Novel in verse by A.S. Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin" is considered the first realistic novel in Russian literature. The work objectively recreated an entire historical era. The author addresses current issues of Russian life, illuminates the life, customs, morals, traditions and spiritual interests of Russia - that is why Belinsky called “Eugene Onegin” “an encyclopedia of Russian life.”

At the same time, the work describes not only the realities of the first quarter of the 19th century, but also created vivid portraits of representatives of this time.

Female characters in the novel are presented through the images of Tatyana and Olga Larina, their mother Praskovya, and nanny Tatyana Filippovna. And if the characters of Olga and Praskovya Larin, Filippovna are quite typical, then the main character of the work differs from her peers and is for Pushkin the ideal of a Russian woman (“Tatyana’s sweet ideal”). It is also important to note that the author creates a portrait of not only noblewomen (Larina), but also a simple peasant woman (Tatiana’s nanny). Thus, with the help of female images in the novel, the poet depicts not only typical representatives of the first quarter of the 19th century, but also shows the original character of the Russian woman.

The image of the main character of the novel, Tatyana Larina, is in many ways the embodiment of the folk element. In this sense, the heroine differs sharply from the “half-Russian” Lensky and Onegin, raised by French tutors. It is no coincidence that Pushkin says about Tatyana that she is “Russian in soul.” Tatyana believes in folk omens, tells fortunes together with the courtyard girls, has a keen sense of her native nature, believes in “the legends of the common folk of antiquity, and dreams, and card fortune-telling, and the predictions of the moon.” It is all this that she yearns for when she finds herself in St. Petersburg.

Being raised in a noble environment, the eldest of the Larin sisters “seemed like a stranger in her own family.” The heroine is characterized by daydreaming, isolation, a desire for loneliness, and love for Russian nature, for folk traditions and customs. Her moral character and spiritual interests are fundamentally different from the inner world of the typical majority of provincial young ladies (for example, Olga). In the manifestation of her feelings, Tatyana is extremely sincere:

The coquette judges in cold blood,

Tatiana loves seriously

And he surrenders unconditionally

Love like a sweet child.

The heroine is alien to slyness, mannerisms, coquetry, superficiality, sentimental sensitivity, in other words, everything that distinguished most of her peers. Tatyana is an integral person, gifted with the ability to feel deeply and strongly. The heroine of Pushkin's novel really loves Onegin, and Tatyana will carry this love throughout her life. Despite the fact that in the eighth chapter of the novel the heroine appears to the reader no longer as a “timid girl”, but as an “unapproachable goddess”, internally Tatyana has not changed and continues to love Evgeniy (“And he excited her heart!”)

The heroine's letter to Eugene is imbued with sincere feeling and sublime simplicity. It is no coincidence that S.G. Bocharov noted: “Pushkin’s letter to Tatiana is a “mythical translation” from the “wonderful original” - Tatiana’s heart.” Indeed, despite the fact that the heroine’s letter is filled with reminiscences from various sentimental novels that the girl was fond of, it is impossible to doubt the sincerity of her feelings (“You just walked in, I instantly recognized it, I was all stunned, on fire...”). But still, Tatyana builds her love according to literary models of her favorite characters. Onegin appears to the girl as an image from a novel: a guardian angel (Grandison) or a “cunning tempter” (Lovelace). The decision to confess his love to Eugene is also dictated by the desire to be like a romantic heroine. At the same time, Tatyana understands that she is acting contrary to all the norms of decency accepted in noble society at the beginning of the 19th century (“I freeze with shame and fear...”).

Tatyana is distinguished primarily by her sensitive heart, but her mind, the consciousness of a thinking person, the ability to correctly evaluate and internally reject the “hateful tinsel” of high society, its emptiness and falsehood, and preserve her moral character and spiritual values ​​are increasingly awakening in her. Tatyana's consciousness and mind awaken with the first bitter experience of unhappy love, with reading books that “replaced everything for her.”

As already mentioned, many of Tatyana’s personality traits go deep into the people’s soil. The heroine (like Pushkin himself) owes this to her nanny, a simple Russian peasant woman. It is no coincidence that the only person with whom Tatyana talks about her love is the nanny. With the help of the image of Filippovna in the novel, the poet illuminates peasant family life, and also raises the problem of personality and environment. Thus, the nanny’s story about her unhappy personal life (“And, come on, Tanya! These summers we haven’t heard about love...”) reflects a typical situation for the peasant class: a girl is forcibly married off and “handed over” to someone else’s family, rather as a worker; at the same time, the husband often turned out to be younger than his wife:

So, apparently, God ordered. My Vanya

Was younger than me, my light,

And I was thirteen years old.

In Pushkin’s notes we come across an important remark that generally illustrates the fate of a simple Russian woman: “Unhappiness in family life is a distinctive feature of the Russian people...”.

But, oddly enough, the same fate befalls Tatyana, who does not marry for love and is unhappy in her family life. Thus, from this point of view, the fate of the heroine bears the stamp of nationality. The heroine's answer to Onegin at the end of the novel reflects the same principle of folk morality: you cannot build your happiness on someone else's misfortune. This understanding of one’s moral duty explains Tatiana’s refusal to Onegin: “But I was given to another; I will be faithful to him forever.”

Thus, Tatyana’s main quality is high spiritual nobility and a developed sense of duty, which takes precedence over her strongest feelings. The heroine believes that if she herself, of her own free will, freely made a promise to an unloved person to be a faithful wife to him, then she is obliged to keep this word given by her inviolably. Let her now understand that it was a mistake on her part, that she acted carelessly - she herself must suffer for this carelessness, for this mistake.

The opposite of Tatyana is her sister Olga. If the main quality of the older Larina is considered to be a developed sense of duty, then the younger Larina, on the contrary, is extremely frivolous and flighty. Thus, Olga does not long mourn Lensky, who died in a duel (who was considered the heroine’s fiancé), and soon marries a lancer:

My poor Lensky! languishing

She didn't cry for long.

Alas! young bride

Unfaithful to her sadness.

At first glance, Olga seems perfect: a real beauty (“Eyes like the sky, blue, smile, flaxen curls…”) with an easy-going and easy-going character (“Always modest, always obedient, always cheerful as the morning…”). But Pushkin immediately notes that such a character can be found in “any novel,” so the author was “immensely” tired of it. Onegin points out to Lensky the triviality and spiritual emptiness of Olga:

Olga has no life in her features.

Exactly in Vandik's Madona:

She's round and red-faced,

Like this stupid moon

On this stupid horizon."

Olga does not stand out in any way among other provincial noblewomen, about whom Pushkin notes: “But the conversation of their lovely wives was much less intelligent.”

So, the image of the frivolous, flighty and “empty” Olga, characteristic of a sentimental novel, reflects the typical features of a district young lady.

In addition, using the example of the image of Tatyana and Olga’s mother, Praskovya Larina, Pushkin describes the character of the village landowner. It is important to note that the heroine’s personality is shown in dynamics; with the help of the character’s fate story, the author raises the problem of personality and environment. The poet talks about Praskovya’s life before her marriage, when the heroine was fond of novels and was in love with a “glorious dandy” who resembled one of the heroes of her favorite books. Then the poet ironically describes the transformation of a sensitive young lady, who “... spoke in a sing-song voice, wore a very narrow corset...” into an economical and rather domineering lady.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, while working on the novel “Eugene Onegin,” admired the wonderful girl coming to life under his pen. The poet lovingly describes her appearance, strength of feelings, “sweet simplicity.” On many pages he involuntarily admits: “I love my dear Tatyana so much,” “Tatyana, dear Tatyana! Now I'm shedding tears with you..."

They often talk about “Turgenev girls”. These images disturb the imagination with their femininity, purity, sincerity and strength of character. But it seems to me that “Pushkin’s girls” are no less interesting and attractive. Masha Troekurova from “Dubrovsky”, Masha Mironova from “The Captain’s Daughter”... Apparently, Maria is Pushkin’s favorite female name. After all, he named his eldest daughter Masha. But the most “famous” of all Pushkin’s heroines is Tatyana Larina.

We first meet Tatiana at her parents' estate. The village of the Larins, like Onegin, was also a “lovely corner”, such as one often comes across in central Russia. The poet emphasizes many times that Tatyana loved nature, winter, and sledding. Nature, ancient customs observed in the family, created Tatiana’s “Russian soul”.

Tanya’s father “was a kind fellow, belated in the last century,” as Pushkin ironically says. The mother ran the entire household independently. The life of the family, which is described with loving irony, proceeded peacefully and calmly. Neighbors often gathered to “bother, and curse, and laugh about something.” Tatyana is in many ways similar to other girls. She also “believed the legends of the common people

• antiquity, and dreams, and card fortune-telling,” her
• “the signs were alarming.” But it was already since childhood
• There were many things that distinguished her from others.
• Oka didn’t know how to caress
• To your father, nor to your mother;
• Child herself, in a crowd of children
• I didn’t want to play or jump
• And often alone all day
• She sat silently by the window.

Since childhood, Tatiana was distinguished by her dreaminess and lived a special inner life. The author emphasizes that the girl was devoid of coquetry and pretense - those qualities that he did not like in women. Many lines are devoted to books that played a significant role in the formation of Tatyana’s personality. So Pushkin brought us to the understanding that Tatyana is a poetic, lofty, spiritual nature.

In one of the stories, Pushkin writes that the district young ladies are simply lovely. They were brought up in the fresh air, in the shade of apple trees, and draw their knowledge of the world from books. Solitude, freedom and reading early develop in them feelings and passions that are unknown to the absent-minded beauties of the big world. The essential advantage of these girls is their originality.

It seems to be said about Tatyana. The author likes the openness and directness of his heroine. Although it was considered indecent for a girl to be the first to confess her love, it is difficult to blame Tatyana for this. The poet asks: Why is Tatyana more guilty? Is it because in sweet simplicity She knows no deception And believes in her chosen dream? Pushkin especially emphasizes the constancy of Tatyana’s character. It has been inherent in her since early childhood. When Tatyana becomes a noble lady, she remembers with sadness and tenderness her former rural life, when she was younger and “it seemed better.” But in fact, she hasn't changed at all. And she still retains her love for Evgeniy.

Pushkin loved his Tatyana... There is an ancient Greek legend about how one sculptor sculpted a girl from stone. The stone maiden was so beautiful that the master fell in love with his own creation. The love for the girl was so strong that the sculptor lost peace because this beautiful sculpture would never come to life. Seeing the torment and melancholy of the wonderful master, the gods took pity on him and revived the statue, thereby dooming the master and his creation to eternal love.

But this is a legend. And Pushkin created the eternal image of a beautiful Russian woman. It’s hard to even imagine that Tatyana was invented by a poet. I would like to believe that she existed in life, that people like her still exist. The following lines also speak about the poet’s love for his creation:

Oka was unhurried, Not cold, not talkative, Without an insolent look for everyone, Without pretensions to success, Without these little antics, Without imitative undertakings... Pushkin describes her as he saw the ideal of a woman. The poet, after all, “was a true genius” in the science of “tender passion,” knew female nature well. But in his works, the collective portrait of the girl that he prefers emerges. Her main features are nobility and fidelity to marital duty.

Masha Troekurova, who sacrificed love to the sanctity of marriage. Marya Gavrilovna, refusing all suitors, because chance married her to an unknown officer. Masha Mironova, who did not renounce her groom and managed to get to the queen herself for his sake. And finally, Tatyana, who firmly says: “But I was given to another; I will be faithful to him forever.”
How the topic of marital fidelity tormented and occupied Alexander Sergeevich!

In his work, Pushkin reflected the life and way of life of the entire Russian people of his time. The images described by the poet reach a special depth and reveal the characters of the inhabitants of that era. Female characters in the novel “Eugene Onegin” are revealed in a particularly poetic and multifaceted way.

Pushkin's innovation

Belinsky highly praised the entire work, calling it “The Encyclopedia of Russian Life.” The critic noted the description of female images as a separate asset of Pushkin’s work. He calls Pushkin’s work a real feat, because Alexander Sergeevich not only showed the “main” side of society in the person of Onegin and Lensky, but also very poetically reproduced the image of a Russian woman.

Pushkin's female characters are typical and at the same time special. He describes characters very vividly and subtly notices details. Belinsky speaks of Tatiana's exclusivity, but calls her the personification of a Russian woman. Pushkin's innovation lies in the fact that he was the first to dare to describe the image of a woman from precisely this point of view.

Tatiana's image

Tatyana Larina is the central heroine of the novel. She has carelessness, youth, naive and romantic character traits. This is what makes her special and beautiful. Pushkin described the image of a simple Russian girl from a family of provincial nobility. Portraying Tatyana, he does not idealize her. She grew up lonely and self-absorbed, in no hurry to open her heart to everyone she met. Once in secular society, she becomes disappointed - she becomes bored with the empty conversations of the capital's nobles. She is interested in the beauty of the soul, not fashion trends. She judges life not by reality, but by the books she reads.

Tatyana painted herself an image of an ideal lover. But in reality, love only brings her suffering. Even after becoming a society lady, Tatyana does not lose her spontaneity. But even at the same table with the first city beauty, he is in no way inferior to this society lady.

Love for Onegin reveals the best qualities in Tatyana: determination, honesty, directness. The depth and strength of her feelings make her brave and ready to do anything for love.

In the scene of the last conversation with Onegin, the image of Tatyana is revealed in all its glory, showing her best qualities. Despite her love, she neglects it for the sake of duty and fulfilling her feminine responsibilities to her future husband. “But I was given to another and I will be faithful to him forever,” she directly declares to Onegin, whom she has long loved to the depths of her soul.

Pushkin himself does not hide his warm attitude towards the heroine. Throughout the entire work, the author rewards her with the words “ideal”, “sweetheart”, reflecting his personal attitude towards the qualities of the heroine.

Other female characters in the novel

In addition to the image of the main character, the author interestingly drew other female characters. A few words are enough for him to reveal the character traits of Tatyana’s mother, her sister, and nanny. Tatyana’s mother is a woman who, in her youth, incurred a debt to society by marrying someone she didn’t love. Tatiana's sister Olga gets carried away easily, but quickly forgets about her hobbies. Olga, like her mother, is able to find happiness in the life that society dictates to her.

There are other women in the novel, but Pushkin does not focus much attention on their images, outlining only those features that are necessary to describe social life.

We see how deeply the author has worked on the image of the main character of the novel. He paid great attention to other female characters, making them bright heroines of his time. Using this article, you can easily write an essay “Eugene Onegin. Female images”, reflect in it the characteristic features of the heroines of the novel and the innovation of the author.

Work test

Female images in the novel "Eugene Onegin"

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin is the greatest Russian realist poet. His best work, in which “... his whole life, his whole soul, his whole love; his feelings, concepts, ideals” is “Eugene Onegin”.

Pushkin sets the task of giving a real image of the life of a young man in secular society. The novel reflects the last years of the reign of Alexander 1 and the first years of the reign of Nicholas 1, that is, the time of the rise of the social movement after the Patriotic War of 1812. At this time, a significant part of educated youth was characterized by inability and inability to find their way in life.

The novel is based on the love story of Evgeny Onegin and Tatyana Larina. The image of Tatyana as the main character of the novel is the most perfect among other female images. At the same time, Tatyana is Pushkin’s favorite heroine, his “dear ideal” (“...I love my dear Tatyana so much”).

In the image of Tatyana, Pushkin put all those features of a Russian girl, the totality of which represents a perfect ideal for the author. These are the special character traits that make Tatyana truly Russian. The formation of these traits in Tatiana occurs on the basis of “legends of the common people of antiquity,” beliefs, and tales. Her passion for romance novels has a noticeable influence on her character.

The predominance of such sentiments in Tatyana is evidenced by her reaction to the appearance of Onegin in their house, whom she immediately makes the subject of her romantic dreams. In him Tatyana sees a combination of all those qualities of the hero that she read about in novels. Tatyana gives herself entirely to her feelings. Her letter to Onegin speaks about the depth of Tatiana’s feelings. In it, Tatyana, acting against all rules of decency, opens her soul and completely puts herself “into the hands” of Onegin, relying on his honor and nobility (“But your honor is my guarantee...”). Tatyana's deep feelings are manifested at the moment of Onegin's arrival at the Larins' estate after receiving the letter. A whole storm of conflicting feelings, hopes and desires rises in her soul, which she is unable to suppress. Tatyana accepts Onegin’s rebuke without objection, but her feelings not only do not go away, but flare up even more.

Thanks to constant communication with her nanny Filippovna, she knows a large number of ancient folk beliefs and superstitions, which she unconditionally believed in:

Tatyana believed the legends

Of common folk antiquity,

And dreams, and card fortune-telling,

And the predictions of the moon.

She was worried about signs;

All objects are mysterious to her

They proclaimed something.

Therefore, in order to find out her future fate, Tatyana resorts to fortune telling. As a result, she has a dream that partially determines the further development of events.

After Lensky's death and Onegin's departure, Tatyana begins to frequently visit Onegin's house. There she, studying the environment in which Onegin lived, his range of interests, comes to the conclusion that Onegin is only a “poetic ghost”, a parody.

Next, Tatyana goes to Moscow, where her aunties take her to balls and evenings in search of a good groom. The furnishings of Moscow living rooms, the order reigning in them and secular society - all this inspires Tatyana only with disgust and boredom. Raised in the countryside, her soul strives for nature:

To the village, to the poor villagers, To a secluded corner, Where a bright stream flows...

Tatyana gets a military, rich general as her husband and becomes a society lady. Onegin finds her in this position when he returns a few years later from his travels. Now that Tatyana has reached the same level of social status as him, love and passion awaken in him. Further, Onegin’s love story for Tatiana takes on a mirror image of Tatiana’s love story for him.

Having become a society lady, Tatyana gradually changes in accordance with the society in which she has to constantly be. She becomes an “indifferent princess”, “an unapproachable goddess”. In response to Onegin’s confessions, Tatyana, although she loves him, gives a direct and unconditional answer:

But I was given to another, I will be faithful to him forever.

These words contain all the strength of Tatyana’s character, her essence. Despite her strong love for Onegin, she cannot break the vow she made to her husband before God, she cannot sacrifice moral principles.

The complete opposite of Tatyana is her sister Olga. Her cheerful disposition, simplicity, calm, carefree character were, according to the author himself, an integral part of the image of the heroine of any novel of that time.

Onegin, as a true connoisseur of the female soul, gives Olga an unflattering description:

Olga has no life in her features,

Exactly like Van Dyck's Madonna:

She is round and red in face;

Like this stupid moon

On this stupid sky.

Olga's carefree disposition is also evidenced by her attitude towards love. She doesn’t seem to notice the fullness and depth of Lensky’s feelings, who is ready to do anything for her. It is because of her that he fights a duel with Onegin and dies. The duel occurs because of Olga's frivolous and dismissive attitude towards Lensky at the ball. She has fun and dances with Onegin, not noticing the pain she causes Lensky with her behavior. At their last meeting, Lensky is embarrassed and confused before the “tender simplicity” and naivety with which Olga appears before him: Like windy hope, Playful, carefree, cheerful, Well, exactly the same as she was. In the last hours of his life, Lensky was consumed by thoughts of Olga. In his heart he dreams of Olga’s fidelity and devotion to him, but he is greatly mistaken in Olga’s feelings: “...she did not cry for long,” and very quickly the image of a man who loved her boundlessly and selflessly was erased from her memory, and his place was taken by a newcomer a young Ulan with whom Olga connected her future life. The life story of the mother of Olga and Tatyana Larin is a sad story about the fate of a young girl from secular society. She, without any consent on her part, is married off to a local nobleman, Dmitry Larin, and sent to the village. At first, it turned out to be quite difficult for her to get used to the environment of village life. But over time, she got used to it and became an exemplary lady from the circle of the local nobility. Her former hobbies and habits were replaced by everyday affairs and household chores: She went to work, Pickled mushrooms for the winter, Maintained expenses, shaved her foreheads, Went to the bathhouse on Saturdays, beat the maids, getting angry, The image of Nanny Filipevna is the personification of the Russian serf peasant woman. From her dialogue with Tatyana we learn about the difficult fate of the Russian people, under the yoke of serfdom. Using her example, Filipyevna shows the complete lack of rights of peasants, difficult relationships in families, but at the same time she is the keeper of common folk legends - “ancient tales, fables,” and therefore Filipyevna played a big role in the formation of Tatyana’s character traits. So, A. S. Pushkin in the novel "Eugene Onegin" he created a whole gallery of female images, each of which is typical and individual, embodying some kind of character trait. But the most perfect among all the female images in “Eugene Onegin” is the image of Tatiana, in which Pushkin displayed all the features of the Istorian-Russian woman.