EUGENE OREGIN , ALEXANDER PUSHKIN

EUGENE OREGIN ALEXANDER PUSHKIN ABOUT THE AUTHOR Alexander was born on 6th June 1799 at Moscow, Russian Empire. He was from an aristocratic family. He was the grandson of an African man. Ibrahim Gannibal was his grandfather who was an army general.. He was born in Cameroon. His grandfather was kidnapped by the Ottomans . But later gifted him to the Russian Tsar. Peter the Great. Grandfather grew to become one of the highest ranking generals. Alexander Pushkin was very proud of his African ancestry. ABOUT THE AUTHOR “The Moor Of Peter The Great” and “My Genealogy speaks about Pushkin's lineage..” Pushkin grew in and around Saint Petersburg. His prime focus was made on French language. Just like then aristocrats at the time. At very early age he showed tremendous talent in writing. He had better hold in French language than Russian. Which allowed him to read Voltaire , Diderot and Rousseau. Being a well read writer he had a liberall attitude towards social change. His liberal attitude gained him hatred from the government and was sent out from Saint-Petersburg. ABOUT THE AUTHOR This proved to be a boon for him as he went to south of Russia . He stayed in Caucuses, Crimea and Moldova. He became a freemason and later got himself and involved in the Greek revolution. This revolution was against the Ottoman Turks. But in Odessa , he seduced the governor's wife. The Russian authorities forced him back. To his family estate. This house arrest allowed him to be a poet. ABOUT THE AUTHOR The solitude and isolation he needed to cultivate his craft of writing poetry of longing and loneliness. In 1875,mthere was a coup against the government which became known as the Decembrist Revolt. Many aristocrats went against the Tsars but failed. Pushkin was in trouble because of his one of the poems. The Tsars became extremely elated and appointed him as a special adviser. In 1828,He met with Natalia Gonharova,(16YRS) one of the most beautiful ladies in Russia. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Three years later Pushkin married Natalia. Pushkin,thoughout his bachelor life seduced the beautiful wives of others now it was his turn to face the fate. A French man pursued Natalia Pushkin challenged him to a duel and he was badly wounded in that. Two days later Pushkin died at the age of 37. Pushkin own Russians heart. ABOUT THE AUTHOR The Tsar loved him and the Soviet leaders like Lenin and Stalin Tchaikovsky, the greatest Russian composer .too. They wrote an opera based on his work. Pushkin is considered the father of Russian Literature, the Shakespeare of Russia. When he started writing Eugene Oregin,he was already an established poet. He began writing Eugene Onegin in 1823. He was a playboy ,a brat, arrogant man. He invented a new literary Russian language . That language was clearer, simpler ,precise. This made him the poet of the Russian people. ABOUT THE AUTHOR This famous novel “EUGENE OREGIN ” is a novel in verse.. He wrote this master piece exiled from the capital to southern Russia. While working on Onegin in such places as Odessa and the family estates of Mikhailovskoe and Boldino, Pushkin occasionally paused to work on other pieces. The final parts of the book were published in 1831, and complete editions of the book appeared in 1833 and, with minor revisions, in 1837. After going through EUGENE OREGIN ,we can guess that Pushkin had predicted his death beforehand. He died on 10 FEBRUARY 1837Saini Petersburg, Russian Empire. THE CORE QUESTION IN THE NOVEL Is human existence nothing but a contradiction? Do we all want happiness or struggle and anguish? Are learned,smart people are really stupid? Do modern people suppress their natural inclination? THEME Eugene Onegin Themes European Influences in Russia Life in the Provinces vs Life in the Captials The Poet's Craft THEME The Death of Youth Fate Genuineness of Love The Influence of Literature upon Life MAIN CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL Pushkin Pushkin himself figures in the novel. He is present as a friend of Onegin and an admirer of Tatyana. Eugene Onegin A charming and stylish young man around 26 years old. He pays attention to his appearance minutely. Somewhere he is bored of high-society life. Hence alienated in the countryside. An keen reader of Byron. MAIN CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL Vladimir Lensky A fiery young poet, around 18 years old. Who writes amateurishly but with genuine feeling in his pursuit of truth. He loves Olga. A proponent of German Romanticism. Tatyana "Tanya" Larin A wistful, contemplative, and withdrawn daughter of a provincial landowner. She has a pure, honest heart and loves nature. A deeply engrossed reader of French romance novels.  MAIN CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL  Olga Larin She is Tatyana's simple-minded, flirty younger sister.   Dmitry Larin A former general, now provincial landowner. The father of Tatyana and Olga. Pauline Larin She is Tatyana's and Olga's mother. She is reluctantly married to Dmitry Larin. She is seen as a vigorous housewife.   MAIN CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL Pushkin's Muse Confusing character,sometimes real and sometimes abstract. Once identified as "Zizi," that is, Evpraskia Wulf (1809-1883), a young girl who lived near Mikhailovskoe. Pushkin flirted with her in 1824 and became her lover briefly in 1829. Zaretsky A former dueling-enthusiast who lives near Lensky and acts as his second during the duel.   MAIN CHARACTERS IN THE NOVEL   Guillot Onegin's valet. Anisya Onegin's housekeeper.   Filatievna Tatyana's nurse, to whom Tatyana confides her love for Onegin.   Symbols, Allegory and Motifs Tatyana as the Moon (Symbol) Tatyana becomes closely associated with the moon for her mysterious nature and love for walking in the moonlight. At the end of the novel, when she has left the countryside for Moscow, the moon represents her unique, genuine grace and beauty among the coquettish beauties of the city, who are like mere stars beside her. Symbols, Allegory and Motifs Contemplation by the Graveside (Motif) At the end of Chapter 2, Lensky mourns by the grave of the recently deceased Larin father and, remembering how the man played with him as a child and hoped to live to see him marry Olga, he is driven to write a poem to him. These reflections also stir him to write a poem to his own deceased parents and ponder the nature of human mortality. Then, the grave at the end of Chapter 6 and the beginning of Chapter 7 is Lensky's own. He himself will not live to marry Olga, and he shall have no poet to mourn him but Pushkin. Moreover, once Olga and Tatyana leave, only the shepherd will continue to visit grave.    Symbols, Allegory and Motifs Onegin as Napoleon (Allegory) In II.14, Pushkin describes Onegin via comparison to that great enemy of the Russians, Napoleon, whom he characterizes as manipulative and dismissive of emotions. Later on, this description will be confirmed by Tatyana's discovery of a bust of Napoleon in Onegin's study, which goes to explain his heartless treatment of Tatyana and seduction of Olga to rile Lensky.   Symbols, Allegory and Motifs   Parties (Motif) The novel opens with a glut of St. Petersburg parties, which Onegin has become bored of, and then moves to the countryside, where there are also parties, though of lesser sophistication. At one of these, Onegin meets Tatyana. At another one, which annoyingly reminds him of the bustling emptiness of the capital balls, he flirts with Olga to anger Lensky, leading to the fatal duel. In the end, it is at a ball in Moscow where Onegin reemerges and first catches glance of the new Grande Dame Tatyana.  Symbols, Allegory and Motifs Sleigh Rides (Symbol) Throughout the novel, sleigh rides represent bewildering movement. We first encounter Onegin as he rides through the streets of St. Petersburg from party to party, and soon he will tire of all the dazzling sights and sounds. Later on, Tatyana rides from the countryside to Moscow and is confronted with the great panoply of the city, which shocks her by its unfamiliarity.    SUMMARY Eugene Onegin is a novel of narrative poetry . The novel, which is written in 389 stanzas of iambic tetrameter, tells the story of a wealthy cynic pursued by a romantic young woman. Eugene Onegin, the titular character of the novel, is a wealthy Russian aristocrat living in St. Petersburg. He loves balls, parties, and social gatherings. Onegin gets bored of these parties and wants something different in his life. In the mean time his uncle dies and leaves him an estate in the countryside. SUMMARY Onegin, who was in search of some uniquesness in life , decides to move there. Shortly after going to live at his new estate, Onegin meets a romantic young poet named Vladimir Lensky who is as fiercely passionate as Onegin is coldly cynical. The two become friends even though their perspectives were not same. One day, Lensky brings Onegin to meet his fiancée, Olga Larin. Olga is charming, sociable, and girlish. Her older sister, Tatyana, on the other hand, is a quiet dreamer . She is a voracious reader , who reads romance novels. SUMMARY Tatyana develops a strong attraction to Onegin.. She could not control her feelings so she writes him a long, honest letter professing. her love for him. Onegin goes to the Larins’ home and coldly rejects Tatyana’s love. Telling her that he had no desire to be married since he found marriage too confining. He also warns her to be more cautious about revealing her emotions in the future . He tells him someone with bad intentions take advantage of her innocence. Tatyana is heartbroken over Onegin’s rejection. SUMMARY We can see two contrasting couples here Lensky and Olga and Tatiana and Oregin. Onegin is indifferent towards her love proposal . And Lensky’s passionate poems for Olga goes in vain as she never pays heed to them. Onegin spends his days alone and bored in his estate until Lensky comes to visit him again. Lensky invites Onegin to Tatyana’s name-day party, promising that it would be a small affair with only a few family members in attendance. A few days before the event, Tatyana has a nightmare in which she is carried off by a bear to a house where Onegin is having a party with a group of monsters. SUMMARY Onegin fights the monsters over Tatyana, and lays her down on a table. Olga and Lensky gets in the party but Onegin stabs Lensky to death with a knife. Tatyana wakes up hastily and realises it was a dream. But she was deeply disturbed by her dream. The day of the event arrives and Onegin realizes that it was a lavish party. He wanted to take revenge for this and dances with Olga who was already a flirty woman. SUMMARY Lensky is extremely angry and storms out of the party. The next day, Onegin receives a message from Lensky challenging him to a duel. Onegin accepts the challenge but realises that his deeds in the party were not acceptable. Lensky visits the Larins’ home again. Here he knows that Olga still loves him. Her affection for Onegin the night before was temporary. He writes a poem lamenting that he may die the next morning. Therefore he urging Olga to visit his grave if that happens. SUMMARY Next day the two men meet for the duel. Onegin’s second is a man named Zaretsky. And Lensky’s second is his servant. Shortly after the duel begins, Onegin shoots and kills Lensky. Onegin immediately becomes sorrowful for his actions. And rushes to his fallen friend’s side. Lensky is buried in a simple grave under two pine trees near a stream. Leaden by guilt, Onegin leaves his estate and goes abroad. SUMMARY Tatyana goes to visit Onegin’s home after this incident. She looks through his books, which Onegin read voraciously. She begins to wonder whether Onegin was a real man or just the amalgamation of different literary characters. Many years elapsed, Onegin returns home from his journey abroad. He is surprised to see Tatyana again at a ball party. She is now married to an army general. There is mental maturity considerably since he last saw her. SUMMARY Onegin realizes that he does love Tatyana after all. Now even though she was married he writes her many letters asking her to elope with him. However, she ignores all of them.  After getting rejection from Tatyana, Onegin finally goes to see her in person. He happens to see her tearfully reading one of his letters. He kneels before her and begs her forgiveness. SUMMARY However, Tatyana is cold to him and scolds him for trying to elope with her while she is already married. She takes revenge of her proposal. The way he had rejected her the same was done to him. She says that she does still have feelings for him, but must remain faithful to her husband.  Onegin is devastated by Tatyana’s response. He is left to be in solitude and isolation . THANK YOU