My 6 Favorite Quotes from "Eugene Onegin" by Alexander Pushkin
- Jessica Diehl
- Jan 28, 2019
- 5 min read

We recently read Alexander Pushkin’s iconic epic-poem Eugene Onegin in our Russian Literature class this past week. I was excited to read it again, as I had previously read it about 2 years ago. It was fun for me to analyze it properly in class, finding deeper meaning and better understanding of the poem than I had initially.
The (very) basic plot is this: Onegin goes with his friend Lensky to a dinner in the countryside. The family hosting the dinner has two daughters- Olga and her older sister Tatyana. Lensky falls completely in love with Olga. Tatyana falls in love with Onegin, thinking and day-dreaming about him constantly after their first meeting. She eventually writes him a letter confessing her true feelings for him. Onegin meets up with her, and essentially says that he is not interested in pursuing a relationship- and that she should exercise caution in being so open with her emotions in the future.
Onegin, to get back at Lensky for taking him to another dinner party where Tatyana was, flirts with Olga in front of him. Angered, Lensky challenges Onegin to a dual. Onegin accepts and is the winner of the duel, killing his dear friend. After two years pass, Onegin is in Moscow at another ball where he sees Tatyana. She is now much more self-possessed, and she is also married to a prominent general which means she is in the "upper tier" of high-society now. Onegin falls in love with her, but she refuses his advances, and remains faithful to her husband.
The poem (written serially between 1825-1832) touches on so many subjects: Friendship, love, boredom, the tension between staying true to yourself and molding to societal norms, literature, the practice of dualing, marriage, Russian society and convention, sadness- especially connected with aging, etc. (Just to name a few). Through these topics, we can find a connection with those in the 19th century- as they also faced the same problems and emotions as we do now. (Perhaps why Eugene Onegin is such a timeless classic.)
Here are 5 of my favorite passages from the poem:
1. “Oh, I’m in love,’ again she pleaded
With her old friend. ‘My little dove,
You’re just not well, you’re overheated.’
‘Oh, let me be now…I’m in love.’
Here, Tatyana is telling her nanny that she is in love. (We don’t know Tatyana’s exact age but speculated somewhere in her teens). Her nanny earlier claimed that she “never heard of love,” as she was married off by her parents when she was just 13 years old for economic purposes. I find the passage to be comical- the nanny’s reaction to Tatyana’s confession of love is to tell her that she’s, well, sick. =)

Also, it shows how times were changing in Russia and the generational differences in understanding of love. As we discussed in class, its also interesting to note that she is telling her nanny about her new love, not her mother or her sister. Her nanny is the closest one to her- this could possibly be a reflection from Pushkin's life as he was also very close with his nanny in real life.
2. I’ve known great beauties proudly distant,
As cold and chaste as winter snow;
Implacable, to all resistant,
Impossible for mind to know;
I’ve marveled at their haughty manner,
Their natural virtue’s flaunted banner;
And I confess, from them I fled,
As if in terror I had read
Above their brows the sign of Hades:
Abandon Hope, Who Enter Here!
Their joy is striking men with fear,
For love offends these charming ladies.
Perhaps along the Neva’s shore
You too have known such belles before.
This is one of my favorites because, again, I find it very comical. I can almost picture the cold and distant high-society women that the narrator of the poem is talking about, and then can imagine the fear it strikes in him just trying to think of what to say in order to talk to them. I just find the line “above their brows the sign of Hades: Abandon hope all ye who enter here” both a really clever and humorous use of such a famous and often-used line. Makes me chuckle every time I read it!
3. His eyes ablaze, Eugene stood waiting-
Like some grim shade of night’s creating;
And she. As if by fire seared,
Drew back and stopped when he appeared…
Just now though, friends, I feel too tired
To tell you how this meeting went
And what ensued from that event;
I’ve talked so long that I’ve required
A little walk, some rest and play;
I’ll finish up another day.
Okay, so the scene here is that Eugene and Tatyana are about to meet for the first since she sent him the letter declaring her love. Tension has been building in the poem leading up to this moment. And then the author/narrator of the poem “breaks the fourth wall” so to speak, and speaks directly to the reader. He tells the reader he’ll take a break now and write about Eugene’s and Tatyana’s meeting later (I believe that each chapter of the poem- there are 8- were initially published one at a time, so back then the audience quite literally had to wait to read the next chapter). Essentially, Pushkin is leaving his audience with a real cliffhanger, while (I think) also parodying this literary device that has been used quite a bit.

4. But to whom to love? To trust and treasure?
Who won’t betray us in the end?
And who’ll be kind enough to measure
Our words and deeds as we intend?
Who won’t sow slander all about us?
Who’ll coddle us and never doubt us?
To whom will all our faults be few?
Who’ll never bore us through and through?
You futile, searching phantom-breeder,
Why spend your efforts all in vain;
Just love yourself and ease the pain,
My most esteemed and honoured reader!
A worthy object! Never mind,
A truer love you’ll never find.
Once again the author/narrator is addressing the reader directly, asking questions that are just as relevant today as they were back then. Who is the perfect person for us? Does it exist? Also, I don’t know when the “self-help” genre became popular, but even Pushkin in the late early 1800s was espousing the importance of loving yourself. =)
5. “We’ve all received an education
In something somehow, have we not?
So thank the Lord that in this nation
A little learning means a lot.”
THE SHADE!! Hah, I love finding parts in the poem where Pushkin is taking a jab at the government or the high-society that he himself is a part of.

6. With conscience as his judge of right,
He found much wrong in his position:
First off, he’d been at fault last night
To mock in such a casual fashion
At tender love’s still timid passion;
And why not let the poet rage! A fool, at eighteen years of age,
Can be excused his rash intentions.
Eugene, who loved the youth at heart,
Might well have played a better part-
No plaything of the mob’s conventions
Or brawling boy to take offense,
But man of honor and of sense.
Here, Onegin has just accepted an invitation to duel from his good friend Lensky. Upon reflection, Onegin realizes that this whole situation is his fault. (He flirted with Lensky’s love, Olga, the night before in order to get petty revenge on Lensky). Onegin knows that Lensky is just acting out of passion, and him, being the older and more experienced gentlemen, should exercise reason in this situation. Be he doesn’t. Onegin bows to social pressure of saving face and upholding his “honor.” He goes through with killing his friend. It really reveals Onegin’s character. I like this passage because it shows how deadly adhering to societal pressures can be, even for those of us who are typically more rational or strong-willed. We are all at risk for succumbing to it.
Okay, I will stop there. Honestly, there are so many more passages I would love to mention. Two words that come to mind when I read this poem are: insightful and clever. (I can't even imagine how beautiful the original Russian version is! Hopefully, I can read it one day). All I will say is, I hope you take the time to read this classic one day yourself! =)
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