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Poetry vs. Reality
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Eugene Onegin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The novel Eugene Onegin explores what it meant to be Russian in the 19th century. As the narrator points out, one of the main contradictions of Russian life at the time was that Russian identity was often directly influenced by other countries, particularly in Europe. The epitome of this is Eugene Onegin himself, who is in some ways the quintessential cosmopolitan Russian of the era, going out to all the social functions, at least until they start to bore him. But Eugene is always reading books, wearing clothes, and eating food from foreign countries. Even Tatyana, who lives out in the country, is always reading novels in English or French, and when it comes to love letters, she is more proficient at writing in French than Russian. The narrator takes a satirical tone, noting how many Russians seem to want little to do with traditional Russian culture. This neglect is reflected even in the status of the country’s roads and bridges, which are in a state of heavy decay. It’s also present in the concept of “Russian soul,” which seems to refer to a general sense of dissatisfaction that many characters—particularly Eugene—feel with their lives.
Still, there are also more neutral or even at times patriotic references to Russian culture. Despite Eugene’s own boredom with social events, the narrator portrays how music and dancing can be joyful occasions and are a big part of Russian culture. The novel also shows how religion, particularly Christianity, blends with Russian culture, as worldwide celebrations like name days and Christmas get intermingled with local Russian traditions and superstitions. And despite the narrator’s criticisms of Russia’s roads, the narrator becomes invigorated when talking about the beauty of Russia’s natural world, which can be harsh but is also beautiful. Perhaps the narrator’s most patriotic comment is a reference to the pride people feel about the fact that the French Napoleon never managed to capture Moscow. And so, taken as a whole, the novel Eugene Onegin presents a nuanced view of Russian identity, often portraying Russia in critical terms as a country dominated by foreign, European culture but ultimately showing some of the things that made Russian unique and even sometimes taking pride in them.
Related Themes from Other Texts
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Russian Identity ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Russian Identity appears in each chapter of Eugene Onegin. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Russian Identity Quotes in Eugene Onegin
Below you will find the important quotes in Eugene Onegin related to the theme of Russian Identity.
Chapter 1
Quotes
We still, alas, cannot forestall it—
This dreadful ailment’s heavy toll;
The spleen is what the English call it,
We call it simply Russian soul.
‘Twas this our hero had contracted;
And though, thank God, he never acted
To put a bullet through his head,
His former love of life was dead.
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And then he saw that country byways—
With no great palaces, no streets,
No cards, no balls, no poets’ feats—
Were just as dull as city highways;
And spleen, he saw, would dog his life,
Like shadow or a faithful wife.
But I was born for peaceful roaming,
For country calm and lack of strife;
My lyre sings! And in the gloaming
My fertile fancies spring to life.
Chapter 2
Quotes
Another squire chose this season
To reappear at his estate
And gave the neighbours equal reason
For scrutiny no less irate.
Vladimir Lensky, just returning
From Göttingen with soulful yearning,
Was in his prime—a handsome youth
And poet filled with Kantian truth.
Chapter 3
Quotes
I’m writing you this declaration—
What more can I in candour say?
It may be now your inclination
To scorn me and to turn away;
But if my hapless situation
Evokes some pity for my woe,
You won’t abandon me, I know.
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Chapter 5
Quotes
Tatyana (with a Russian duty
That held her heart, she knew not why)
Profoundly loved, in its cold beauty,
The Russian winter passing by:
Crisp days when sunlit hoarfrost glimmers,
The sleighs, and rosy snow that shimmers
In sunset’s glow, the murky light
That wraps about the Yuletide night.
Chapter 6
Quotes
Our Lensky’s seat, there lived and thrived
In philosophical seclusion
(And does so still, have no illusion)
Zaretsky—once a rowdy clown,
Chief gambler and arch rake in town,
The tavern tribune and a liar—
But now a kind and simple soul
Who plays an unwed father’s role,
A faithful friend, a peaceful squire,
And man of honour, nothing less:
Thus does our age its sins redress!
Chapter 7
Quotes
‘What can I do? Tatyana’s grown,’
Dame Larin muttered with a moan.
‘Her younger sister married neatly;
It’s time that she were settled too,
I swear I don’t know what to do;
She turns all offers down completely,
Just says: “I can’t”, then broods away,
And wanders through those woods all day.’
But roads are bad now in our nation;
Neglected bridges rot and fall;
Bedbugs and fleas at every station
Won’t let the traveller sleep at all.
Chapter 8
Quotes
But those to whom, as friends and brothers,
My first few stanzas I once read—
‘Some are no more, and distant… others.’
As Sadi long before us said.
Without them my Onegin’s fashioned.
And she from whom I drew, impassioned,
My fair Tatyana’s noblest trait…
Oh, much, too much you’ve stolen, Fate!
But blest is he who rightly gauges
The time to quit the feast and fly,
Who never drained life’s chalice dry,
Nor read its novel’s final pages;
But all at once for good withdrew—
As I from my Onegin do.
