The novel in verse by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin “Eugene Onegin” is famous not only for its light and airy style of storytelling and not only for the storyline of the relationship between Tatiana and Onegin. I believe that, first of all, the work should be called an encyclopedia of Russian life, which opens for readers a window into the world of Russia in the distant nineteenth century.
From the very beginning of the story, readers will learn many interesting details about how children were raised in those days. For example, using the example of the main character, Eugene Onegin, we can notice that education was completely different than in our times of the twenty-first century. Primary importance was given to the French language and the rules of behavior in a secular society, that is, it was completely humanitarian. The same can be said about the literary preferences of young people - the priority was love lyrics and simple novels, glorifying the very idle way of life to which Onegin was inclined.
It is impossible not to pay attention to the descriptions of the characters’ everyday life, which occupy a significant part of the novel. For example, most of the landowners' lives seem to have been devoted to feasts, relaxation, various celebrations, small household chores, and observance of native Russian traditions. As readers, it is difficult for us not to notice how monotonous and one-sided their lives were - without the desire for knowledge, without the desire to explore the world and learn something new. However, as we all know, Pushkin loved Russia and knew how to find special charm even in the shortcomings of the Russian people, so throughout the entire novel the author seems to run a thread of goodwill and sympathy for the heroes of the work.
In my opinion, “Eugene Onegin” has a remarkable property - it seems to take each of us back to the past, to those distant years of patriarchal Russia. Thanks to numerous metaphors and epithets, images from the novel literally come to life in the head, and the high detail of the narrative allows you to imagine everything to the last detail and form your own opinion about the life of the Russian people in the nineteenth century, which allows us to call this novel by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin an encyclopedia of Russian life.
The great poet of the 19th century, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, famous throughout time for his picturesque poetry, is also the author of the novel “Eugene Onegin.”
Creating this novel, Pushkin describes in all its subtleties that time, the habits of Russian residents of different classes, spiritual life, and interior decoration. Social and moral aspects run through the entire work.
This work turned out to be so deep and interesting that it was difficult for critics to resist writing a couple of lines about it. So Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky referred to it as “an encyclopedia of Russian life.” And in fact, this novel is like a real encyclopedia, it shows Russian life at the beginning of the 19th century from almost all sides. The beginning of the last century was a rise in society's self-awareness. The nobility was against the monarchy and serfdom. People are becoming interested in Western philosophers. So why was it called “the encyclopedia of Russian life”?
Probably because by showing us the main character, we can find out how people of those times lived, what they did, what their upbringing was like. The children were allowed everything, they were pampered, taught jokingly, and a nanny constantly looked after them.
He also talks in detail about the basics of training: the nobles were required to speak French, the ability to dance the mazurka, “bow at ease” and “the science of tender passion.”
The life of the nobles on the estate did not go unnoticed. So familiar to Pushkin from the stories of his nanny Arina Rodionovna, who often talked about it. They made pickles, heated the bathhouse, and did the accounting for the estate.
In our country, traditions and holidays have always been honored, and it was impossible not to talk about this, especially when describing the entire essence of Russia in those days. Pushkin briefly touches on traditional holidays. How they celebrated Maslenitsa with pancakes, danced in circles, sang folk songs.
Starring Tatyana Larina, Pushki portrays a real Russian woman.
Tatyana believed the legends. She believed in dreams and fortune telling, whether with cards or on the moon, and honored traditions. She could not leave her husband, despite her love for Onegin, which lasted most of her life and was very strong. After all, youthful love is the most powerful feeling.
Despite the fact that the main events took place in the province, Pushkin could not ignore the description of Moscow. He wanted to emphasize her conservatism and loyalty to tradition. Returning to Moscow, Onegin did not see any changes in her, the same people in the same clothes, everything remained unchanged.
In the novel, Pushkin carefully describes the characters and their surroundings, their character. The actions of the heroes tell us about their morals and faith. He completely managed to illuminate the era of that time.
For 9th grade
Bazarbay is a character in the novel “The Scaffold”. The exact opposite of Boston. A complete drunkard and parasite. The full name of this character is Bazarbai Noigutov.
In Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol's comedy, written in 1835, the stupidity of some officials of that time is exposed to ridicule. In the work “The Inspector General” there is not a single positive character. All high-ranking residents of the town
The childhood years of Pavel Chichikov from the work “Dead Souls” were not a happy time. The boy has no memories of a loving family, because his constantly angry, ill father forced him to learn to read and write.
The fairy tale “Ashik-Kerib” was written by the famous Russian writer Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. An analysis of this work is presented in this article.
The work belongs to the writer’s creative works, considering human relationships as a key theme.
The novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” can rightfully be called not only the best work of A. S. Pushkin, the pinnacle of his creativity, but also one of the most amazing works of world literature. It is not in vain that V. G. Belinsky wrote in his eighth article “Eugene Onegin”: “Onegin” is Pushkin’s most sincere work, the most beloved child of his imagination, and one can point to too few works in which the poet’s personality would be reflected with such completeness, light and clear how Pushkin’s personality was reflected in Onegin. Here is all life, all the essence of man, all his love; here are his feelings, concepts, ideals... Not to mention the aesthetic dignity of “Onegin”, this poem has great historical and social significance for us Russians.”
Not a single real encyclopedia will give such a laconic and at the same time complete idea of the era, of life, ideals, morals and passions of representatives of all classes, which “Eugene Onegin” gives. The novel is unique in its breadth of reality, multi-plot, description of the distinctive features of the era, its color. That is why V.G. Belinsky concluded: “Onegin” can be called an encyclopedia of Russian life and a highly folk work.” This work reflects “the century and modern man.” Indeed, after reading the novel, you can get a complete picture of Pushkin’s era. In “Eugene Onegin,” as in an encyclopedia, you can find out everything about the first quarter of the 19th century: how they dressed and what was in fashion, what people valued most, what they talked about, what interests they lived. “Eugene Onegin” reflects the entire Russian reality. Here there is a remote landowner province, a fortress village, lordly Moscow, secular Petersburg, provincial cities (on Onegin’s journey).
Pushkin truthfully depicted the environment in which the main characters of his novel live. The author accurately reproduced the atmosphere of the city noble salons in which Onegin spent his youth. Let us remember how Pushkin describes Onegin’s first appearance in the world:
He's completely French
He could express himself and wrote;
(20 )
At one time, the Russian critic V. Belinsky called the novel “Eugene Onegin” by Pushkin “an encyclopedia of Russian life and a highly folk work." But why "encyclopedia"? After all, we are used to defining a multi-volume reference publication this way, and not a thin book of poetry! In my opinion, the fact is that in this novel, not for the first time in Russian literature, an entire historical era was recreated with extraordinary breadth and truthfulness - the life of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.
In his novel, both in the plot and in lyrical digressions, Pushkin depicted all layers of Russian society: the high society of St. Petersburg, noble Moscow, the nobility, the peasantry - that is, the whole people. This allows us to talk about “Eugene Onegin” as a truly folk novel.
In “Eugene Onegin” the capital, the province, the village, and the city are shown. Here, as in a real encyclopedia, you can find out how young aristocrats were raised, they went out as children, where they went to have fun, what they dressed and what was fashionable, what plays were staged in the theater and what the menu of gourmet restaurants was. Based on Pushkin's text, one can even create the exact daily routine of a young nobleman.
The author knew and loved St. Petersburg well - the city where the best people of Russia lived: Decembrists, writers, people of art. Pushkin is very precise in his descriptions; he does not forget about the “caustic salt of subtle anger,” or the “ubiquitous eccentrics,” or the “avid collectors of epigrams.” The Moscow “bride fair” is shown to us through the eyes of a capital resident. Describing the Moscow nobility, Pushkin mainly resorts to sarcastic characteristics:
Here, however, was the color of the capital,
And knowledge, and models of fashion,
And a few fools, as expected,
And the ubiquitous weirdos.
The poet states with undisguised regret that a person’s popularity depends on his status in society. It shows the lack of spirituality of the capital's society, their base interests and mental limitations.
Already by the play on words in the epigraph to the second section, the poet shows that Pushkin’s contemporary Russia was primarily rural. Apparently, this is why the nobility in the novel is depicted most thoroughly. Moreover, when describing the nobility, Pushkin limits himself to soft irony. Provincial society appears in the novel as a caricature of high society. Suffice it to recall the appearance of the Skotinin couple at Tatyana’s name day. It is also significant that long before the writing of Eugene Onegin, this couple had already been ridiculed by Fonvizin in the comedy Minor. Thus, Pushkin showed that during that time, which separated Pushkin’s modern province from the province described by Fonvizin, nothing changed.
Onegin is the embodiment of European consciousness, culture, and education. He reads Rousseau, the economist Adam Smith, the history “from Romulus to the present day,” Byron. At the same time, the author specifically emphasizes his alienation from folk life: Evgeniy has no family, he was raised by a foreign tutor, so it is not surprising that he uses Russian from time to time.
An aversion to work, a habit of idle rest, lack of will and selfishness - this is what Onegin received from the “high society”.
That is why the idea of renewal and revival of the individual through communication with the people takes on special significance in the work. This idea was embodied in the image of Tatyana, with whom Pushkin identified his muse.
It is significant that Onegin and Tatiana are first brought together by loneliness; they are both strangers in the noble environment. In a letter to Onegin, Tatyana admits:
Just imagine: I'm here alone,
Nobody understands me,
In exhaustion, the opinion becomes foggy,
And there is no longer any salvation.
The best qualities of Tatyana's character originate in folk morality, because she was raised not by a French governess, but by a serf nanny. It is not for nothing that the heroine is in love with Onegin and talks about her feelings to her, the person closest to her in the world. However, when you read Tatyana’s conversation with the nanny, you get the feeling that the young lady in love and the unfortunate powerless woman hardly have anything in common in the personal sphere.
Tatyana is sure that people should respond with kindness to kindness. The concept of dignity is one of the defining features of her image. The young girl ends her message to Onegin with the words:
There is shame, fear and torment in my heart...
But I'm not hiding from anything,
And your honor guarantees me...
However, adult Tatyana also does not change her principles:
I love you (why hide?)
But who am I with?
I'll stay true.
Her concept of dignity will never allow Tatyana to break her oath of allegiance.
As we can see, Pushkin does not give unambiguous assessments of the characters, emphasizing primarily how important it was for everyone to comprehend themselves as individuals.
The appearance of “Eugene Onegin” can indeed be considered a certain stage not only in the development of Russian literature, but also of public consciousness in general.
The novel “Eugene Onegin” was written in the 20-30s of the last century. Pushkin worked on it for several years, so the poet himself grew along with his work, each new chapter of the novel was more mature than the previous one. This novel was the most important event in the history of Russian literature. It was the first work in which auto|eu managed to create the widest panorama of reality and reveal the most important problems of its time. For its wide coverage of Pushkin’s contemporary life, for the depth of its problems revealed in the novel, the great Russian critic V. G. Belinsky called the novel “Eugene Onegin” an encyclopedia of Russian life and an eminently folk work.
Indeed, the novel, like a true encyclopedia, reflects all aspects of Russian life at the beginning of the 19th century. The time of the tenths and twenties of the last century was a time of rising national consciousness. During these years, the best part of the Russian nobility opposed serfdom and absolute monarchy. In Russian society, interest in progressive thinkers and philosophers of the West is growing. For example, Onegin reads Adam Smith, Rousseau is Tatyana’s favorite author.
With his characteristic laconicism, Pushkin illuminates the economy and cultural life of Russia in those years. From the novel we learn that the plays performed in theaters at that time were successful, and that Didpo was a famous ballet director. Together with the author, we admire the wonderful grace of the “brilliant and half-airy” Istomina, and remember the beautiful Russian tragic actress Semyonova. Easily, as if in passing, Pushkin touches on issues of the Russian economy, but gives an accurate and apt description. All kinds of trinkets and luxury items were imported into Russia “for timber and lard”: “perfume in cut crystal,” “files,” “thirty kinds of brushes.”
The merchant gets up, the peddler goes,
A cabman pulls to the stock exchange,
The okhtenka is in a hurry with the jug...
This is the morning of working St. Petersburg. And here Pushkin, using the example of the main character, shows the lifestyle of the “golden noble youth.” Onegin, tired of the noise of the ball, returns late and wakes up only “after noon.” Evgeny’s life is “monotonous and colorful”: balls, restaurants, theaters, more balls. Of course, such a life could not satisfy an intelligent, thinking person. We understand why Onegin was disappointed in the surrounding society. After all, this high society consists of people who are selfish, indifferent, and devoid of high thoughts. Pushkin describes this society in more detail in the eighth chapter:
Was here. however, the color of the capital,
And know, and fashion samples,
Faces you meet everywhere
Necessary fools...
The provincial nobility also found its artistic expression in the novel. Deafness, narrow-mindedness, and narrow interests are characteristic of these “landlords.” Their conversations do not go further than such topics as haymaking, wine, and kennels. It is no coincidence that Pushkin represents these people as monsters in Tatyana’s dream. They have become so impoverished in intelligence and have become so degraded that they are little different from animals.
The guests at Tatiana's name day are the brightest examples of the landowner breed. The author already reveals their essence in their surnames: Skotinins, Buyanov, Pustyakov.
Provinciality also emanates from noble Moscow. In the seventh chapter, Pushkin satirically depicts representatives of the Moscow nobility. Here are Lyubov Petrovna, who loved to lie, and Ivan Petrovich, whose main feature is stupidity, and the stingy Semyon Petrovich. Pushkin gives an accurate and comprehensive description of the Moscow nobility:
Everything about them is so pale and indifferent;
They slander even boringly;
In the barren dryness of speech,
Questions, gossip and news
No thoughts will flash for a whole day,
Whether by chance or at random...
In addition to the life of the noble class, the novel truthfully depicts the life of the peasants and their way of life. Using the example of nanny Tatyana Larina, Pushkin illuminates the bitter fate of a serf peasant woman who, as a thirteen-year-old girl, was married off against her will. The author does not reveal the terrible pictures of serfdom and exploitation, but in one phrase, in one episode, he absolutely accurately reflects the cruel order that reigned in the village. Tatyana’s mother, as simply and naturally as she salted mushrooms, went to the bathhouse on Saturdays, beat maids, gave peasants up as soldiers, forced girls picking berries to sing songs, “so that wicked lips would not secretly eat the master’s berries.”
Thus, in the novel “Eugene Onegin” all layers of the Russian nation found their embodiment. Pushkin touched on all aspects of Russian reality, all the problems of modern life in his novel, and managed to see them through the eyes of the entire nation, the entire people.
V. G. Belinsky highly and duly appreciated the brilliant creation of our national poet. The great critic wrote: “Let time pass and bring with it new needs, let Russian society grow and overtake “Onegin”: no matter how far it goes, it will always love this poem, will always fix its gaze on it, filled with love and gratitude... »
"Eugene Onegin" as an "encyclopedia of Russian life"
In the novel “Eugene Onegin,” Pushkin develops several storylines that take place against the backdrop of life in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, in which, thanks to the author’s art, everything is clear, understandable and recognizable to the reader. The famous 19th century critic V. G. Belinsky called Pushkin’s novel “an encyclopedia of Russian life.” This definition is amazingly true, because the poet finds the most convincing words and the picture of Russian reality, as if alive, opens up before us.
Indeed, having read only the first 20 chapters of “Eugene Onegin,” we already know an unusually lot from the lives of people of that era: how young nobles were raised, where they walked as children, where they went to have fun when they grew up, what was important for young nobles, what they ate and what they drank; what was fashionable to watch in the theater, why people went to the theater. On the pages of the novel you can even find such details from the life of Russia in the 19th century. as features of export and import (“for timber and lard” and hemp, luxury goods were imported: “Amber on the pipes of Constantinople, Porcelain and bronze... Perfume in cut crystal” and much more “for fun, for fashionable bliss”).
However, it would be foolish to think that this is what “EO” as an encyclopedia novel is limited to. After all, the novel was written more for Pushkin’s compatriots than for us, his descendants 200 years later, and it is unlikely that he wanted to show us the life of Russia at the beginning of the 18th century (the novel takes place 1819-1825). Rather, what comes to mind when you read the novel is that Pushkin wanted to show from a new side those events and phenomena of life that were characteristic of the Russian nobility and people in those years.
Throughout the novel and in lyrical digressions, all layers of Russian society are shown: the high society of St. Petersburg, noble Moscow, the local nobility, the peasantry. How does Pushkin present these layers to us, the readers?
The high society of St. Petersburg comes to the fore at the beginning of the novel, in the first chapter, as well as in the last chapter VIII of the novel. First of all, the author's attitude towards the high society of St. Petersburg is striking - a sarcastic mockery of their life and behavior. For example, about Evgeniy’s upbringing:
He's completely French
He could express himself and wrote;
I danced the mazurka easily
And he bowed casually;
What do you want more? The light has decided
That he is smart and very nice.
It is immediately clear that the world requires nothing more than good manners and in order to be successful, you just need to be able to bow “at ease.” Or such a detail as a conversation among society ladies:
... But in general their conversation
Unbearable, though innocent, nonsense;
Besides, they are so immaculate,
So majestic, so smart,
So full of piety,
So careful, precise,
So unapproachable for men,
That the sight of them already gives rise to spleen.
However, under this ridicule one can involuntarily (or rather even deliberately) see the author’s sadness and rejection of this state of affairs. And the admission “the higher tone is rather boring” is no longer surprising.
Further, in the middle chapters, we are presented with the local nobility and the life of rural Russia (the fact that contemporary rural Russia is also emphasized by the play on words in the epigraph to the second chapter). When you begin to consider the landowners shown by Pushkin, a comparison with Gogol’s landowners from “Dead Souls” involuntarily comes to mind (this idea is especially suggested by the description of Tatyana’s dream and her name day):
With his portly wife
Fat Pustyakov arrived;
Gvozdin, an excellent owner,
Owner of poor men;
The Skotinins, the gray-haired couple...
District dandy Petushkov,
... And retired adviser Flyanov,
Heavy gossip, old rogue,
Glutton, bribe-taker and buffoon.
Pushkin spares no one. Not a single typical character escapes his sarcasm. However, it should be noted with what skill he manages to achieve that golden mean between evil ridicule and ordinary description. Pushkin speaks simply and without anger.
Lensky is of particular interest as a representative of a certain class. He was born in Russia, but was raised and educated in freedom-loving Germany:
... From the cold depravity of the world
Before it even fades away...
But such a person has no place in the Russia that Pushkin described in his novel. If he had not died in a duel, he could, according to the author, become a poet or turn into a kind of Manilov and end his life like Onegin’s uncle (it is also interesting that Pushkin wanted, but for censorship reasons could not include another stanza where it is said that Lensky could have been “hanged like Ryleev”).
The fate of Tatyana's mother is also typical for women of that time - she was married to a man she did not love, but she soon got used to it and resigned herself to taking up housekeeping:
Pickled mushrooms for the winter,
She managed expenses, shaved her foreheads...
That is, I replaced happiness with a habit. This image is very reminiscent of the Box from Dead Souls.
Only in the description of the common people, Tatyana (since she was a “Russian soul”) and Evgeniy (since it is about him that the story is being told) does Pushkin abandon his constant ridicule. Only he treats them with respect and does not try to expose them like other images.
Further, in the seventh chapter, the Moscow nobility appears before us, or, as Pushkin immediately defines it, “a bride fair.” Describing the Moscow nobility, Pushkin is also sarcastic: in the living rooms he notices “incoherent vulgar nonsense,” but at the same time, the poet loves Moscow, and everyone remembers his famous unusually beautiful lines: “Moscow... How much has merged in this sound for the Russian heart ....” He is proud of Moscow in 1812: “Napoleon waited in vain, / drunk with his last happiness, / for Moscow on its knees / with the keys of the old Kremlin...”.
As you can see, “EO” is truly an “encyclopedia of Russian life,” an encyclopedia that re-explains and reveals the meaning of those phenomena and the life that surrounded the people of Pushkin’s era. The author was able, with the help of the author’s irony, lyrical digressions and unusually colorful and historically accurate images, to tell in his “encyclopedia” about the main thing in people’s lives.
