45 pages • 1 hour read
Alexander PushkinEugene Onegin
Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Adult | Published in 1832A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Eugene Onegin is a Russian aristocrat living in Saint Petersburg in the 1820s. In the first chapter, he complains about how he is forced to take care of his “gravely ill” (1.1.2) uncle. Onegin is bored of caring for the sick man. Away from his uncle’s sickbed, Onegin is regarded as a man with “wit and charm” (1.4.14). Onegin possesses a decent understanding of subjects like economics, while his father nearly lost the family fortune through poor business decisions. Onegin is a skilled conversationalist and is renowned for his ability to scrutinize others. This talent makes him an attractive prospect for the wealthy women of Saint Petersburg, allowing him to “conquer youthful virtues meekness” (1.11.6).
One evening, Onegin is “racing” (1.16.5) a sleigh at high speed to another lavish dinner. Before the dinner is over, Onegin rides the sleigh to “the brand new ballet” (1.17.4). He attends many high society events. Though the narrator praises the artistry of the ballet, Onegin seems bored. He yawns and then leaves midway through the performance, claiming that “it’s time for something new” (1.21.12). After returning home, Onegin pauses for “at least three hours” (1.25.9) to prepare his outfit and appearance. Then, he takes a carriage to a high society ball. While the Saint Petersburg elite dance “a bold mazurka” (1.28.7), the narrator mentions his disinterest in the youthful excitement of such events. The narrator instead shifts perspective and describes a beautiful woman he once knew. At the end of the ball, Onegin returns home. As dawn approaches, he is exhausted. The city of Saint Petersburg is “already rousing” (1.35.3) as Onegin goes to bed. Typically, he sleeps until the early afternoon and then rises and repeats the same undertaking; his life is a blur of social events. Onegin has become disillusioned with this cycle of decadence, however, to the point where he can no longer tolerate his own existence and “the social buzz [becomes] a bore” (1.37.2).
Onegin turns to books and literature for relief. Even in literature, however, he can find nothing that stirs his interest. At this point, the narrator himself meets Onegin. The narrator has found himself in a similar position and the two men become friends. They are both sensitive, insightful men. When they share a drink in “silent contemplation” (1.47.9), the narrator mentions his desire to travel to the Mediterranean. Though Onegin initially plans to join him, the deaths of Onegin’s father and then his uncle disrupt their plans for a “foreign tour” (1.51.2). Onegin inherits his uncle’s fortune, including a large estate in the countryside. The chance to leave Saint Petersburg and become a “country squire” (1.53.11) gives Onegin the escape he has long sought. However, he becomes bored of the rural life after a short while. The countryside is “just as dull as city highways” (1.54.12). The narrator describes his own love for the natural world, distinguishing himself from Onegin. The narrator is also excited to embark on this new literary project (the poem itself) and announces his indifference to any potential criticism or censorship.
Chapter 1 Analysis
Eugene Onegin frames Onegin as the hero of the poem, yet his first introduction to the audience is negative. Onegin complains about his sick uncle; he is so tired of caring for the ill relative that he wishes his uncle would hurry up and die. Rather than heroic or estimable, Onegin is introduced to the audience as an entitled, privileged young man who thinks only about himself. In the following chapters, the narrator describes Onegin’s social life. While not caring for his sick uncle, Onegin is attending a flurry of lavish social events even though he is bored of the high-society scene of which he is a part. He hurtles through Saint Petersburg on his sleigh, attending parties where he is welcomed with open arms. Onegin is considered a dashing, charming young man who is almost the embodiment of the elite society. This juxtaposition reveals how Eugene Onegin is a story about contradictions. Onegin is an unheroic hero, someone who has earned the narrator’s sympathy but cannot show any sympathy to his dying uncle. For the rest of the Saint Petersburg elite, Onegin is the archetypal young aristocrat and a fixture at every party in the city. Inwardly, however, he loathes this social scene and feels utterly alienated from everyone around him. The difference between the public and private versions of Onegin’s identity hints at how he carefully performs a specific identity in public while hiding his true thoughts and feelings from the world.
Onegin does not enjoy the parties in Saint Petersburg, but he finds solace in his high-speed sleigh rides across the city. Once he is at the party, he sinks into a dead-eyed routine of small talk and social etiquette. Outside the party, however, as he is on his way to the next event, he is almost free. The high-speed sleigh ride is a moment of clarity in an otherwise boring night for Onegin. With the wind on his face and the sense of constant, forward momentum, he enjoys himself for the first time. In a telling way, Onegin’s only happy moments in this chapter seem to be when he is alone. The decadence and debauchery of his drunken escapades are perfunctory, part of establishing his own hollow mythos, whereas the private moments of forward momentum are all his own. In these quiet sleigh rides, Onegin does not feel the need to perform or adhere to expectations. He can be himself. In a sense, Onegin attends so many parties on the same night so that he can revel in these private moments of travel. If he were to stay at one party all night, then he would be robbed of his irregular opportunities for self-reflection. By hurtling across the city at a dizzying pace, he not only plays into people’s expectations of him as a sociable man, but he ensures that he is able to be alone in one of the only socially acceptable ways, which supports the theme of Etiquette as a Prison.
Onegin’s sense of alienation causes him to detest the social scene in Saint Petersburg. Inwardly, his thoughts on the parties, ballets, and other events are scathing. He tosses his various criticisms around in his head, searching for an explanation as to why this society seems so alien to him. In a cultural sense, he believes that the wealthy elites have tried to import their manners and etiquette from Europe. As a result, this society is not truly Russian but is actually a pantomime performance of cultures from far away. The society feels alien to Onegin because he feels, deep down, that it is hollow. That Onegin should be so involved in the social scene only fuels his self-loathing. As a wealthy young man, he is a product of this society. He is an integral part of the same society that he hates; the elite of Saint Petersburg has molded him in every sense and now he feels as though he cannot escape. Onegin is trapped inside the social machine that he loathes; his loathing forces him to recognize the same lingering traces of the machine inside his own self. As such, the more he hates his society, the more he hates himself. He is caught in a self-perpetuating form of self-loathing, keenly aware of his own flaws and the flaws of his society but unable to find anyone who shares his opinion. Everyone else seems happy inside their prison, leaving Onegin to feel all the more alone and alienated.
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