Comparative Characteristic of Eugene Onegin and Vladimir Lensky

Alexander Pushkin’s novel, Eugene Onegin, provides the reader an superb insight into his thoughts and beliefs regarding various kinds of human behavior. Throughout the novel Pushkin illustrates several of his own traits by way of the two major male figures, Eugene Onegin and Vladimir Lensky, despite them being quite diverse from one particular an additional. Nevertheless, an interesting distinction can be created among the techniques that he approaches the two characters by comparing two stanzas from the novel. Stanza 45 in chapter 1 describes the hero of the novel, Eugene Onegin, and depicts his disenchantment with life, and with humans in general. This is also an superb instance of Pushkin showing parallels amongst himself and Onegin, whom Pushkin appears to take quite seriously throughout the novel. On the other hand, in stanza ten in chapter two, we meet young Vladimir Lensky, described in a significantly much more sarcastic manner. Lensky’s appreciation of poetry and nature are clear here, though Pushkin’s tone is clearly mocking the young poet. Despite drawing characteristics of each characters from himself, they are very various and the narrator addresses them each in incredibly distinctive tones.

The 1st stanza comes towards the finish of the very first chapter, and at this point the reader has only lately been introduced to Eugene Onegin, to whom this stanza is referring. This stanza illustrates some of the major concepts from the previous stanzas, mainly the life style and character traits of Onegin. He absolutely leads a trendy, comfy life, but this does not leave Onegin satisfied. Eugene can be described as a Byronic hero, burned out and unhappy with life. This stanza clearly shows similarities among Onegin and Pushkin, though the author denies throughout the novel that Onegin is a representation of himself. The resemblance in between the two can be observed in the following lines: “The cold sharp mind that he possessed I was embittered, he depressed” (1.45.7-8). Of course, there is the one particular glaring difference among the two, which is that Onegin has no enjoy of poetry. All through the whole first chapter and much of the novel, Onegin is described as self-centered, uncaring, and superficial, and it is carried out in a severe tone a lot more frequently than not.

The second stanza describes Lensky in an entirely various way than that in which Onegin was shown. Lensky is not introduced to the reader till stanza six, and he appears to be yet another aspect of the narrator. He is portrayed as a young, stereotypical poet a lot like Pushkin was before he was betrayed by his buddies. He is nonetheless ambitious and hopeful about the future, fairly diverse from Onegin’s view of the planet. Lensky is genuinely interested in poetry, but the narrator tends to make this look to be immature and humorous. It is clear in the final two lines. “He sang life’s bloom gone pale and sere—/ He’d almost reached his eighteenth year.” (two.ten.13-14) In these two lines the narrator’s idea of Lensky appears to be far more sarcastic and light-hearted it is nearly as if he is generating exciting of the young poet. There is definitely a distinction in the tone with which the author regards these characters, which is considerably more serious towards Onegin and far more mocking towards Lensky. Pushkin appears to be searching back on his younger years with a sense of nostalgia, and via Lensky, is remembering it affectionately.

An intriguing aspect of both of these stanzas is the way the author is so related to every single of these characters, yet he attempts to maintain his distance from them. It appears possible that Pushkin is seeking at Lensky as himself in his youth, and Onegin more as what society had turned him into. With these two characters, he is displaying the pros and cons of each methods of life with no taking a side. In the first passage, the narrator says “The fire in each our hearts was pale”, but quickly thereafter introduces young Lensky, who nevertheless has that fire that the narrator and Onegin now lack. Onegin’s present view of the globe is foreshadowing the eventual downfall of Lensky. He hasn’t had the experiences with the world or felt the discomfort of betrayal that each Onegin and Pushkin had – but he will. This idea seems to be somewhat humorous to Pushkin, who is seeking back at how innocent and hopeful he was in his youth, and also how irrational he was.

An important comparison amongst these two stanzas can be produced in the final two lines of every stanza. They each and every give a clear instance of the tone that the narrator has taken towards the two characters, Onegin and Lensky. In the very first passage, the final two lines study:

“While life was nonetheless but in its morn—

Blind fortune’s malice and men’s scorn.”

These lines have a definite somber tone, fully different from the sarcastic approach taken towards Lensky in the last two lines of the second passage.

The two stanzas also have very distinctive approaches towards love, which are played out all through the rest of the novel. In the 1st passage, with regards to Onegin, the narrator says:

“With passion’s game we both had been sated

The fire in both our hearts was pale”

These lines illustrate the reality that neither the narrator nor Onegin are really passionate or loving towards anything anymore. They have had their experiences with adore THEY have felt the pain that can accompany it and are not interested in pursuing it further. Young Lensky, on the other hand, approaches adore with a considerably much more good outlook. This is clear in the initial line of the second stanza “He sang of adore, by enjoy commanded,”. These variations in the two characters and their views on life let the author to strategy them with different tones and concepts, providing the novel a greater level of depth.

When analyzing the characters in this novel, it is crucial to recognize why it is that Pushkin describes them the way he does. By means of consideration of Pushkin’s history, it is attainable to consider the tone with which he regards the characters and also to draw some thing out of this. By observing the descriptions of these characters early in the novel, it is easy to rationalize their actions throughout the rest of the story. The truth that Lensky is shown to be immature and inexperienced leads all the way up to his untimely death. In addition, the comparisons produced between Onegin and the narrator, specifically their disenchantment with life, and the tone that the narrator describes Onegin in, explain a lot of his interactions with other people.

Stanzas Analyzed:Chapter 1, Stanza 45

I as well had parted with convention,

With vain pursuit of worldly ends

And when Eugene drew my attention,

I liked his ways and we produced buddies.

I liked his natural bent for dreaming,

His strangeness that was a lot more than seeming,

The cold sharp thoughts that he possessed

I was embittered, he depressed

With passion’s game we each have been sated

The fire in each our hearts was pale

Our lives were weary, flat, and stale

And for us each, ahead there waited—

While life was still but in its morn—

Blind fortune’s malice and men’s scorn.

Chapter two, Stanza 10

He sang of enjoy, by enjoy commanded,

A basic and affecting tune,

As clear as maiden thoughts, as candid

As infant slumber, as the moon

In heaven’s peaceful desert flying,

That queen of secrets and of sighing.

He sang of parting and of pain,

Of anything vague, of mists and rain

He sang the rose, romantic flower,

And distant lands, where once he’d shed

His living tears upon the bed

Of silence at a lonely hour

He sang life’s bloom gone pale and sere—

He’d virtually reached his eighteenth year.