Alexander Pushkin's novel Eugene Onegin gives the reader an excellent insight into his thoughts and beliefs regarding different types of human behavior. Throughout the novel Pushkin illustrates many of his characteristics through the two main male figures, Eugene Onegin and Vladimir Lensky, despite them being quite different from each other. However, an interesting distinction can be made between the ways in which he approaches the two characters by comparing two stanzas in the novel. Stanza 45 in Chapter 1 describes the novel's hero, Eugene Onegin, and describes his disenchantment with life and humans in general. This is also an excellent example of Pushkin showing parallels between himself and Onegin, which Pushkin seems to take very seriously throughout the novel. On the other hand, in stanza 10 of chapter 2, we meet the young Vladimir Lensky, described much more sarcastically. Lensky's appreciation for poetry and nature is evident here, although Pushkin's tone is clearly mocking the young poet. Although he draws on the characteristics of both characters, they are extremely different and the narrator addresses both with extremely distinctive tones. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first stanza comes near the end of the first chapter, and at this point the reader has only recently become acquainted with Eugene Onegin, to whom this stanza refers. This stanza illustrates some of the main concepts of the previous stanzas, mainly Onegin's lifestyle and character traits. He certainly leads a fashionable and comfortable life, but this does not leave Onegin satisfied. Eugene can be described as a Byronic hero, exhausted and dissatisfied with life. This stanza clearly shows similarities between Onegin and Pushkin, although the author denies throughout the novel that Onegin is a representation of himself. The similarity between the two can be seen in the following lines: "The cold and sharp mind he possessed; I was bitter, he depressed;" (1.45.7-8). Of course, there is one obvious difference between the two, which is that Onegin does not like poetry. Throughout the first chapter and much of the novel, Onegin is portrayed as self-centered, indifferent, and superficial, and in most cases he does so with a serious tone. The second stanza describes Lensky in a completely different way than the story does. which Onegin was shown. Lensky is not introduced to the reader until the sixth stanza, and appears to be another aspect of the narrator. He is portrayed as a stereotypical young poet; just like Pushkin was before he was betrayed by his friends. He is still ambitious and hopeful about the future, very different from Onegin's worldview. Lensky is genuinely interested in the poem, but the narrator makes it seem immature and funny. It is clear in the last two lines. “Sang the pale and withered flower of life ---/ He had nearly reached his eighteenth year.” (2.10.13-14) In these two lines the narrator's idea of Lensky seems to be more sarcastic and light-hearted; it's almost as if he's mocking the young poet. There is definitely a difference in the tone with which the author views these characters, which is much more serious towards Onegin and more mocking towards Lensky. Pushkin seems to look back on his younger years with a sense of nostalgia and, through Lensky, remembers them fondly. An intriguing aspect of both of these stanzas is how the author is so similar to each of these characters, yet attempts to maintain his distance from them. It seems possible that Pushkin considers Lensky like himself in his youth, and Onegin more like.
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