Onegin's “blues” in “a collection of motley chapters. Onegin’s “illness”: the problem of a nobleman of the early 19th century or an “eternal problem”? How Onegin tried to get out of the blues

At the beginning of the novel, we are presented with a picture of the upbringing, education, pastime and interests of a typical young man who was born “on the banks of the Neva” and, by the will of fate, found himself “the heir of all his relatives.”

Pushkin describes in detail a typical day for Onegin, his activities and hobbies:

A person generously gifted with various abilities cannot find another occupation for himself other than those with which “proud mediocrity is so pleased.” Onegin had such attempts: he, having abandoned his boring flirting with secular beauties, “yawned, took up his pen.” But the point is not only that Onegin lacks a gift for writing; the author’s conclusion is more general: “he was sick of persistent work.”

It is no coincidence that Onegin’s illness, associated with Western European “Byronism,” strikes him, who was brought up and raised “on the banks of the Neva.” Onegin’s isolation from the national “soil” is both the cause of his melancholy and what underlies the very important consequences of Onegin’s illness .

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 have 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 within himself 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 ().

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 task was possible to solve 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 raised “on the banks of the Neva,” in the most European city in 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 speaks fluent French, dances well, dresses fashionably, can easily carry on a conversation, has impeccable manners - and now 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 describes in detail 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.

In the novel “Eugene Onegin,” Pushkin embodied one of his most significant plans - to create the image of a “hero of the time.” Even before work on the novel began, in the romantic poem “Prisoner of the Caucasus” in 1821, the poet tried to draw a portrait of a contemporary. But the means of romantic poetics came into conflict with a task that could only be solved by realistic means. Pushkin wanted not only to show a person who was overcome by a special “illness”, called “Russian melancholy” in Onegin, but also to explain the reason for this new phenomenon, which led to the emergence of a special type of personality with “premature old age of the soul.” “Who will take the image of a young man who has lost the sensitivity of his heart in misfortunes unknown to the reader,” - this is how the author himself commented on his “failure.” And then he began to create the first realistic socio-psychological novel in Russian literature.

“Eugene Onegin” presents “a typical hero in typical circumstances”; there is not the slightest hint of the exceptional, exotic setting characteristic of romantic works. But something else is even more important: the “world’s sorrow” of romance, which appears as a consequence of the discovery by the hero, an exceptional person, of the general imperfection of the world and disappointment in everything, in Onegin is motivated by completely realistic reasons. Moreover, instead of this traditional romantic trait, the Russian Childe Harold Onegin is also endowed with “Russian blues.” At the same time, the word “blues” itself is filled with a slightly different content: there remains a tinge of disappointment, general skepticism, but at the same time, something associated with boredom, satiety, even some lazy laziness and phlegmatism appears. But the most important thing is that all these qualities of Onegin, which have quite obvious consequences in the further development of the plot, receive a comprehensive explanation from the very beginning. So, what are the reasons for Onegin’s “blues”?

In the first chapter of the novel, Pushkin talks in detail about Onegin’s life before the start of the plot action. Before us is a picture of the upbringing, education, pastime and interests of a typical young man, born “on the banks of the Neva” and, by the will of fate, turned out to be “the heir of all his relatives.” He receives a very broad, but not deep, home education, like many noble children of that era; raised by French tutors, speaks fluent French, dances well, dresses fashionably, can easily carry on a conversation, has impeccable manners - and now all the doors leading to high society are open for him:

What do you want more? The light has decided

That he is smart and very nice.

How little, it turns out, was required from the person himself for society to give him the highest rating! Everything else is what gives him origin and a certain social and material position. One can imagine what kind of people must have surrounded Onegin from the very first steps in the world. Of course, for an ordinary person this would hardly be an important factor in the appearance of boredom and satiety with such a life, but Onegin, as Belinsky noted, “was not one of the ordinary, ordinary people.” The author himself speaks of his closeness and certain sympathy for this extraordinary person:

I liked his features

Involuntary devotion to dreams,

Inimitable strangeness

And a sharp, chilled mind.

Why does Onegin’s dreamy nature turn into disappointment, and why does his deep analytical mind become harsh and chilled? It is not difficult to guess this: Pushkin describes in great detail a typical day for Onegin, his activities and hobbies. The author's conclusion is obvious: "

Wake up at noon, and again

Until the morning his life is ready,

Monotonous and colorful.

And tomorrow is the same as yesterday.

This is what leads the hero to the blues: the monotony of life, only outwardly motley, but in fact revolving in a set circle: “lunches, dinners and dances,” as Griboyedov’s Chatsky said about it. They are interspersed with an obligatory visit to the theater, where the same circle of people gathers, and equally obligatory novels, which are essentially just social flirting. This, in fact, is all that the world can offer a young man. Belinsky rightly said about Onegin that “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.” And here is the result:

The disease 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.

But another logical question arises: why can’t a person generously gifted with various abilities find another occupation other than those with which “the self-loving mediocrity is so pleased”? In fairness, it must be said that Onegin made such attempts: he, having abandoned his boring flirting with secular beauties, “yawned, took up his pen.” The author's irony here is obvious: this is not how a true writer begins his creative work. But the point is not only that Onegin lacks a gift for writing; the author’s conclusion is more general: “he was sick of persistent work.” Here it is - Onegin laziness. Even then, having settled in the village and at first carried out some transformations there (“he replaced the ancient corvée with a yoke / With an easy quitrent”), Onegin immediately calms down: fortunately, now he doesn’t even have to travel for work, as the neighboring landowners do. He retires into solitude, escaping from all the visitors who are so annoying to him, and lives as an “anchorite.”

But maybe Onegin did not use all the means that could cure his illness? But actually, what other “recipes” are offered against it? Of course, travel is such a typical feature of a romantic hero. Onegin was planning to go to the South with the Author, which he tells us about in a lyrical digression. But then the inheritance “turned up” and he limited himself to a “journey” to the village. True, then he will be destined to “travel around Russia,” but this will not be quite the same Onegin, bored and moping, with whom we met in this part of the novel.

What else is the hero trying to do to disperse the blues? In fact, nothing more. Maybe this is the reason that in the village, where Onegin’s usual living conditions really changed,

... the same boredom

Handra was waiting for him on guard

And she ran after him,

Like a shadow or a faithful wife.

So maybe the reasons for Onegin’s illness are still deeper, maybe it’s not for nothing that Pushkin talks about his “inimitable strangeness”? 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 of your searches. Yes, such people are depicted in both Russian and European literature. In Europe they were called romantics, and in Russia, having absorbed special national Russian traits, they became “superfluous people.” This is the most important consequence of Onegin’s “blues,” which in fact turns out to be a truly serious illness that is difficult to get rid of. The very persistence of Onegin’s attempts to overcome this condition speaks of the depth and seriousness of the problem. It is not for nothing that Pushkin, having begun the novel in a somewhat ironic tone, gradually moves on to a thoughtful analysis of all the components of this problem. And it turns out that the consequences of this “disease” of modern man can be extremely difficult both for himself and for the people around him.

It is no coincidence that Onegin’s illness, associated with Western European “Byronism,” strikes him, who was brought up and raised “on the banks of the Neva,” in the most European city in Russia. The work is based on one general problem that will be central to Russia throughout the 19th century - the problem of dividing society into two different and very little connected parts. On the one hand, this is the nobility, primarily urban, which has absorbed European culture and enlightenment and has largely lost its national foundations. On the other hand, a much larger part is that which preserved its national roots: it supported national traditions, rituals, customs, and based its life on moral principles that had developed over centuries. Even the language of these two disintegrated parts of what was once (before Peter’s reforms) a single Russian society turned out to be different: it is enough to recall the words of the hero of the comedy “Woe from Wit” Chatsky - a contemporary of Onegin - that the people considered the nobility, who often even used the French language in everyday life , “for the Germans,” that is, foreigners.

Onegin’s isolation from the national “soil” is both the cause of his melancholy and what underlies the very important consequences of Onegin’s illness. First, about the reasons. We all know that Pushkin’s talent, imprisoned in Mikhailovsky by the will of fate, reached an unprecedented peak. Pushkin had something to occupy himself in the village, although he, especially at first, had to mope and be sad, like Onegin. But the difference between them is great:

I was born for a peaceful life.

For village silence:

More vivid creative dreams -

This is what Pushkin says about himself, contrasting his attitude towards the village and Russian nature with Onegin’s. After all, Onegin was interested in the typically Russian landscape only for two days, and

On the third grove, hill and field

He was no longer occupied;

Then they induced sleep....

But there is a heroine in the novel who is very similar to the author, not only in her attitude to Russian nature, but also to everything Russian. This, of course, is Tatiana, “Russian in soul.” Raised in the village, she absorbed Russian customs and traditions, which were “kept in a peaceful life” in the Larin family. Since childhood, she fell in love with Russian nature, which forever remained dear to her; She accepted with all her soul those fairy tales and folk legends that her nanny told her. In other words, Tatiana retained a living, blood connection with that “soil”, the folk foundation, which Onegin completely lost.

And then their meeting takes place: a Russian European, suffering from an illness “similar to the English spleen,” and a dreamy Russian girl, sincere in her impulses and capable of deep, strong feelings. This meeting could be salvation for Onegin. But one of the consequences of his illness is that very “premature old age of the soul” that Pushkin spoke about. Having appreciated Tatyana, her brave, desperate act, when she was the first to confess her love to him, Onegin does not find the mental strength to respond to the girl’s feelings. He was only “deeply touched” when he received her message. And then came his “sermon” in the garden, in which he “taught” the girl, inexperienced in matters of the heart, how carefully she should behave. This is the whole of Onegin: in his monologue there is a sincere confession of the soul, and the caution of a secular person who is afraid of getting into an awkward situation, and even some preserved traits of a “cunning seducer,” but most importantly - callousness and selfishness. This is what the human soul becomes when it suffers premature old age. She was not created, as Onegin himself says, “for the bliss” of family life. But why?

It turns out that this is also one of the consequences of the illness of the Russian “Byronicist”. For such a person, freedom is above all; it cannot be limited by anything, including family ties:

Whenever life around home

I wanted to limit...

It is precisely to “limit”, and not at all to find a soul mate in a loved one, as Tatyana thinks. Here it is, the difference between two life systems formed in different cultural and ethical traditions. Apparently, it will be difficult for Tatyana to understand this position of the “modern hero”, about whom Pushkin so accurately said:

All prejudices and you,

We respect everyone as zeros,

And in units - yourself.

We all look at Napoleons...

But this is exactly what Onegin is like. Terrible events had to happen in order for the hero to begin, at least partially, to get rid of the terrible consequences of his illness, so that something in him began to change. Lensky's death is the price of Onegin's transformation, the price may be too high. The “bloody shadow” of a friend awakens frozen feelings in him, his conscience drives him out of these places. It was necessary to experience all this, to “travel through Russia” in order to realize that freedom can become “hateful” in order to be reborn for love. Only then will Tatyana with her “Russian soul”, with her impeccable moral sense, become a little clearer to him. And yet, even then there will remain a huge difference between them: Onegin, intoxicated by his newfound ability to love and suffer, does not understand that love and selfishness are incompatible, that one cannot sacrifice the feelings of other people. As then, in the garden, in the last scene of the novel a lesson is taught again - only now Tatyana gives it to Onegin, and this is a lesson of love and fidelity, compassion and sacrifice. Will Onegin be able to learn it, just as Tatyana once humbly accepted his “lessons”? The author does not tell us anything about this - the ending of the novel is open.

But the reader got the opportunity to get acquainted with the “hero of the time”, see even his most hidden features and, finally, find out the causes and consequences of his special illness - the “Russian blues”. One of the English translators of Pushkin's novel found an amazing equivalent of this word, which is not found in other languages - he designated this concept as the “Russian soul”. Who knows, maybe he was right. After all, after Onegin, a whole galaxy of young people will appear in Russian literature, also suffering from this disease, restless, looking for themselves and their place in life. Absorbing new signs of their time, they retained this main feature. And here’s what’s amazing: none of these “extra people” were able to recover from their terrible illness. And is it even possible? Or maybe this “Russian blues” itself also has its own meaning? Society's attitude towards such people was also different. But now, it seems to me, we can already say that such people are needed, they are not at all superfluous for Russia, and their constant search and dissatisfaction with life is a guarantee that someday it will become better.