of the work of great poets, but also wrote poetry himself. Lensky and Onegin did not talk about feasts and balls, since all this was alien to Lensky, and Onegin was tired. Young people argued a lot about everything in the world: about good and evil, about the meaning of life and about death ... Onegin treated Lensky condescendingly, listening to his enthusiastic conversations with a smile, not trying to insert his “cooling word”, believing that with age, Lensky’s naivety will disappear by itself.
Many parents would like to marry their daughters to the young and handsome Lensky, so he was always a welcome guest on all estates, but Lensky was looking not for cordial adventures, but for cordial friendship, spiritual intimacy, recognition, finally. Therefore, he became friends with Onegin:
They agreed. Wave and stone
Poetry and prose, ice and fire
Not so different from each other.
The poet even jokingly remarks that this friendship was formed from “there is nothing to do” (I think it was jokingly, because Pushkin compares his heroes with himself, and we all know what a wonderful friend Alexander Sergeevich was!). Of course, at first, the difference in the views of young people was repulsive, then this difference, on the contrary, they liked:
First, mutual differences
They were boring to each other;
Then they liked it; after
Riding every day
And soon they became inseparable.
Relations with the Larin family also characterize the heroes of the poem in different ways. Vladimir is fascinated by Olga, Tatiana's sister. He has long been fascinated by her and it would be her dream to see his bride. Lensky often visits the Larins' house, which surprised Onegin, considering such a pastime of Lensky boring. And so Lensky invites Onegin with him to the Larins' house, where he meets Tatyana. Onegin, who has managed to see many beauties, draws attention to Tatyana: “Are you really in love with a smaller one?”
Onegin manifests himself as a more experienced person who knows how to understand people. The tastes of friends differ even in the choice of women. The romantic Lensky is fond of Olga's external qualities, her lightness and cheerfulness, not noticing that she is ordinary and not very smart. He believes in Olga's loyalty, in her love and makes plans for a happy future. Onegin, wise by experience, appreciates women for other qualities, he is more interested in deep and modest girls, in Tatyana he notices a beautiful soul, nobility and tenderness, believing that she can become a wonderful wife, able to be faithful to her husband and love him to the end their days. And he's not wrong about that. We are convinced of this at the end of the novel, when during the last meeting she proves her loyalty to her husband, saying: “But I am given to another; I will be faithful to him forever.
In the scene of Tatyana's name day, Evgeny does not show himself from the best side: he behaves ugly and heartlessly, being kind to his friend's beloved, inviting her to a mazurka and whispering to her "some kind of vulgar madrigal." Hot and romantic, Vladimir cannot excuse his friend's behavior and challenges him to a duel. Onegin behaves coolly, calmly accepting the challenge. Although he scolds himself for making such an evil joke with Lensky:
He blamed himself for many things:
First of all, he was wrong
What is above love, timid, tender
So the evening joked casually ...
The thing is that he was too annoyed, seeing the crowd of neighbors he despised, Tatyana's confusion and agitation, and was angry with Lensky, who deceived him into this gathering. Undoubtedly, Lensky got excited with the duel challenge, while Onegin was too indifferent to it. Eugene should have apologized to his friend, and the matter would have been resolved amicably. Onegin understands that he is older than Vladimir and should have been more circumspect than him, cooling his ardor, not accepting the young poet's tomfoolery. Now Onegin could not cancel the duel, he did not want to “laugh fools”, besides, the old duelist Zaretsky participated in the case: “He is angry, he is a gossip, he is a talker ...”. After Lensky was killed, Onegin runs to him, calling, but too late.
We can say that the friends initially reacted to this story in completely different ways. Lensky treated her with all seriousness, he wanted to protect Olga's honor, punish Onegin, while Onegin treated the duel completely coolly, even overslept, being late for it. Vladimir is worried before the fight, he composes poems dedicated to Olga - his love testament, seeks to spend the last minutes with his beloved, while Eugene is absolutely calm.
Summing up, we can say that Vladimir Lensky in the work is the personification of romanticism, and Onegin is the personification of cold experience. "Ice and fire," as rightly noted in one of the chapters. These two characters are very different, but they seem to complement each other. In Lensky, one can note those qualities of character that Eugene so lacks, and in Onegin there was something that Lensky lacked. Onegin could have cooled Lensky's "flame" with his "ice", but did not. And the poet died.
April 28, 2014Ah, dear Alexander Sergeevich! Has your pen written something more perfect than the living and eternal novel "Eugene Onegin"? Haven't you invested a large part of yourself, your frantic inspiration, all your poetic passion in it?
But didn't you, O immortal classic, lie when you said that Onegin has nothing in common with you? Are the traits of his character peculiar to you? Isn't it your "spleen" on it, isn't it your disappointment? Is it not your "black epigrams" he draws to his enemies?
And Lensky! Really, how he looks like you, young lover! On you - another, on that you whom you no longer dared to open to the world clearly ...
Lensky and Onegin ... A comparative description of both of them is yours, O immortal Alexander Sergeevich, a colorful and lively portrait on the wall of poetry. Do you agree with the idea of such audacity?
However, be that as it may, allow, in view of your silence, every admirer of your genius to draw their own conclusions, letting their own imagination fly.
We will compare and contrast the two bright heroes of "Eugene Onegin", barely touching the facets of your personality directly. In order to avoid obtrusive parallels between you, sir, and the characters of your poem, we will make every effort to make a dry statement of their striking characteristics.
So, Onegin. Handsome, smart, stately. In the description of his Petersburg daily routine, dear Alexander Sergeevich, we find your lines about at least three hours he spends at the mirrors in preening. You even compare it to a young lady dressed like a man, hurrying to the ball. Perfume, lipstick, fashion haircut. Dandy, pedant and dandy. Always elegant in clothes. And, by the way, it will be said, nails, sir ... He, like you, sir, spends a lot of time at the dressing table, caring for them.
Alas, all the actions he performs on himself in order to be attractive are just a tribute to secular habit. He has long cooled down to the opposite sex, disappointed in love. He does not want to please women at all. Not! Love has long been replaced by the "art of seduction", which, however, does not bring any satisfaction.
Social events have long lost all taste for him. He often goes to balls, but out of inertia, out of boredom and nothing to do. The secular social circle is boring to him. Everything is disgusting, tired! But, not knowing another life, he continues to drag out his usual way of life. No friends, no love, no interest in life.
Onegin's way of thinking, worldview - you, Alexander Sergeevich, expose everything to the merciless "Russian blues", or depression. Immeasurable inner emptiness, lack of dreams, boredom, joylessness. At the same time, the liveliness of a cold, sober mind, the absence of cynicism, nobility.
You emphasize its prosaic nature by the inability to “distinguish the polecat from the iambic”, and their preference for Scott Smith, with his political economic books, only confirms the presence of non-poetic exact thinking.
Whether business Lensky!
What evil muse visited you, Alexander Sergeevich, when you brought together your so different heroes in friendly bonds? Could the relationship between Lensky and Onegin not lead to tragedy? Your Lensky...
Handsome, but beautiful differently than Onegin. You endow him with natural beauty of facial features, long, dark, curly hair. With the inspirational look of the poet and a lively, warm heart, open to the world.
Vladimir Lensky is sensitive to the perception of nature and the universe as a whole. “Suspicious of miracles” in everything, he understands and feels the world in his own way. Idealist, the right word!
The eighteen-year-old dreamer, in love with life, firmly believes in the existence of his soulmate, who is waiting for him and languishing. In faithful, devoted friendship and "sacred family", as you, venerable Alexander Sergeevich, deigned to call the Holy Trinity.
Describing the relationship between Onegin and Lensky with your own pen, you compare them with the union of water and stone, fire and ice, poetry and prose. How different they are!
Lensky and Onegin. Comparative characteristics
It was your pleasure, Lord of the Muses, to play these two beautiful youths in a sad game that to this day prompts the reader to sprinkle tears on the pages of your great novel. You make them related by friendship, at first “from nothing to do”, and after a closer one. And then brutally...
No, better in order. So, they get closer: Lensky and Onegin. A comparative description of these two heroes, so characteristic of your time, Alexander Sergeevich, can be complete only when describing their friendship.
So contradictions meet, as the English proverb says. At first, they are boring to each other due to the dissimilarity of judgments. But after a while this difference turns into a magnet that attracts opposites. Each thesis becomes the cause of lively disputes and discussions between friends, each dispute turns into a subject of deep reflection. Perhaps none of them took the position of a comrade, but they also retained interest, respect for the flow of someone else's thought. Listening to Lensky, Onegin does not interrupt his youthfully naive judgments, poems and ancient legends. Being a disappointed realist, he is in no hurry to reproach Vladimir for idealizing people and the world.
similarity of heroes
Daily joint horse rides, dinners by the fireplace, wine and conversations bring young people together. And, at the same time, over time, similarities between Onegin and Lensky are revealed. Endowing them with such bright features, you, master of the pen, pull them out of the usual circle of rural communication, with boring conversations about the kennel, their own relatives and other nonsense. The education of the main characters, which is one of the few common features for both of them, makes them yawn in the circle of rural nobility.
Two destinies, two loves
Onegin is five or six years older than Lensky. Such a conclusion can be reached, proceeding from the precious Alexander Sergeevich, indicated by you, at the age of twenty-six at the end of the novel ... When, bending his knees, he wept for love at her feet ... at Tatyana's feet ... But, no. Everything is in order.
Oh, great connoisseur of the human soul, oh, subtlest psychologist of deepest feelings! Your pen reveals before Onegin's dead soul the bright, pure ideal of a young maiden - Tatyana Larina. Her young, tender passion pours out before him in a frank letter, which you attribute to him to keep for life as evidence of the possibility of sincerity and beauty of feelings in which he no longer believed. Alas, his hardened, moping heart was not ready to reciprocate. He tries to avoid meeting Tatyana after a conversation with her in which he denies her high feelings.
In parallel with this discordant love, you develop Vladimir Lensky's feelings for Tatiana's sister, Olga. Oh, how different these two loves are, like Lensky and Onegin themselves. A comparative description of these two feelings would be superfluous. The love of Olga and Vladimir is full of chaste passion, poetry, youthful inspiration. The naive Lensky, sincerely wishing his friend happiness, tries to push him into Tatyana's arms, inviting him to her name day. Knowing Onegin's dislike for noisy receptions, he promises him a close family circle, without unnecessary guests.
Revenge, honor and duel
Oh, how much effort Eugene is making to hide his furious indignation when, having agreed, he ends up at a provincial ball with many guests, instead of the promised family dinner. But more than that, he is outraged by Tatyana's confusion when he sits on the place prepared for him in advance ... opposite her. Lensky knew! Everything is set up!
Onegin, really, did not want what your, Alexander Sergeevich, inexorable pen prepared for when he took revenge on Lensky for his deceit! When he drew his beloved Olga into his arms in a dance, when he whispered freedom in her ear, he portrayed a gentle look. Cynically and short-sightedly appealing to the jealousy and contempt of the young poet, he obediently followed the fate you had destined for both of them. Duel!
In the morning at the mill...
Both have already moved away from stupid insults. Both had difficulty finding a reason to duel. But no one stopped. Pride is to blame: no one intended to pass for a coward by refusing to fight. The result is known. A young poet is killed by a friend's bullet two weeks before his own wedding. Onegin, unable to indulge in memories and regrets about the death of the only person close to him, leaves the country ...
Upon his return, he will fall in love with Tatyana, who has matured and flourished, only now a princess. Kneeling before her, he will kiss her hand, pray for love. But no, it’s too late: “Now I have been given to another and I will be faithful to him for a century,” she will say, weeping bitterly. Onegin will be left completely alone, face to face with memories of love and a friend killed by his own hand.
Duels of the creator of Onegin and quite appropriate parallels
You have been reproached, dear Alexander Sergeevich, for insufficient grounds for a duel between your heroes. Funny! Didn't your contemporaries draw parallels between these two young men and yourself? Haven't they noted the similarities between such opposite Onegin and Lensky with your contradictory, dual nature? This boundary bifurcation into Lensky - an inspired poet, a superstitious lyricist - and a secular rake, a chilled, tired Onegin ... did they not discover? To one you give your fiery genius, love, cheerfulness and, without suspecting it, your own death. Unhappy love, wanderings, alienation and, in the end, a long trip abroad, which you yourself dreamed about, are given to another. The characterization of Onegin and Lensky is a comprehensive disclosure of yourself, isn't it? And if such an obvious resemblance of both heroes to you, dear classic, was exposed by your contemporaries, did they not know what easy, insignificant reasons for dueling were enough for you yourself? And how many times in every week of your life have you started to play with death, fearlessly and indifferently looking at the cold barrel in the hands of your enraged opponent?
