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- Comparative characteristics of Onegin and Lensky
Onegin and Lensky are the main characters of one of the famous works of A.S. Pushkin. They have both similarities and differences that do not prevent them from being friends. Onegin and Lensky are opposite people, like ice and fire.
Lensky is a romantic young man, poeticizing both his love for his bride Olga and his acquaintance with Onegin. He tends to idealize everything around him. This young man has pleasant manners, pleases ladies and speaks casually with men. His idea of life was formed in Germany, where he studied. Having a head full of the philosophy of German romanticism, Lensky feels like a poet inspired by his beloved.
However, the young hero does not have enough insight and life experience to soberly assess the narrow-minded mind of his bride and his own imitative creativity, which seems to him to be serious poetry.
Lensky is energetic and enthusiastic about the world. With youthful maximalism, he has a firm position on every issue, boldly makes decisions and is ready to defend them.
Onegin, on the contrary, is cold-blooded and sarcastically rejects any idealism. He is tired of the surrounding reality, fed up with life, does not find sources of inspiration, and has ceased to enjoy being.
The education he received at home consists of fragmentary knowledge. Social balls and receptions taught him other sciences: skillful manners, witty conversation, seducing ladies. Thanks to his specific experience, he does not admire coquettes, knowing the value of their emptiness, does not admire life, noticing lies and pretense all around. Onegin acquired laziness of mind, lost interest in the world, and hardened his soul.
The author deliberately contrasts the characters with each other, but they still become friends. Perhaps their differing views allowed for endless debate and discussion as they spent their evenings lingering in conversation. The rural wilderness and lack of communication also contributed to the development of their relationship. These young people, despite their differences, shared a common need for reasoning and reflection. It doesn’t matter what to discuss here: the romanticism of Lensky’s thoughts or the arrogant arrogance of Onegin’s views. The main thing is to meet with an interlocutor who is able to understand the essence of what was said, express agreement or argue. Perhaps such an interlocutor is more valuable than a like-minded person.
Their absurd duel is not caused by contrasting characters and differences in worldviews. Onegin, although he despises society, cannot resist its rules. He does not dare to break the terms of the game and refuse a duel with a friend.
The overly sensitive Lensky does not know how to avoid extremes. Friendship between such people is doomed from the very beginning.
Essay Onegin and Lensky
Onegin and Lensky were completely different heroes with opposite characters. Describing Lensky, Pushkin notes that he was ardent, hot, but with a strange soul, which was often warmed by “the greetings of a friend, the melancholy of maidens.” Onegin left all this behind and saw his past self in his friend, but he had already undergone some changes in himself. He preferred loneliness to all these receptions, dances, balls and acquaintances. Unlike Lensky, he often loved to philosophize and indulge in deep, incomprehensible thoughts, especially when he was in nature, taking his lonely walks in thought. He was not understood by the villagers, for them he was just an ignoramus, crazy and strange; they were more impressed by Lensky: a nobleman, smart and educated, straight from high society. The doors of the house were always open for him, they were glad to see him there.
The images of these heroes are so different from each other that you involuntarily ask the question: How did these two find a common language, and even become friends? Why does the author bring together these people, who have such opposite views on relationships and love, on society and life in it?
To fully answer this question, you need to thoroughly study the characters of these two characters and analyze their actions and actions.
In my opinion, the heroes held the most different views regarding life in high society and society. Onegin was more of a recluse, a passive person after arriving in the village. He did not like to visit people, and he was reluctant to host anyone. Lensky was more attracted to the social, loud life, he was famous, and he himself knew everyone. He spent time with perky, cheerful ladies, known for their beauty, and he chose such a lover for himself - Olga.
Onegin was attracted by the quieter and more modest Tatyana, a little strange. She was not as beautiful as Olga, but something about her attracted Onegin, it was like some kind of spark that he saw in her eyes. She, just like Onegin, preferred solitude, was often silent, thinking about something, seemed sad, and loved novels. The author writes that “they replaced everything for her.” Lensky was practically no different from other young people of his age and time, while Onegin was original. This is very evident in the comparison of the characters of these heroes. With this comparison, A.S. Pushkin shows us the difference between Onegin and others, his unusualness and, perhaps, strangeness. The image of Lensky is the image of the whole society; this hero has features that many people possessed at that time. So the image of Lensky is a counterweight to Onegin, so that in contrast the main character of the work stands out for his dissimilar characteristics.
Onegin and Lensky: comparative characteristics
(411 words)
Lensky and Onegin are opposed to each other throughout the entire novel, which is deliberately and openly emphasized by the author himself:
They got along. Wave and stone, Poetry and prose, ice and fire
Lensky is a romantic, an idealist. He poetizes his beloved Olga, his friendship with Onegin, and life in general, which he sees only in an ideal light. He is pleasant to talk to, helpful with ladies and behaves freely with men. Studying in Germany radically influenced his worldview. His head is filled with the philosophical dogmas of German romanticism, which he does not think to doubt. He sees poetry as his calling, and has chosen his beloved as his muse. However, he does not have sufficient insight, sobriety and at least some life experience, so he does not notice Olga’s slight recklessness, narrow-mindedness and his too mediocre, imitative poems, perceiving them as quite serious literary creativity.
Lensky has a lot of vital energy, a passionate imagination and an enthusiastic attitude towards the world; he is cheerful and harmonious. Not yet fully matured, he is childishly quick-tempered, spontaneous and firmly convinced that he is right on every issue and, like an adult, is serious in his intentions and bold in his decisions.
Onegin, his complete opposite, is devoid of any idealism, his cold mind is rather pessimistic and sarcastically negative. He, unlike Lensky, is fed up with the world around him, little excites or touches him, he has difficulty finding sources of pleasure, and even suffers from the dullness of life. Having received intermittent knowledge from various fields in childhood, he continued his studies at balls and receptions, learned the skillful art of communicating with ladies, the art of seduction, witty small talk and acquired a refined taste and the ability to recognize newfangled trends.
This life experience, although very specific, shaped his character and worldview. He is not able to admire coquettes, seeing their feigned seriousness and emptiness; he cannot admire life, knowing how much deceit and pretense there is around. All this led to absolute laziness of the body and mind, to complete indifference to everything in the world, to cruelty and coldness of heart. It would seem how two such different young people could become good friends.
Why did they become friends? Perhaps such different views on life provided a huge field for discussion and debate, and they, as is known, gathered in the evenings and stayed late in conversations. The narrow village social circle probably also contributed. Who else to talk to in the wilderness, what else to do in the evening. At the same time, both young men, due to their youth, had a common need - the need to reason and reflect, no matter whether these were the romantic thoughts of Lensky or the arrogantly mocking views of Onegin. Finding an interlocutor who can understand what you are talking about, challenge or agree with you is no less important, if not more important, than finding your like-minded person.
Author: Anna Solovyova
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Option 3
A.S. Pushkin is a talented writer, thanks to whom the unique novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” was born; he worked on the novel for almost 8 years. The great writer, with the help of a small number of characters, realistically showed Petersburg of that time and rural life. And he introduced to our attention contrasting heroes who, despite their different views and character, complement each other.
Eugene Onegin and Vladimir Lensky are two interesting figures in the novel “Eugene Onegin”. They represent two completely different personalities, by the will of fate, who found each other in the village. To better understand what the writer wanted to tell, it is worth making a comparative description of the characters.
Throughout the entire narrative, the author emphasizes the distinctive features between these two characters. They are different in everything: from education to ideals. Onegin belonged to a noble family. His upbringing was carried out by a French tutor, in connection with which Eugene was completely far from real Russian life. “So that the child does not get exhausted” Evgeniy received his education within the walls of the house and had superficial knowledge
Vladimir is the complete opposite. University student in Germany, interested in poetry and philosophy. A young man with an open heart and a romantic soul, passionately in love with Olga Larina. For him, everything he touches takes on a truly enchanting outline. All his actions and words are filled with sincerity and charm. His main life criteria are love and friendship.
Evgeniy is constantly fighting with himself and has a cold mind. He is not at all afraid of offending; he does not know such qualities as empathy and compassion. He does not know how to love, it is not in his nature to give in to friendship and be a faithful comrade. Onegin is bored with life, it is difficult for him to find something in life that can attract him. Pessimist, does not believe that one can get pleasure from life. Tatyana and Vladimir could have saved him, breathed life into him, but Onegin pushes Larina away and kills Lensky in a duel. Again he is left alone, no one needs, in search of himself.
A.S. It was not by chance that Pushkin endowed Vladimir Lensky with similar qualities. Thanks to such a striking contrast, Pushkin wanted to emphasize Onegin’s character and show all the inner pain and feeling of dissatisfaction with life that Onegin carried throughout the entire novel.
Comparison of heroes
The name Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is forever embedded in the hearts of readers. His unique novel in verse entitled “Eugene Onegin” touches on important moments in life.
It is worth noting that the work has two central characters, different in character. This is Evgeny Onegin and Vladimir Lensky.
The first of the persons presented belongs entirely to a noble family. Since childhood, he was distant from the truly nationally established foundations in Rus'. Oddly enough, Evgeniy sometimes opened classical literature and resorted to history. He knew a lot about the public, he loved to seem like a high-ranking person with all his heart. Onegin is a fairly educated person, but the hero has a truly critical attitude towards reality. In any situation, the character weighs this or that circumstance in order to understand what will weigh: for or, conversely, against. In this world, Onegin always had a desire for a harmonious life. But, as the truth shows, Evgeniy spent the entire period of his own formation as a person fighting between the spiritual and material components. The inconsistency in the character’s character was also brought about by society, which, with its ways and dark thoughts, had an adverse effect on the person.
At his core, the hero is very lazy and irresponsible. Feelings are alien to him. A man is indifferent and passive to many things in life. He is not shy in his choice of expressions, and is willfully capable of being a hypocrite. This Onegin is a real flatterer. He loves to destroy the hearts of women... The hero’s priority is to start philosophizing, talking about life and its laws. But among the crowd he is really superfluous... That is why he cannot find himself in this mortal world...
Vladimir Lensky. He is considered a real handsome man due to his appearance. Apart from his attractiveness, the character has great assets at his disposal.
Lensky is quite well educated. His passion in life is the world of philosophy and beautiful poetry.
From an early age, sincere love was a priority for the hero. Vladimir always dreamed of finding a beloved whom he could trust with his own heart.
Lensky also had a warm attitude towards friendship. For him, friendly relationships have always been considered an ideal.
Oddly enough, this character is the complete opposite of Onegin. He is a kind, sympathetic, attentive and curious person. By nature, Lensky is not a rebel, unlike Evgeniy. Vladimir loves to dream, to be in daydreams. Romantic nature - that’s who Lensky is. That is why constant harmony reigned in the soul of this man! And Onegin looked for her in vain!
Thus, in the work “Eugene Onegin” there are two antipodes. They are completely different in essence. Each of them has different interests from each other. Lensky is happy because he tries to get the most out of life. He rejoices with all his heart, loves with his soul. Compassion and sympathy are not alien to him. But Onegin is an unhappy person. It is difficult for him to find the meaning of life, he is not able to easily find himself in this world. But everyone lives their own life in their own way. And this is his personal choice!
Comparative characteristics of Onegin and Lensky
Both young men were not bad-looking. They belonged to noble families, had sufficient education and were very intelligent. They have a rich inner world and strive for personal perfection. But despite all this, they are very different.
Evgeny Onegin was born and raised in a noble family. He was educated at home by a governess and then by a French monsieur. The education that he was given turned out to be superficial, but sufficient for a noble, noble society. He only had perfect knowledge of the French language, in contrast to his native Russian. His ability to support any conversation played into his hands, and he boldly spoke out on any topic, even unfamiliar ones.
As for lifestyles, Eugene strives to achieve internal harmony between the temporary and the eternal. He is a lazy and cold person, with a sharp character and the ability to take unpredictable actions. He is not afraid to be hypocritical and flattering, and loves to criticize others and spread rumors. His desire to find himself, to find the meaning of life, throws him out of society in which he tries to seem like he belongs.
In some ways, Vladimir Lensky is the complete opposite of Onegin. He studied in Germany, but the author does not focus on the degree of education of the young man. His qualities are not in the mind, but in the heart, which believes in real worldly feelings.
Lensky was much younger than Onegin. While Evgeniy was already tired of social life, luxurious balls and was disappointed in love, Vladimir was just beginning to live, sincerely believing in love and friendship. Worldly vanity did not prevent him from enjoying life, because he was unusually rich. The young man was not interested in exact sciences, but preferred philosophy and poetry.
Lensky was still a naive fellow, not spoiled by secular society. Onegin always found his friend’s innocence amusing, but believed that these were costs of youth that would pass over time.
Vladimir meets Olga, and completely surrenders to his feelings. This relationship becomes ideal for him, but uncontrollable jealousy leads him to death. He dies in a duel with Onegin, while Eugene succumbed to the rules of society and did not prevent this stupid act of his friend.
After Lensky's death, Onegin realized the mistake he had made, but it was too late. He rethought his behavior and became more sensual, but was left without a friend and without the girl who loved him madly.
Lensky’s main role in the work was the opportunity to show Onegin’s true character against his own background, setting as an example the contrasts of their characters and behavior in society.
9th grade
Other works: ← The theme of the poet and poetry in the lyrics of A. S. Pushkin ↑ Pushkin Roman Eugene Onegin - an encyclopedia of Russian life →
Essay: Comparative characteristics of Onegin and Lensky (heroes of the novel “Eugene Onegin”)
The much-wise Litrekon described the similarities and differences between Onegin and Lensky not only in the essay, but also in the table that you will find at the end of this page.
(409 words) A novel in verse by the Russian poet A.S. Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin" talks about the "superfluous" people in Russian society of the first half of the nineteenth century. The central place in the book is occupied by two characters - Vladimir Lensky and Evgeny Onegin. The symbiosis of these two images allowed Pushkin to describe in detail the problems of the noble society of his time.
At first glance, you might think that the characters are very similar to each other. Young nobles, who are not even thirty years old, are well-educated, attractive, the real flower of noble society. But in reality, as much as Lensky and Onegin are similar, they are just as different from each other. The similarities and differences of the characters are described in detail by the author.
Firstly, they are at different stages of development. At twenty-four years old, Onegin is already a sophisticated socialite who has gone through dozens of balls and affairs. Nothing can surprise or please him anymore; those around him only cause him boredom. The main character lives his life aimlessly, not believing in anything and not striving for anything. Lensky, when Onegin was already fully enjoying the excesses of noble life, spent time studying romantic German poetry in the hothouse conditions of a European university. At the beginning of the story, the poet, who has returned from abroad, filled with youthful idealism, naivety and romanticism, is just embarking on the path that Evgeniy, aged in soul and tired of life, has long followed. Most likely, he saw in Lensky his young self, who had not yet learned the abomination of life, and Vladimir naively considered himself a doctor capable of healing the blues of a visiting socialite, which gave rise to a rather warm and strong relationship between them.
However, possessing a sensual living soul, Lensky, unlike Onegin, who is able to understand the very depths of human thoughts, is truly blind in those moments when it comes to real life. That is why Vladimir falls in love with Olga, a girl typical of his time, creating from her an ideal that corresponds to the ideas of romanticism. Not understanding the nature of Onegin's melancholy, the hero deceives his friend into attending a ball at the Larins' - the concentration of that very secular vulgarity that Eugene so despised. In response to this, the friend cruelly destroys Vladimir’s ideal, falling in love with the flighty Olga Larina in just one evening. Unable to survive the destruction of the bright image he created, Lensky actually commits suicide, challenging his imaginary opponent to a duel.
After the death of the poet, Pushkin, reflecting on the possible future of Lensky, predicts the inevitable collapse of youthful ideals, the dull life of a simple man in the street, degradation and spiritual death, which Onegin had already gone through.
Thus, the writer showed that both Onegin, fed up with the life of the nobility, and Lensky, fenced off from it since childhood, have no future in this world. The tragic and most important similarity between the characters is that they are both “extra” people.
Table: Comparison of Onegin and Lensky
Author: Mikhail Shchepin
