Eugene Onegin - an extra person? Collection of ideal essays on social science How Onegin relates to the world around him.

In the image of Onegin, Pushkin discovers other properties of character that are opposite to Lensky.
As positive properties of Onegin's character, one should note the height of culture, intellect and a sober, critical attitude towards reality. The youthful naive enthusiasm of Lensky is completely alien to him.

Onegin's life experience, cold skeptical mind lead him to deny reality. Onegin by no means "does not believe the world is perfect." On the contrary, one of his typical features is disappointment in life, dissatisfaction with others, skepticism.

Onegin is above the environment. His superiority over Lensky is also noticeable. Nevertheless, Pushkin is by no means inclined to affirm Onegin as an ideal, on the contrary, many of the features that characterize Onegin are given by Pushkin in a negative, ironic way. And the main ones - disappointment in life, contempt and indifference to others - are revealed by Pushkin rather as a pose and are devoid of the tragedy that these features were in Pushkin's romantic heroes - the Caucasian prisoner, Aleko and others.

Undoubtedly, Tatyana also comes to this in her reflections on Onegin:
What is he? Is it an imitation
Alien whims interpretation,
An insignificant ghost, or else
Full lexicon of fashionable words?..
Muscovite in Harold's cloak,
Isn't he a parody?

It is obvious that the emergence and prevalence of such an attitude towards life among the noble intelligentsia in the 20s of the 19th century and its reflection in literature in the form of a demonic hero can by no means be explained by the influence of Byron - this influence arose in life itself.
However, establishing the proximity of Onegin's character to the character of the Captive and Aleko, it should be noted that the meaning of the images of the Captive and Onegin and their functions in the work are completely different.
In The Prisoner of the Caucasus, Pushkin idealizes this proud spirit of denial of society and life. Aleko also has not yet been reduced from the pedestal of the hero. The essence of the Captive and Aleko lies in their deeply revolutionary beginning, while in "Eugene Onegin" this pathos is completely absent. Giving in Onegin character traits close to his romantic, rebellious, rebellious hero along the lines of the same denial of reality, contempt for life and people, etc., Pushkin exposes in him their futility, their hopelessness. Onegin, taken in social terms, in his most diverse experiences, is revealed both from the positive and from the negative side.

This also explains the author's ambivalent attitude towards Onegin. It is impossible not to appreciate his culture, the breadth of his outlook, his superiority over those around him, the attractiveness of his cold skeptical mind; we sympathize with his loneliness, sincerity and the fullness of his experiences (about the death of Lensky, love for Tatyana), etc., but at the same time we see his inferiority.

Onegin, possessing a number of positive qualities, standing head and shoulders above those around him, turns out to be a completely useless person in life. Its possibilities cannot be realized in life, cannot be applied in practice. Noble culture, having created a certain character, no longer creates for him the opportunity for action, is no longer able to use it. Reality does not develop, but destroys the best aspects of this character and, on the contrary, contributes to the development of negative traits. Hence the inferiority of Onegin, which is revealed in two main points: 1) in the absence of a real life goal, practice; 2) in the absence of will, energy.

The inconsistency of Onegin's character lies in the fact that, having understood the meaninglessness and emptiness of the surrounding life, despising it, Onegin at the same time could not oppose anything to this life. Pushkin emphasizes in him an early maturing mind and the ability to critically relate to the environment and at the same time complete inactivity, inability to create anything. About Onegin's aspirations to do something, Pushkin speaks clearly ironically. The irony of Pushkin is aimed at the aimlessness, futility of Onegin's studies.

Onegin's only business in the countryside - the replacement of corvée with dues - is motivated by Pushkin as follows: "just to spend time ..."
The whole life of Onegin is revealed by Pushkin as an aimless, empty existence, devoid of a creative beginning:
Killing a friend in a duel
Languishing in the idleness of leisure,
Having lived without a goal, without labor
No service, no wife, no business,
Until the age of twenty-six
Couldn't do anything.

In the behavior of Onegin, Pushkin reveals lethargy, apathy and lack of will. Lensky falls a victim of this lack of will, for Onegin, despising the light, the environment, at the same time obeys the conventions of this light, does not have the will to throw them off himself, does not find the strength to follow his inner convictions, his inner drives, if they go against with established morality, with established traditions.

Onegin's behavior in the episode with the duel is entirely determined by his fear of "false shame", which he could not rise above. He completely submitted to the conditions of the very life that he denied and despised. The image of Onegin clearly evolves throughout the novel. Onegin “leaves” the novel in a completely different way than Pushkin paints him in the first chapters.
At the beginning of the novel, Onegin is given as a strong, proud, not ordinary person who knows his own worth. When meeting with Lensky, in explaining to Tatyana, he has a patronizing, condescending tone. There is still a lot of self-confidence in his judgments and views.

In "Excerpts from Onegin's Journey", which Pushkin did not include in the novel, although according to the plan, "Onegin's Journey" was supposed to go to the eighth chapter, before Onegin's appearance in the "high society", in the image of Onegin, the longing of spiritual loneliness is brought to the limit, Onegin realizes his fate tragically:
Why am I not wounded by a bullet in the chest? Why am I not a sickly old man ...

The meeting with Tatyana, love for her were the last flash of Onegin's vital energy. He himself speaks of himself as of a man already doomed: “I know: my age is already measured ...”
Thus, over the course of some three and a half years (this is approximately the duration of the novel), Onegin turns into a person deprived of any prospects in life, deprived of strength, energy, despite his youth, position, culture. and intellect.
In this premature extinction of Onegin, Pushkin reveals the doom, the hopelessness of this character in life.

The further fate of Onegin is not given in the novel, but the logic of this character is so clear that his fate has already been determined. It is known that, according to Pushkin’s plan, in the future he wanted to connect Onegin with the Decembrist movement, but this was not carried out, and it does not change the essence of the matter, since it is quite obvious that Pushkin, with all the positive qualities of Onegin, has a negative attitude towards his type of social behavior . It is important to understand not only that in this environment, in these social conditions, Onegin could not realize his potential, but also that Pushkin shows the incapacity of the Onegins, condemns their life "without a goal", "without work"; the proud pose of Onegin, with his contempt for people and gloomy disappointment, is a social stage already passed; Onegin needs to overcome that inactive individualism that underlies his character and find his place in life.

Giving everything positive that noble culture could give at the heights of its development, Pushkin, in the image of Onegin, at the same time reveals the beginnings leading to her death - inaction, lack of will, aimlessness of existence.

In the poetic heritage of Pushkin, the novel "Eugene Onegin" occupies one of the central places. The work begins a new period in Russian literature. In "Eugene Onegin", as in a mirror, Russian life of the Pushkin period was reflected. The eight years (1823 - 1831), during which the novel was written, was a turning point in the history of Russia and in the difficult fate of the author himself. The novel reflects the aspirations and thoughts of the poet, his worldview and feelings.

"Eugene Onegin" is not just a novel, but a novel in verse, it obeys special artistic laws. He is free from the classical canons in the field of literary plot and is open to "the unpredictable freedom of the plot of life."

The central figure of the novel is Eugene Onegin. Who is Eugene Onegin, and why exactly did he stand at the top of the list of "superfluous people" in Russian literature?

On the arena of life - a young nobleman with a complex, contradictory character. He was born on the banks of the Neva; received a typical education for that time. French teachers, tutors taught him in such a way "so that the child would not be exhausted." The years of study quickly passed, and now Eugene Onegin is waiting for the light.

"Cut off in the latest fashion,
How a London dandy is dressed…”

He knew French perfectly, danced easily and naturally, was smart and sweet, that is, he perfectly fit into the standards of high society. Onegin tried to take from his young life everything he had enough time for: balls, visits, restaurants, ballet, meetings, masquerades...

But too soon, the young, brilliant dandy got fed up with the light and became disillusioned with everything.

As a man not stupid, he began to look for a way out. He began to write, but a superficial attitude to any business, the inability to concentrate on serious studies led to the fact that "nothing came out of his pen." I began to read, "but it's all to no avail."

In part, the situation was saved by the fact that Onegin, albeit on a sad occasion, changes his place of residence and ends up in the village. But the blues, boredom and melancholy catch up with him here too.

He refuses the love feelings of the modest young lady Tatyana. Moreover, he reads a sermon to her on this topic:

“Learn to rule yourself;
Not every one of you, as I understand;
Inexperience leads to trouble."

Onegin's acquaintance with the young neighbor Lensky also does not lead to anything good. A duel happened between them and Lensky dies. Onegin begins to gnaw the pangs of conscience. He leaves on a trip to Russia. The spleen "follows" him everywhere.

The traveler returns to the capital. And what does he see? New Tatyana - a married woman, a secular lady. This is no longer the enthusiastic, modest village young lady.

"She doesn't notice him.
No matter how he fights, even die.
Accepts freely at home
Away with him says three words,
Sometimes he will meet with one bow,
Sometimes you don't notice at all...

Now love flares up in Onegin's heart. But Tatyana rejects him. Onegin is forced to part with her forever.

Let us turn in more detail to the figure of Onegin. Onegin is smart, "my good friend", a man - an old-fashioned intellectual. He is capable of certain activities (one of his good deeds is the destruction of corvee, replacing it with dues), but he is not capable of hard work. He is devoid of willpower, exactingness and self-criticism. He does not have the strength necessary for a meaningful, useful public cause.

Onegin is a person who fits into the category of "superfluous people" in Russian literature. The term "extra person" arose in 1850 after the publication of the story by I.S. Turgenev "The Diary of a Superfluous Man". An extra person is a type of nobleman suffering from boredom, longing and loneliness. An extra person is characterized by mental fatigue, self-destruction, deep skepticism.

Dissatisfied, bored in society, Onegin lives in the name of some lofty beginnings and ideal aspirations. In fact, Eugene is only ready to apply high ideas about the human person, about freedom and its rights to himself, and in others he not only does not recognize these rights, but also cannot stand them.

Conclusion

The novel "Eugene Onegin" is one of the most significant, outstanding works of our poet Alexander Pushkin. The protagonist, Onegin, idle and bored, is familiar to Russian literature as a type of "superfluous person".

Onegin has no prospect of self-realization; he has the ability, but no will. Throughout the narrative, the attitude of the author of the novel to Onegin is ironic, without sarcasm; with hints of sympathy for the main character.

Why is Eugene Onegin called "an extra person"?

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"Eugene Onegin" - the first Russian realistic socio-psychological novel, the central work of Pushkin, written by him in 1830. In the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" by A.S. Pushkin, a new type of hero, not previously encountered in Russian literature, is revealed - "an extra person". In this work, his role is played by the title character. The characteristic features of this personality are: the meaninglessness and aimlessness of existence, a lack of understanding of one’s place and role in life, disappointment, boredom, melancholy, a “sharp, chilled mind”, judgments and interests that are different from generally accepted ones. In order to make sure that Onegin was “superfluous man", consider his biography. Eugene is a representative of the nobility, which was very important for the “superfluous person”, since the peasant could not belong to this type. Only a representative of the nobility can lead a lifestyle similar to an “extra person”: the nobles lived off the labor of others, did not know how to work, were smart and educated, unlike the peasants. It was from a great mind that Eugene came to realize his meaningless existence, which led the hero to suffering. Onegin is a secular person, not burdened with service. The young man leads a vain, carefree, full of entertainment life, but he is not satisfied with the pastime that suits the people of his circle. Onegin was smarter than them, he thought and felt subtly, therefore he was worried and tormented by an aimless life, he did not want to devote it only to entertainment, like them. Since Eugene was a nobleman, he was used to living on everything ready. Onegin was not accustomed to anything stubborn and long-term, he was bored with monotonous work. Any planned activity leads to disappointment. Upbringing did not accustom him to hard work, he was tired of everything, and this led to thoughts about the worthlessness of his life, disappointment in it, boredom and sadness:

In short: Russian melancholy
She took possession of him little by little;
He shoot himself, thank God,
Didn't want to try
But to life completely cooled

Onegin tried to occupy himself with creativity, began to read books, but even here his efforts were in vain:
I read and read, but to no avail:
There is boredom, there is deceit and delirium;
That conscience, that makes no sense

The hero is forced to leave Petersburg and move to the countryside. This circumstance gives rise to hope for a better life in his fate. Arriving in the village, Eugene tried to take care of the household, alleviated the situation of the peasants on his estate: “he replaced the corvée with an old dues with a light yoke.” But that doesn't take him long either.

Relationships with other people are perceived as something boring by an “extra person”. The peculiarity of such a person is the inability to establish long-term relationships, because they bother him just like any other activity. He does not want to communicate with neighbors who can only talk about "haymaking and wine, about the kennel and their relatives." Onegin prefers solitude. For this, Yevgeny receives an unflattering characterization from the landowners: “Our neighbor is ignorant; crazy; he is a pharmacist…”.

Yevgeny's friendship with Lensky also ends tragically. Only with Vladimir Lensky Onet

The novel in verse by A. S. Pushkin is saturated with a wide variety of images. Each hero of Eugene Onegin has his own peculiar inner world, his own view of the surrounding things, his own paths to the spiritual peace of the soul.

The protagonist of the novel is the brilliant secular lion Eugene Onegin. The young man had the opportunity to get a good education, but initially having set false life priorities for himself, he taught only what he needed: he remained indifferent to history, read poetry superficially - only in order to shine if possible in high society.

Eugene is only interested in the works of Adam Smith, he compares himself with the heroes of his work - enlightened Europeans leading an idle lifestyle. He tries to adjust his life to literary works, putting on the mask of a secular rake.

Unfortunately, this was only a role that Onegin skillfully knew how to play, without giving an account of this even to himself. Getting into secular society and considering himself a part of it, Eugene comes into violent conflict with him.

Perception of the surrounding world by Onegin

Onegin is accustomed to perceive the world around him as his favorite European writers describe it, but the Petersburg reality turns out to be far from the literary ideal.

Onegin's friendship with Lensky also speaks of the subtle spiritual structure of Onegin. Onegin admires Lensky's ability to feel the world around him and embody his feelings in poetry. Calling his friend to a duel, Onegin continues to play a literary hero, because that is exactly what they would have done in his situation.

However, he forgets that he is in the real world, that his or his friend's death will be real. Understanding this will come to Eugene much later. He even perceives the image of Tatyana as the image of a heroine from a book that is absolutely not suitable for his hero.

After all, Olga is a more suitable candidate for the role of the Lady of the Heart in his novel. This is the tragic fate of the hero Onegin and his main contradictions with the world that existed here and now, and did not fly in a ghostly literary scenario.

The tragedy of Onegin

At the end of the novel, we do not recognize Yevgeny. Only a few years later, the full depth of his own self-deception was revealed to him. Onegin understands that he made a mistake in his youth when he chose the wrong priorities in life, when he did not see the real, faithful, sincerely loving people who met on his life path, and whom he rejected due to his illusory ghostly perception of the world.

Eugene's soul from the very beginning aspired to development and spiritual search, but the methods chosen for this only led him to suffering and internal self-destruction.

The last conversation with Tatyana showed Yevgeny the irreversibility of his tragedy. After all, it is no longer possible to start a love relationship with her again, all the more, it is impossible to return Lensky, a true friend who died at his hands.

A. S. Pushkin in all the tragedies of Onegin, makes him and society guilty, which very often then supported the methods of youthful formation of consciousness, which was characteristic of Onegin. However, the ending of the novel is open. And who knows, maybe, finally, having understood himself well, Eugene will find a new true love and true friends.

With the poem "Eugene Onegin" Pushkin began the theme of "superfluous" people in Russian literature. Following him, this problem was developed by Griboedov with the play “Woe from Wit”, M. Lermontov in the story “A Hero of Our Time”, Turgenev in “Fathers and Sons” and in “Notes of a Superfluous Man”, Goncharov in “Oblomov” and other writers of that time .

Russian literature of the second half of the 19th century brought to the fore the education of a new person, active, enterprising and useful to society. Then this expression appeared for the first time - superfluous people. As a rule, these are wealthy, educated people. They are able to purposefully serve their homeland and society. Able, but not willing. Service often meant the struggle for democratic freedoms.

But Pushkin and his contemporaries were influenced by Byronian romanticism. They created images of all dissatisfied, bored skeptics. An extra person in early romantic literature was Aleko from, who fled from civilized society to a gypsy camp, but even in it he did not find his place and purpose in life. Aleko served as a precursor as a literary hero.

Why do we consider Eugene Onegin an extra person? It would seem that before us is a young man who has everything ahead of him. But Eugene lives. While he lived in St. Petersburg, all that interested him was entertainment: balls, theaters, drinking with friends, women, intrigues. The daily repetition of the same entertainments, the same conversations, faces led our hero to a skeptical attitude towards people.

Onegin does not seek to create a family, he does not serve anywhere. He lives on income from the peasants, but even here he does not lift a finger to somehow increase productivity, improve the lives of those who belong to him. No. We must give him credit for the fact that he replaced the corvee with dues, for which the peasants were grateful to him, and the neighbors-landlords became wary. This was the end of his economic work. If we recall a well-known proverb, we can say that Onegin did not build a house, did not plant a tree, and did not give birth to a child.

Onegin was capable of intrigues in order to disperse the blood, to have some fun. When he started flirting with at the name party, he didn't really think about the consequences. After all, a young and pretty creature with a doll face could take his flirting at face value and fall in love. He did not care how he would perceive his flirting with Olga, how she felt. It was important for him to amuse his own ego and piss him off.

He does not say where Onegin went after the duel, where he was before meeting Tatyana. But having met Onegin in St. Petersburg, we again see an idle person who now consoles himself with love for someone else's wife, and sees the meaning of his being in the fact that he follows her to all social events where she happens to be.

Literary critics believe that "superfluous people" appeared due to some kind of social instability, and if Russia had a different social system and a different political situation, they would not exist. But it's not. There are many examples of people who lived and worked in the same years and in the same social and social system, and at the same time gained fame, created a fortune for their descendants (that is, they grew a tree and built a house). Examples? We won't go far for them. These are the authors of literary works who wrote the books mentioned. By the way, Onegin tried to take up a pen and write something, but it did not work out. Laziness, inability to socially significant work turned out to be stronger than him.

But not even laziness gave rise to extra people. She herself was born from the absence of any purpose.

One of the literary critics had the idea that Onegin would embark on the path of struggle against the autocracy, would find himself in the ranks of the Decembrists. If this happens, then not out of the conviction that they are right, and the desire to free the country from tyranny. But only from the desire to at least something to occupy your idle mind, to drive adrenaline in the blood.