A. Pushkin's novel in verse "Eugene Onegin" and Lermontov's prose work "A Hero of Our Time" share a short time interval. The first work was created in 1823-1830, the second - in 1938-40. And the novel "Princess Ligovskaya", in which Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin also appears, was created even earlier. can be considered the main literary heroes of these works - Onegin and Pechorin contemporaries.
In this article, we will try to make a comparison between these literary heroes, in a comparative description of Onegin and Pechorin, to determine their similar and different features.
What is common between Pechorin and Onegin
Both literary heroes belong to the nobility. At the moment they are described, they are almost the same age. Literary criticism classed them as "superfluous" people. Which in relation to Pechorin is not entirely fair. Both of them have a solid experience of secular life, they feel disappointed, consider themselves to have known people and the world. Pushkin writes about Onegin:
Pechorin was not hypocritical. On the contrary, he was too straightforward, and thus made enemies for himself.
Differences in living conditions
Pushkin describes in detail the character, occupation, education of Eugene Onegin, but did not say a word about his appearance. Most likely, he was very attractive appearance. Not so different among themselves - this is Pushkin talking about Lensky. So we can conclude that Onegin was similar in height and appearance to Lensky, about whom we know that he had black wavy hair. Onegin was "cut in the latest fashion" and also, most likely, was a dark-haired and brown-eyed man.
About the appearance of Pechorin, Lermontov gave a detailed description:
Eugene Onegin was born in St. Petersburg and was educated at home. In his family, he is the only son and heir. Grigory Pechorin was born and lived until the age of 19 in Moscow. He has a sister, Varenka, and a mother, Tatyana Petrovna. He studied in boarding schools and at Moscow University. But he was a student, though capable, but negligent. He did not appear for the final exams, because at that moment he fell in love with Vera R, who at that time was still a girl.
When both families - the Pechorins and R. - received an invitation from a common relative to come to the estate near Moscow, Pechorin deceived his mother and missed the exams. The relatives decided that he should be sent to a cadet school, but Georges persuaded his mother to let him go to the N-sky regiment. Thus, the difference between the characters is observed in upbringing and education.
Onegin is pedantic, changes outfits several times, monitors his appearance
Pechorin is not so scrupulous about outfits, but he is neat and clean. It serves, despite the presence of a good condition. His parents have a total of 2 thousand souls in three provinces: Saratov, Voronezh and Kaluga. For this reason, it is premature to rank him among the superfluous people. He conscientiously performs his duties. He is brave, smart. At 23, he is an officer.
Onegin's father during his lifetime lived in grand style, and died, leaving his son only debts. But Uncle Yevgeny left him a legacy of the village to which he arrived after receiving a letter from the manager. At some point, life in the village seemed to him new, unusual, but very soon he got bored here too.
By his turn of mind, Pechorin was an adventurer, an adventurer. He has no time to be bored. His life is filled with danger. Although he also feels satiated to some extent. Pechorin had a penchant for satire. In "Princess Ligovskaya" there is such a description:
Onegin never served anywhere. His whole life before coming to the village was to take care of himself, attend social events and turn women's heads. He swam with the flow of life, not trying to radically change something in it. He was invited to balls, he was driving, the manager wrote to him, he came to the village and settled there. He received a duel challenge from a more determined friend. He felt that the duel was complete nonsense, but he did not have the courage to stop it. Onegin fired almost without aiming. The death of Lensky was a fatal accident.
Pechorin behaves quite differently in a duel. True, in his situation the circumstances were quite different. He waited until the very end for Grushnitsky to apologize. Not wait. He shot as accurately as possible, to kill.
The similarity of both literary heroes - both Onegin and Pechorin - lies in the fact that both of them are manipulators. They enjoy manipulating people without thinking about the consequences. Onegin loved women, but he was afraid of marriage like hell. He understood that it was impossible to play with Tatyana, just as he flirted with married women. He did not try to make Tatyana fall in love with him. It happened independently of him. But he hastened to reject her love and did not go to the Larins' estate anymore.
Pechorin was more cruel. He made young ladies fall in love with him. Like how he fell in love with Mary and then cruelly rejected her. He fell in love with Bella on a dare. True, he liked Bella, but he treated her like a beautiful toy. At first he encouraged her brother to kidnap her from the house, seduced her, but soon began to get bored around her. And if Bella had not died, most likely, he would have left her, having left "on official business."
In the life of Pechorin there was love from his youth. This is Vera. And it seems that love for her glimmered in his soul all the time of her two marriages. Onegin's love turned out to be late.
How are Onegin and Pechorin similar? Only because the nobles, young, flirt with women. But this is how most of the Russian nobility lived. Belinsky considers Pechorin the Onegin of our time. Similar conditions, similar circumstances of life give rise to a similarity of characters. People in similar situations behave in the same way for the most part.
Lermontov puts his hero in a more difficult position. The action of Eugene Onegin develops in a calm village, where you can not even communicate with your neighbors. Onegin goes with the flow. Pechorin constantly finds himself in difficult, critical circumstances, in danger that threatens his life. In the end, Pechorin dies in Persia. Pechorin is trying to fight life, to swim against the current. This also distinguishes him from the Pushkin hero.
Pechorin and Onegin belong to that social type of the twenties of the nineteenth century, who were called "superfluous" people. “Suffering egoists”, “smart useless things” - Belinsky so figuratively and accurately defined the essence of this type.
So, how are the characters of Pushkin's and Lermontov's works similar and how are they different?
First of all, the heroes of both novels appear before us as historically and socially conditioned human characters. Public - political life Russia in the twenties of the nineteenth century - the strengthening of political reaction, the decline of the spiritual strength of the younger generation - gave rise to a special type of incomprehensible young man of that time.
Onegin and Pechorin are united by their origin, upbringing and education: both of them come from wealthy noble families. At the same time, both heroes do not accept many of the secular conventions, they have a negative attitude towards external secular brilliance, lies, and hypocrisy. This is evidenced, for example, by Pechorin's extended monologue about his "colorless" youth, which "leaked in the struggle with himself and the world." As a result of this struggle, he "became a moral cripple", quickly getting fed up with "all the pleasures that money can get." The same definition is quite applicable to Pushkin's hero: "having fun and luxury as a child," he quickly got tired of the worldly fuss, and "the Russian melancholy took possession of him little by little."
Unites heroes and spiritual loneliness among the secular "motley crowd". “... My soul is corrupted by light, my imagination is restless, my heart is insatiable,” Pechorin bitterly remarks in a conversation with Maxim Maksimych. The same is said about Onegin: “... early on, his feelings cooled down; he was tired of the noise of the world.
Hence, in both works, the idea of escapism arises - the desire of both heroes for solitude, their attempt to distance themselves from society, worldly fuss. This is expressed both in a literal departure from civilization, and in an escape from society into the world of inner experiences, "the conditions of light overthrowing the burden." Unites Onegin and Pechorin and the common motif of "wandering without a goal", "hunting for a change of place" (Pechorin's wanderings in the Caucasus, Onegin's fruitless travels after the duel with Lensky).
Spiritual freedom, which is understood by the characters as independence from people and circumstances, is the main value in the worldview of both characters. So, for example, Pechorin explains his lack of friends by the fact that friendship always leads to the loss of personal freedom: "Of two friends, one is always the slave of the other." The similarity of Onegin and Pechorin is also manifested in their identical attitude to love, inability for deep affection:
“Treason managed to tire;
Friends and friendship are tired.
Such a worldview determines the special significance of the actions of heroes in the lives of other people: both of them, according to Pechorin’s different expression, play the role of “axes in the hands of fate”, cause suffering to people with whom their fate confronts. Lensky dies in a duel, Tatyana suffers; similarly, Grushnitsky dies, Bela dies, the good Maksim Maksimych is offended, the way of smugglers is destroyed, Mary and Vera are unhappy.
The heroes of Pushkin and Lermontov almost equally tend to "assume", "put on a mask".
Another similarity between these heroes is that they embody the type of intellectual character who is characterized by eccentricity of judgment, dissatisfaction with himself, a penchant for irony - all that Pushkin brilliantly defines as "a sharp, chilled mind." In this regard, there is a direct echo of Pushkin's and Lermontov's novels.
However, there are clear differences between the characters of these characters and the means of their artistic representation in both novels.
So what's the difference? If Pechorin is characterized by an unlimited need for freedom and a constant desire to “subordinate to his will what surrounds him”, “to arouse feelings of love, devotion and fear for himself”, then Onegin does not strive for constant self-affirmation at the expense of other people, takes a more passive position.
Pechorin's worldview is also distinguished by great cynicism, some disregard for people.
Onegin is characterized by spiritual apathy, indifference to the world around him. He is incapable of actively transforming reality and, “having lived without a goal, without labor until the age of twenty-six, ... he didn’t know how to do anything”, “stubborn work was sickening to him”. This hero, unlike Pechorin, is less consistent in his principles.
So, in a comparative analysis of Pushkin's and Lermontov's works, one can distinguish both common and different in the images of these heroes and the ways of their artistic embodiment. Onegin and Pechorin are typical heroes of their time and at the same time universal human types. However, if Pushkin more interested in the socio-historical aspect of the problem " extra person”, then Lermontov is concerned about the psychological and philosophical aspects of this issue.
The artistic evolution of the "superfluous person" in Russian classical literature continues primarily in the images of Oblomov and Rudin in novels of the same name Goncharov and Turgenev, which reflect the historical changes of this human type.
The undoubted similarity of the images of Eugene Onegin and Grigory Pechorin was noted by one of the first V.G. Belinsky. “Their dissimilarity among themselves is much less than the distance between Onega and Pechora ... Pechorin is the Onegin of our time,” the critic wrote.
The lifetime of the characters is different. Onegin lived in the era of Decembrism, free-thinking, rebellions. Pechorin is the hero of the era of timelessness. Common to the great works of Pushkin and Lermontov is the depiction of the spiritual crisis of the noble intelligentsia. The best representatives of this class turned out to be dissatisfied with life, removed from social activities. They had no choice but to waste their strength aimlessly, turning into "superfluous people."
The formation of characters, the conditions for the education of Onegin and Pechorin, no doubt, are similar. These are people of the same circle. The similarity of the heroes lies in the fact that both of them have gone from agreement with society and themselves to the denial of light and deep dissatisfaction with life.
“But sooner the feelings in him cooled down,” Pushkin writes about Onegin, who “fell ill” with the “Russian melancholy.” Pechorin is also very early "... despair was born, covered with courtesy and a good-natured smile."
They were well-read and educated people, which put them above the rest of the young people of their circle. Education and natural curiosity of Onegin is found in his disputes with Lensky. One list of topics worth it:
... Tribes of past treaties,
The fruits of science, good and evil,
And age-old prejudices
And fatal secrets of the coffin,
Fate and life...
Evidence of Onegin's high education is his extensive personal library. Pechorin, on the other hand, said this about himself: “I began to read, to study - science was also tired.” Possessing remarkable abilities, spiritual needs, both failed to realize themselves in life and squandered it for nothing.
In their youth, both heroes were fond of carefree social life, both succeeded in the "science of tender passion", in the knowledge of "Russian young ladies". Pechorin says about himself: “... when I met a woman, I always guessed accurately whether she would love me ... I never became a slave to my beloved woman, on the contrary, I always acquired invincible power over their will and heart ... Is that why I never really do not I value ... "Neither the love of the beautiful Bela, nor the serious enthusiasm of the young Princess Mary could melt the coldness and rationality of Pechorin. It only brings misfortune to women.
The love of the inexperienced, naive Tatyana Larina also leaves Onegin indifferent at first. But later, our hero, at a new meeting with Tatyana, now a secular lady and a general, realizes that he has lost in the face of this extraordinary woman. Pechorin is not at all capable of a great feeling. In his opinion, "love is satiated pride."
Both Onegin and Pechorin value their freedom. Eugene writes in his letter to Tatyana:
Your hateful freedom
I didn't want to lose.
Pechorin bluntly declares: "... twenty times my life, I will even put my honor at stake, but I will not sell my freedom."
The indifference to people inherent in both, disappointment and boredom affect their attitude towards friendship. Onegin is friends with Lensky "there is nothing to do." And Pechorin says: “... I am not capable of friendship: of two friends, one is always the slave of the other, although often neither of them admits this to himself; I can’t be a slave, and in this case commanding is tedious work, because you have to deceive along with it ... ”And he demonstrates this in his cold attitude towards Maxim Maksimych. The words of the old staff captain sound helplessly: “I have always said that there is no use in someone who forgets old friends!”
Both Onegin and Pechorin, disappointed in the life around them, are critical of the empty and idle "secular mob". But Onegin is afraid of public opinion, accepting Lensky's challenge to a duel. Pechorin, shooting with Grushnitsky, takes revenge on society for unfulfilled hopes. In essence, the same evil trick led the heroes to the duel. Onegin "swore Lensky to infuriate and take revenge in order" for a boring evening at the Larins'. Pechorin says the following: “I lied, but I wanted to defeat him. I have an innate passion to contradict; my whole life has been only a tribute to sad and unfortunate contradictions of heart or mind.
The tragedy of feeling one's own uselessness is deepened in both by an understanding of the uselessness of one's life. Pushkin bitterly exclaims about this:
But it's sad to think that in vain
We were given youth
What cheated on her all the time,
That she deceived us;
That our best wishes
That our fresh dreams
Decayed in rapid succession,
Like leaves in autumn rotten.
The hero of Lermontov seems to echo him: “My colorless youth passed in the struggle with myself and the world; Fearing ridicule, I buried my best qualities in the depths of my heart: they died there... Knowing well the light and springs of life, I became a moral cripple.
Pushkin's words about Onegin, when
Killing a friend in a duel
Having lived without a goal, without labor
Until the age of twenty-six
Languishing in the idleness of leisure.,
he "began wandering without a goal", can also be attributed to Pechorin, who also killed the former "friend", and his life continued "without a goal, without labor." Pechorin during the trip reflects: “Why did I live? For what purpose was I born?
Feeling "immense forces in his soul", but completely wasting them in vain, Pechorin is looking for death and finds it "from a random bullet on the roads of Persia." Onegin, at the age of twenty-six, was also "hopelessly tired of life." He exclaims:
Why am I not pierced by a bullet,
Why am I not a sickly old man?
Comparing the description of the life of the heroes, one can be convinced that Pechorin is a more active person with demonic features. “To be the cause of suffering and joy for someone, without having any positive right to do so - is this not the sweetest food of our pride?” - says the hero of Lermontov. As a person, Onegin remains a mystery to us. No wonder Pushkin characterizes him like this:
A sad and dangerous eccentric,
Creation of hell or heaven
This angel, this arrogant demon,
What is he? Is it an imitation
An insignificant ghost?
onegin image pechorin intelligentsia
Both Onegin and Pechorin are selfish, but thinking and suffering heroes. Despising the idle secular existence, they do not find ways and opportunities to freely, creatively resist it. In the tragic outcomes of the individual fates of Onegin and Pechorin, the tragedy of "superfluous people" shines through. The tragedy of the “superfluous person”, in whatever era he appears, is at the same time the tragedy of the society that gave birth to him.
Comparative characteristics Onegin and Pechorin
What a short time separates Pushkin's Onegin and Lermontov's Pechorin! First quarter and forties of the 19th century. And yet these are two different eras, separated by an unforgettable event in Russian history - the uprising
Decembrists. Pushkin and Lermontov managed to create works that reflect the spirit of these eras, works that touched upon the problems of the fate of the young noble intelligentsia, who were unable to find application for their forces.
Herzen called Pechorin "Onegin's younger brother", so what do these people have in common and how do they differ?
Onegin, before becoming a “young rake”, received a traditional upbringing and an extensive, but rather superficial education. Because he ended up being able to "perfectly" speak French, dance the mazurka easily, and "bow casually," "the world thought he was smart and very nice." However, quickly fed up with the fruitless fuss of secular life, Onegin begins to be weary of it, but finds nothing in return. Realizing the worthlessness of the existence of secular people, Onegin begins to despise them, withdraws into himself, indulges in the “Russian melancholy”. Living only by himself, not taking into account the feelings and experiences of other people, Onegin commits a number of unworthy acts. By the time he met him, Pushkin noted in Onegin “an inimitable strangeness”, “a sharp chilled mind”, “unwitting devotion to dreams”, an internal gap and misunderstanding between him and the people around him. Despite deep contempt for the “light”, Onegin remains dependent on public opinion, and as a result, he kills his friend Lensky. Egoism leads the “rake of the ardent” to a heavy spiritual drama and discord with oneself.
We do not know much about Pechorin's past, mainly from the pages of his own diary, from his conversations with other people. We learn that Pechorin’s “soul is corrupted by light”: “From childhood, everyone read signs of bad properties on my face that were not there; but they were supposed - and they were born. Now, people around often do not understand either Pechorin's thoughts or his actions, and he (and often quite justifiably) considers himself head and shoulders above those around him. Unlike Onegin, Pechorin does not shy away from people, does not avoid contact with them, but, on the contrary, becomes an extremely subtle psychologist, able to understand not only other people's actions and thoughts, but also feelings. Unfortunately, communication with him most often brings people and even himself only suffering and dissatisfaction. Unlike Onegin, Pechorin is not yet tired of life, he interferes in everything, is interested in many things, but he is not able to truly love and be friends. And if only Tatyana suffers from Pushkin's love for Onegin (and after - from Onegin's love), then Pechorin brings misfortune to all the women he encounters: Bela, Vera, Princess Mary, even the smugglers' friend.
Onegin's problem is in his inability to make his life interesting, bright, to fill it with significant events. Pechorin is concerned with the question of the purpose of his own life, its meaning. The consciousness of lost opportunities constantly haunts him, because his belief in his “high purpose” does not find real, confirmation. Both one and the other value their freedom, liberty, but it turns out that they too often sacrifice to her what is really dear to them.
Differences in the fates and characters of the heroes are explained by differences in eras: the life of Russia on the eve of the December uprising (Onegin) and the severe political reaction after the defeat of the Decembrists (Pechorin). Both Onegin and Pechorin belong to the type of “superfluous people”, that is, people for whom there was neither place nor business in the society around them. And yet, even despising the environment, Onegin and Pechorin were the children of this society, that is, the heroes of their time.
(1 option)
"Eugene Onegin" and "A Hero of Our Time" are the main milestones in the development of Russian literature XIX V. These are the best works of two true geniuses of Russia: A.S. Pushkin and M.Yu. Lermontov. The novels amaze readers and literary critics not only with the grandiosity of the idea, but also with their innovation. It manifests itself primarily in the disclosure of the images of the two main characters. For the first time Pushkin wrote a realistic novel in verse. It was like a revolution. The poet was worried about his creation, realizing that not all people can
Appreciate a work that was ahead of its time. These experiences were not unfounded. Even many of Pushkin's friends could not understand the genius of the concept of the work.
M.Yu. Lermontov went even further in his creative quest. The novel he created was not realistic, like Pushkin's, but combined the features of two currents. And this brilliant work was not appreciated by critics and contemporaries.
First of all, the innovation of the two novels lies in the new characters for the literature of that time. Subsequently, this type was called "an extra person." This concept implies a romantic, then a realistic image of a young man, a nobleman, smart, educated and interesting, but far from real life, disappointed, inactive, alien to his contemporaries. The gallery of these characters opens with Onegin, followed by Pechorin.
The time of the appearance of such characters is the 1830s, a period of decline. After the Decembrist uprising and the accession of Nicholas I, a cruel, reactionary politician, the public life of Russia calmed down for a long time. A new social phenomenon appeared - young people who had everything except happiness and a sense of the significance of their personality. Their suffering and quest were embodied in novels about Onegin and Pechorin, the heroes of their time.
Despite the seeming dissimilarity of the two works, their plot is built in the same way: the hero goes through some kind of test, his character is revealed depending on the situation.
Undoubtedly, the main test for both Onegin and Pechorin is the test of love.
Onegin, like Pechorin, at the beginning of the novel appears as a conqueror of other people's hearts, "a fickle admirer of charming actresses." He was not interested in deep feelings, he did not seek love for life, to the grave, but only cynically sought the adoration of pretty girls, and, having achieved it, quickly abandoned them, not thinking about the suffering caused. It was his cure for boredom.
How early could he be hypocritical,
Hold hope, be jealous
disbelieve, make believe
To seem gloomy, to languish,
Be proud and obedient
Attentive or indifferent!
In the "science of tender passion" Onegin clearly succeeded.
So, Onegin is a life-burner. But then he meets Tatyana. He manages to easily conquer this provincial young lady. She does not shine with beauty, and her soul is darkness for a windmill. And Eugene here simply plays the role of a mentor, teaches the girl how to live. But, having returned from the journey, having experienced a moral upheaval and purification, he looks at Tatyana with different eyes. Onegin falls in love with her, completely loses his head, and not because Tatyana has changed (she remained the same in her soul), but because Evgeny himself has undergone profound changes, he has grown spiritually, has become worthy of Tatyana. But Onegin was late, she is married and will be "faithful to him for a century." And this is a clear illustration of the tragedy of the "superfluous person", his "miserable lot".
Pechorin repeats the fate of Onegin. He also wanders aimlessly through life, trying to find himself, also for some reason seeks the love of women, and then leaves them. Onegin sees that Tatyana has become his victim, but it's too late. Pechorin could also prevent the tragedy of Bela and Mary, but did not want to. He also played with the fate of Vera, but she turned out to be stronger than him - and here he is, crushed and humiliated, crying about lost happiness.
In the romantic "Hero of Our Time" there is no single female image. We recognize Tatyana's traits in Bela, and in Mary, and in Vera. And thus, the love of the hero is more multifaceted and expressive.
The attitude of the characters towards friendship is no less expressively described. Lermontov again lacks unambiguity, Lensky is embodied in Grushnitsky, and in Werner, and even in Maxim Maksimych. However, a comparison of Lensky and Grushnitsky suggests itself. Pechorin and Grushnitsky are also "nothing to do friends." Story line duels over trifles, passion for one beloved of another can also be traced in both works.
It is impossible not to mention moral quest Onegin and Pechorin, because they are both involuntarily alien to high society, to the society to which they should belong. Onegin travels in Russia, Pechorin in the Caucasus, both of them are trying to find the meaning and purpose of their existence in these travels. They drag women, make them suffer, shoot duels, break people's lives, without knowing why. In the end, their fate is unenviable.
Both Onegin and Pechorin are real "heroes of time". They are very similar to each other, and their tragedies are similar. In the whole world there is no shelter for them, they are destined to suffer all their lives and seek peace. Such is the fate of superfluous people.
(Option 2)
Probably, starting his novel, Lermontov thought that his main character will remind readers of the existence of Pushkin's Onegin. The undoubted similarity of the images of Eugene Onegin and Grigory Pechorin was noted by one of the first V. G. Belinsky. "Their dissimilarity among themselves is much less than the distance between Onega and Pechora ... Pechorin is the Onegin of our time," the critic wrote.
The lifetime of the characters is different. Onegin lived in the era of Decembrism, free-thinking, rebellions. Pechorin is the hero of the era of timelessness. Common to the great works of Pushkin and Lermontov is the depiction of the spiritual crisis of the noble intelligentsia. The best representatives of this class turned out to be dissatisfied with life, removed from social activities. They had no choice but to waste their strength aimlessly, turning into "superfluous people."
The formation of characters, the conditions for the education of Onegin and Pechorin, no doubt, are similar. These are people of the same circle. The similarity of the heroes lies in the fact that both of them have gone from agreement with society and themselves to the denial of light and deep dissatisfaction with life.
“But early on, his feelings cooled down,” Pushkin writes about Onegin, who “fell ill” with “Russian melancholy. Pechorin also very early “... despair was born, covered with courtesy and a good-natured smile.”
They were well-read and educated people, which put them above the rest of the young people of their circle. Education and natural curiosity of Onegin is found in his disputes with Lensky. One list of topics worth it:
Tribes of past treaties,
The fruits of science, good and evil,
And age-old prejudices
And fatal secrets of the coffin,
Fate and life...
Evidence of Onegin's high education is his extensive personal library. Pechorin, on the other hand, said this about himself: "I began to read, study - science was also tired." Possessing remarkable abilities, spiritual needs, both failed to realize themselves in life and squandered it for nothing.
In their youth, both heroes were fond of carefree secular life, both succeeded in the "science of tender passion", in the knowledge of "Russian young ladies". Pechorin says about himself: "... when I got to know a woman, I always unmistakably guessed whether she would love me ... I never became a slave to my beloved woman, on the contrary, I always acquired invincible power over their will and heart ... Is that why I never really I value ... "Neither the love of the beautiful Bela, nor the serious enthusiasm of the young Princess Mary could melt the coldness and rationality of Pechorin. It only brings misfortune to women.
The love of the inexperienced, naive Tatyana Larina also leaves Onegin indifferent at first. But later, our hero, at a new meeting with Tatyana, now a secular lady and a general, realizes that he has lost in the face of this extraordinary woman. Pechorin, it turns out, is not at all capable of a great feeling. In his opinion, "love is satiated pride."
Both Onegin and Pechorin value their freedom. Eugene writes in his letter to Tatyana:
Your hateful freedom
I didn't want to lose.
Pechorin bluntly declares: "... twenty times my life, I will even put my honor at stake, but I will not sell my freedom."
The indifference to people inherent in both, disappointment and boredom affect their attitude towards friendship. Onegin is friends with Lensky "there is nothing to do." And Pechorin says: “... I am not capable of friendship: of two friends, one is always the slave of the other, although often neither of them admits this to himself; I cannot be a slave, and commanding in this case is tedious work, because it is necessary along with this, to deceive ... "And he demonstrates this in his cold attitude towards Maxim Maksimych. The words of the old staff captain sound helplessly: "I have always said that there is no use in someone who forgets old friends! .."
Both Onegin and Pechorin, disappointed in the life around them, are critical of the empty and idle "secular mob". But Onegin is afraid of public opinion, accepting Lensky's challenge to a duel. Pechorin, shooting with Grushnitsky, takes revenge on society for unfulfilled hopes. In essence, the same evil trick led the heroes to the duel. Onegin "swore Lensky to infuriate and even take revenge" for a boring evening at the Larins. Pechorin says the following: "I lied, but I wanted to defeat him. I have an innate passion to contradict, my whole life was only a tribute to sad and unsuccessful contradictions to the heart or mind ..."
The tragedy of feeling one's own uselessness is deepened in both by an understanding of the uselessness of one's life. Pushkin bitterly exclaims about this:
But it's sad to think that in vain
We were given youth
What cheated on her all the time,
That she deceived us
That our best wishes
That our fresh dreams
Decayed in rapid succession,
Like leaves in autumn rotten.
The hero of Lermontov seems to echo him: "My colorless youth passed in the struggle with myself and the light, my best qualities, fearing ridicule, I buried in the depths of my heart: they died there ... Having learned well the light and the springs of life, I became a moral cripple."
Pushkin's words about Onegin, when
Killing a friend in a duel
Having lived without a goal, without labor
Until the age of twenty-six
Languishing in the idleness of leisure,
he "began wandering without a goal," can also be attributed to Pechorin, who also killed his former "friend", and his life continued "without a goal, without labor." Pechorin, during the trip, reflects: "Why did I live? For what purpose was I born?"
Feeling "immense forces in his soul", but completely wasting them, Pechorin seeks death and finds it "from a random bullet on the roads of Persia." Onegin, at the age of twenty-six, was also "hopelessly tired of life." He exclaims:
Why am I not pierced by a bullet,
Why am I not a sickly old man? ..
Comparing the description of the life of the heroes, one can be convinced that Pechorin is a more active person with demonic features. "To be the cause of suffering and joy for someone, without having any positive right to do so - is this not the sweetest food of our pride?" - says the hero of Lermontov. As a person, Onegin remains a mystery to us. No wonder Pushkin characterizes him like this:
A sad and dangerous eccentric,
Creation of hell or heaven
This angel, this arrogant demon,
What is he? Is it an imitation
An insignificant ghost?
Both Onegin and Pechorin are selfish, but thinking and suffering heroes. Despising the idle secular existence, they do not find ways and opportunities to freely, creatively resist it. In the tragic outcomes of the individual fates of Onegin and Pechorin, the tragedy of "superfluous people" shines through. The tragedy of the "superfluous man", in whatever era he appears, is at the same time the tragedy of the society that gave birth to him.
