Origin of Lensky
Vladimir Lensky is a young landowner, 18 years old, a nobleman. He came to his estate in Krasnogorye after graduating from university.
Vladimir lost his parents early. Almost nothing is known about his upbringing, but the fact that he studied at the University of Göttingen suggests that he received a good education at home. At that time, the University of Göttingen was considered one of the most liberal universities in Europe; he was also popular among Russian noble youth, who were keen on German idealistic philosophy. Many future Decembrists attended lectures in Göttingen.
The estates of Lensky, Uncle Onegin, where he came to accept the inheritance, and the Larin families are located like neighbors. Vladimir Lensky has known the Larin family since childhood. He is in love with Olga Larina and is considered her fiancé.
Appearance
Lensky’s appearance is easily recreated after a brief description of the author:
A handsome man, in the full bloom of his years, an admirer of Kant and a poet. From foggy Germany He brought the fruits of learning: Freedom-loving dreams, An ardent and rather strange spirit, Always an enthusiastic speech And shoulder-length black curls.
Nothing more needs to be added: the image of an enthusiastic, ardent young man immediately appears before the readers’ eyes, in love, happy, full of vitality and the brightest hopes - such are romantic natures.
General characteristics of the hero
As soon as he mentions Lensky, Pushkin immediately gives him flattering characteristics, calling him a handsome man who “always has an enthusiastic speech and shoulder-length black curls.” Lensky spent his childhood abroad. He lived with his parents in Germany, where he studied. The young man grew up reading the works of Schiller and Goethe, studied the works of Kant, and composed his own poems.
At the age of 18, Vladimir had the dreaminess characteristic of his age, which was reflected in his poetic creations. The young man avoided social gatherings and noisy feasts.
The hero felt lonely, not finding like-minded people nearby. Soon fate brought him together with Evgeny Onegin.
The author himself characterizes their friendship as a combination of completely different elements - “They came together. Wave and stone, Poems and prose, ice and fire..."
If we briefly characterize Lensky, among the main features of his nature we can highlight:
- sincerity;
- decency;
- elevation;
- vulnerability.
The young man always tried to see only the good sides in people, without noticing their true essence. Such disgusting qualities as deceit, envy, malice, and hypocrisy are not characteristic of the poet himself. Lensky was used to idealizing everything , and this eventually played a cruel joke on him.
Vladimir dies during a duel with a former friend. This is how the hero’s short life journey ended tragically.
Character
The young rich landowner Lensky is an enviable groom, but his heart has long been given to Olga Larina, whom he has known since childhood; Even then, old Larin spoke of their wedding as a decided matter.
Having returned from abroad, he is going to marry Olga, she reciprocates his feelings. Vladimir expresses his feelings in romantic poems. He sincerely believes in love, his thoughts and conversations are only about Olga. Secular society does not attract him; balls, theaters and feasts (the ordinary life of Eugene Onegin) are disgusting to him. What attracts him most is his home circle and quiet family village life. The hero himself speaks quite definitely about this:
I hate your fashionable world; I prefer the home circle...
Lensky is not corrupted by social life, he is still naive, trusting and simple-minded. He believes in love and friendship, in goodness, in the “perfection of the world.” We should not forget that he is only 18 years old and has no life experience. Lensky's meeting with Onegin and friendship with him became fatal for him.
Vladimir Lensky - characteristics of Pushkin's hero
The image of Lensky in the novel “Eugene Onegin” stands out clearly against the background of other heroes. This character seems to have been taken out of the context of modern times, as he is strikingly different from the others. The author pays little attention to the hero’s past and therefore one can only guess about some facts of his biography.
The reader meets the poet and nobleman when he is 18 full years old. The hero's homestead is located in Krasnogorye. He is raised and educated. According to the author, the young man has an attractive appearance and long curly hair. Lensky studied abroad for a long time at the University of Göttingen, for which Onegin nicknamed his young friend “half-Russian.”
The friendship between Onegin and Lensky looks a little strange. They are very different. Of course, there are common features between young men - an aristocratic origin and a decent education. In addition, both heroes were orphaned early. But much more significant are the distinctive characteristics of the romantic Lensky and the pragmatist Onegin. The antonymous characters became close in the absence of other candidates for conversation; their diversity allowed them to discuss all sorts of topics. Unlike Onegin, Lensky has a whole set of positive qualities: he has a lofty attitude towards ladies, considering them unique creatures, he prefers home evenings to social events, as an interlocutor he is open and welcoming, and as a person he is always positive. The joyful picture is slightly darkened only by the hero’s excessive temper and impulsiveness.
Lensky had known the Larin family for many years. He had been in love with their youngest daughter for a long time and after returning from the German institute, he was known as Olga’s official fiancé. Vladimir dedicated poems to his beloved and was in awe at the mere thought of her. The relationship with Olga was the greatest happiness for the romantic young man. And it all would have ended with a wedding and family life, if not for Onegin’s cruel joke on the feelings of the emotional Lensky. At Tatiana's name day celebration, Evgeniy, bored, began flirting with his friend's fiancée. Jealousy flared up in the poet's soul, he was seriously offended and challenged the offender to a duel. Onegin accepted the challenge, although he violated the rules of the duelist. He understood the absurdity of what was happening, but not enough to stop the fight. Vladimir Lensky died on the spot.
Quotes
...The purpose of our life for him was a tempting riddle. He puzzled over it and suspected miracles...
...I hate your fashionable world. My home circle is dearer to me...
...The lords of the neighboring villages did not like the feasts. He ran away from their noisy conversations...
Lensky and Onegin
These two characters have a lot in common. For example, their noble origin, liberal views, life in the village (at the moment described by Pushkin). The author characterizes both as strange (Onegin has an ardent and rather strange spirit, while Lensky has an ardent and rather strange spirit).
But there are still more differences between them: age; attitude towards secular society; attitude towards women, friendship and love; dissimilarity of characters and interests; education. Lensky studied seriously at the university, and Onegin studied at home “something and somehow.” Pushkin says about the difference between these young people:
Wave and stone, Poems and prose, ice and fire are not so different from each other.
The reason for the friendship between such dissimilar people as Evgeny Onegin and Vladimir Lensky is simple: there was not much choice in their environment. The author says this:
So people (I am the first to repent) There is nothing to do, friends.
Tragic friendship with Evgeny Onegin
Arriving from Germany to his estate, Lensky soon met the young landowner Onegin. Vladimir realized that his new acquaintance was interested in his poems and thoughts about life. Pushkin writes about the difference in their characters: “They got along. Wave and stone, //Poems and prose, //Ice and tribe //Not so different from each other.”
Lensky trustingly told his new friend about his sorrows and hopes. Vladimir perceives Evgeny as an ideal friend, not noticing that he does not share with him the details of his life, does not tell him anything about his childhood, parents, does not share his emotions and experiences. Onegin, too, used to be no stranger to daydreaming. He did not dissuade Vladimir from the fact that the young poet’s dreams would come true, since he believed that over time he himself would see that the world is imperfect, that hopes do not always come true.
The excessive naivety and ardor of Lensky's nature manifested itself when he saw that Onegin began to dance with Olga and slightly court her as a blood offense. Evgeny did this to take a little revenge on Vladimir for saying that only her family would be at the Larins’ name day for Tatyana, but in fact a lot of guests came. Lensky did not understand that his friend simply wanted to make fun of him out of frustration, and challenged Onegin to a duel, and considered Olga to be an insidious traitor. And Onegin, fearing to be branded as a coward, agreed to a duel and killed the naive young poet. Lensky's death is a senseless sacrifice of a young man in the name of his own self-invented concepts of honor and morality.
Duel
Onegin and Lensky met at a time when the young poet was preparing for his wedding to Olga Larina:
He was cheerful. In two weeks a happy date was appointed...
Lensky talked about Olga so often that Onegin asked a friend to introduce him to the subject of this enthusiastic love. And they went to the Larins. On the way back, Onegin characterizes his girlfriend to the poet in love:
I would choose another, If I were like you, a poet. Olga has no life in her features. ……………………………… She’s round and red-faced, Like this stupid moon On this stupid horizon.” Vladimir answered dryly and then remained silent the entire way.
Lensky brought Onegin to the Larins for Tatyana’s name day. Onegin, as usual, is bored at a party. He is irritated and decides to tease Lensky, to take revenge on him for this visit: he dances with Olga, makes nice with her in front of all the guests. Lensky is blinded by jealousy, challenges Onegin to a duel and dies from his shot. The reason for the duel is said to be Olga's frivolity, Lensky's blind jealousy and Onegin's cruelty. One can only partially agree with this: one cannot call the young girl’s behavior frivolous – she has not compromised herself in any way. But Onegin behaved inappropriately towards his friend. Then he condemned himself, but it was too late. Pushkin writes:
… Eugene, loving the young man with all his heart, had to prove himself Not a ball of prejudice, Not an ardent boy, a fighter, But a husband with honor and intelligence.
Here, dependence on the opinion of the world played a certain role: “but the whispers, the laughter of fools...”
And here is public opinion! Spring of honor, our idol! And this is what the world revolves on!
……………………………….
He could have discovered his feelings, and not bristled like an animal; He had to disarm the Young Heart...
Conclusion
The image of Vladimir Lensky helps to highlight the image of Eugene Onegin more clearly. Their relationship reveals the negative traits of the main character: ruthlessness, inability and unwillingness to understand other people, complete dependence on the opinion of the world.
The author treats Lensky with some irony, but loves his hero. Lensky's romantic worldview is close to him, but he considers his death senseless and absurd: if Onegin became a victim of the opinion of the world, then Lensky became a victim of playing at being a romantic hero.
Characteristics of the image of Vladimir Lensky can be useful when writing essays and for preparing literature lessons.
About friendship
Nevertheless, the author deliberately brought these heroes together, as if on purpose in order, firstly, to further emphasize the difference between them. And secondly, in order to highlight the psychology of each of them more clearly against the background of contrast. It is not without reason that this novel is considered a deeply psychological work. Indeed, in it, despite the light humor, the author very subtly showed the complex spiritual world of his heroes. Vladimir Lensky immediately wanted to meet Onegin. The poet explains this by the fact that in the village where the action takes place, only he could appreciate his literary and scientific research.
Gradually, acquaintance grew into friendship, which at first glance may surprise the reader, especially after the author clearly indicated how much these people were not suitable to be friends. However, the image and characterization of Vladimir Lensky shows that he became the protagonist’s comrade for a reason. He was attracted to him by his clear mind, open character, his cheerfulness and optimism, as well as his friendliness and somewhat naive perception of reality.
