What became the reason for the friendship between Onegin and Lensky. Essay friendship between Lensky and Onegin. What then was the reason for the friendship of Onegin and Lensky?
Evgeny Onegin and Vladimir Lensky - friends or enemies? The young people, who were considered friends, were eventually able to point guns at each other. A friendship that ended in death, did it exist in the first place? Questions that Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin makes the reader think about. And only after living their lives with the heroes can one understand the reasons for the tragedy that occurred.
The first meeting of Onegin and Lensky
The author describes the first meeting of one of and as a clash of opposites. They were completely different worlds. The coldness of one and the emotionality of the other, restraint as opposed to openness, the ardor of Lensky’s feelings and disappointment with Onegin’s life. A game of contrast, juxtaposition, a meeting of two completely different people.
How could friendship arise between them? The reason for this was the boredom that haunted Onegin during. Onegin was looking for an interlocutor to distract him from the despondency that haunted him. Lensky, distinguished by his education and erudition, became an excellent opponent in political and everyday disputes for Onegin. They argued for hours, discussing all sorts of topics. It was intellectual communication that became the reason for the emergence of friendly relations between two young people. They were, but different in spiritual qualities.
Lensky's idea of friendship is interesting. In his understanding, friends are capable of suffering for him, and even “accepting shackles.” He idealizes friendships, considering them something super-high. Onegin doesn’t think about friendship like that at all. It is unlikely that this word has any meaning for him.
Friends or buddies?
When thinking about what category the relationship between Onegin and Lensky can be classified into - strong friendship or ordinary friendship, you involuntarily return your thoughts to the tragic denouement of this story. A person who was a friend in reality would refuse a duel, no matter what the reasons were for it. But that did not happen. The appearance of friendship that existed before the duel concealed Onegin’s complete indifference to the experiences and inner world of the other person. Friendship out of boredom is something that actually existed.
Why did the friendship of Onegin and Lensky end tragically?
The reason was jealousy. Onegin's flirtation with him at the ball led to Lensky's death. Could this not have happened? Even when the duel was scheduled, Onegin could refuse it, regardless of the opinion of society, which he never particularly valued. However, although many believe that the true cause of the tragedy was Onegin’s spiritual coldness, his indifference to people, and his inability to become a true friend. But here we should ask the question: what about Lensky? Despite all his exaltation, he, it was he, who challenged each other to a duel and, even after making sure that they were still loved, did not take a single step towards reconciliation. His last poems: is there even a shadow of a thought in them that he is about to raise a weapon against a friend? No, they are full of selfishness and that’s all. Where was it, his friendship? Who is to blame? Onegin or Lensky? Or maybe both? Let everyone decide for themselves.
To understand the question “Are Onegin and Lensky friends?” you need to turn to the most important moments of the novel, because only actions characterize a person, and not a play on words masterfully created by the author.
Two different people
The characters in the novel really have very little in common. Onegin is absolutely the opposite of Vladimir Lensky: he is cold, hypocritical, and cynical. Lensky is an open, decent, trusting, enthusiastic young man. Emotionality and trust in life are his driving force. Evgeny floats with the flow of everyday life, not being happy or surprised by anything, a sort of “young old man.”
He “does not seek friendship”, does not understand how you can trust people and believe in their best sides. Onegin studied human nature and the vices characteristic of high society too well to believe in the romantic ideals sung by Lensky. Love, as something sacred and unshakable, is not known to Onegin. He saw neither maternal affection nor paternal care; the ability for close, trusting relationships is completely absent from our hero. Any emotion that arises in Onegin, as a rule, is caused by the desire to play, have fun, and escape boredom. His soul is callous and empty, it “burned out” early, the ability for real feelings will awaken over the years, but this will not bring happiness to the hero.
Friendship “out of boredom”
The only thing that connects Onegin and Lensky is their intellectual level and education. The opportunity to pass the time by talking and philosophizing on various topics is a wonderful escape from boredom in the Russian village. “Everything between them gave rise to disputes and led to reflection...” - the author makes it clear that the young people had many topics to discuss, because their horizons were not limited to the “barnyard”, harvest and weather (like the landowners who neighbored Lensky and Onegin). This is perhaps the only reason for the friendship of Onegin and Lensky.
The young poet was still inexperienced in human relationships, and Onegin too often encountered deception, betrayal and meanness (and he himself was a master in this craft) to trust someone and elevate him to the status of a friend. The author openly speaks out: “So people (I am the first to repent) have nothing to do with friends.” If the basis of friendship is the desire to brighten up leisure time and not “die of boredom,” then such an alliance can hardly be called friendship, but rather friendship. Relationships based on mutual respect, honor, sincere sympathy and deep trust can be friendship.
Hero positions
It is not for nothing that the author gives a highly poetic description of the friendship of two young nobles: “wave and stone... poetry and prose, ice and fire...”. He emphasizes that at the core of the connection between two people there is nothing that can withstand a blow. Cold, insensitive Onegin and hot, emotional Lensky, like two opposite shores, will never become truly close. The time spent in joint conversations did not cement their friendship, they were not truly frank with each other - these are the costs of a noble upbringing.
If Lensky tried to reveal to his friend his feelings for his beloved Olga, then Onegin simply silently watched as his friend absurdly struggled with those emotions that are characteristic of youth. He is amused by Lensky’s poetry, but tact and condescension do not allow Evgeny to kill Lensky’s “muse”. Only once does Onegin break out a few phrases about how unsuitable Olga is for the poet to be his bride. Vladimir is offended and dryly answers something neutral; the friends do not touch on any more personal topics.
>Essays based on the work of Eugene Onegin
Friendship and enmity
The novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” was written by A. S. Pushkin in the first half of the 19th century. This is one of the most significant works in Russian literature. The author worked on it for more than seven years. The novel is dedicated to the theme of unhappy love and friendship. Apparently, at that time these issues were in the first place for the writer. From the very beginning of the work, we learn that at twenty-six the main character, the metropolitan fashionista and rake Onegin, is tired of city life and wants to relax away from the noise.
As the writer notes: “The betrayals have become tiresome; I’m tired of friends and friendship.” This was Onegin's life before he decided to leave for the village. Even there he avoided his fellow landowners and avoided noisy companies. He tried to spend more time in silence and reading books. The only person he willingly met was Vladimir Lensky. This eighteen-year-old “admirer of Kant” returned to his estate from Germany and seemed to Eugene an interesting conversationalist. His soul was not corrupted by the light. He believed in love and the higher purpose of life.
Despite the fact that there is a gap of several years between the heroes and a large difference in character, they often meet and start conversations on philosophical topics. Much in the lives of friends changes from the moment Onegin meets the Larin sisters. Vladimir Lensky is in love with the blond and cheerful Olga. Evgeniy seems more interested in her older sister Tatyana. This girl attracts the main character with her seriousness and originality. Tatyana reads a lot and always stays away from noisy companies. After they meet, she decides that Onegin is her destiny, which she openly writes about in a love letter.
Evgeniy is burdened by the girl’s attention, but he tries not to offend her in any way, and therefore admits that he is not created for love and family life. Olga and Lensky have a successful relationship until one event that happened during Tatyana’s name day. In retaliation for the fact that his friend brought him to this evening, Onegin decides to take revenge on Lensky in a unique way and invites Olga to dance. After this, all trust disappears between friends and a duel is planned. Unfortunately, the “young poet,” who may have expected real fame, or perhaps an ordinary life, dies at the hands of his best friend. Lensky is killed, and Onegin remains forever to live with this wound in his heart.
Critics wrote that the death of this hero was symbolic. The author wanted to show that romantics and dreamers died when faced with cruel reality, while skeptics and realists like Onegin, on the contrary, survived. However, having survived physically, the main character was broken morally. He is full of sincere repentance, but tears cannot bring back his friend. The worst thing is that the situation was fixable, but in the century that Pushkin lived and worked, secular judgment was stronger than any morality. After all, if we look at history, the author himself died during a duel, several years after the publication of his novel.
The rhetoric of the question on this topic lies in the personal perception of such concepts as friendship, honor, responsibility. The radically different worldview of the two heroes in the novel “Eugene Onegin”, A.S. Pushkin indicated without veiled techniques:
They got along. Wave and stone
Poetry and prose, ice and fire
Ice and fire
(Eugene Onegin)
Onegin is a phlegmatic young man who cannot find harmony with himself. He is not satisfied with balls and social outings, nor with the wilderness of the countryside, nor, in the end, with other people’s opinions about anything. You can call Eugene an asocial type, with possible hidden complexes.
Vladimir Lensky is a bright, lively, but at the same time mediocre person who tightly contains the standard characteristics of a young man striving for perfection. His idealization of feelings and morality does not fit at all with the views of Eugene.
It’s impossible to say for sure that Vladimir likes social events, balls, and lively conversations. However, he is accustomed to them and willingly maintains the pace of his modernity.
(Vladimir Lensky)
In everyday life, as they say “in their nest,” these two characters simply could not come together - there was too much of a gap between the characters, between the habit of spending their leisure time and, naturally, communication itself.
Communication between two young people can hardly be called friendship. Conflicts and loud disputes, defending your point of view, competition. Onegin and Lensky were brought together by fate and a small village, where, as the author himself describes, there was absolutely nothing to do and no one to do with. Lensky sought communication, Onegin gave it, graciously accepting the company of his friend.
Values and Responsibility
To be honest, it’s difficult to say who is to blame for the conflict that happened at the ball. Vladimir, who insisted on his friend’s visit to a crowded place (which Eugene never liked), or Onegin himself, who behaved more than rudely towards Vladimir. It either did not occur to the young man to take into account the moral principles of his friend in love, or Evgeniy persistently showed his indifference and arrogance towards Vladimir’s brotherly attitude. Lensky's resentment and jealousy are quite understandable and understandable. By nature, the hero is a flame that flares up with his emotions. And, indeed, this is how any teenager would behave, defending both his interests and a broken heart. Onegin’s behavior shows a renunciation of the general understanding of “respect for feelings”, “moral principles”, “acting for the sake of someone”. Showing attention to the lady of your friend’s heart is still unethical to this day, let alone the times of poetry and duels.
"Friendly" challenge
(Painting by I. E. Repin "Duel of Onegin with Lensky" 1899)
The duel was announced in a fit of emotion, with passion. But friends even perceived this fact differently. The challenge was thrown by Vladimir, who so shouted about the power of friendship and devotion to feelings, and was accepted without hesitation by Evgeniy, who suddenly thought about rumors, and not about pointing a weapon at a person close to him.
The fact is obvious - if the two young men had appreciated the attitude and support towards each other, the duel would have ended with a shot in the air, at most. However, pride weighed heavily on the scales, pulling the trigger on Onegin before it dawned on the man that he had taken the life of the one who had so many times saved him from loneliness and silent melancholy.
The friendship of Onegin and Lensky was doomed from the very beginning. Neither the situation with Olga nor any other reason would have been long in coming.
Everyone in life is familiar first-hand with the concepts of “friend” and “friendship”. What kind of people do we consider friends? It seems to me that friends are people who walk hand in hand with you for years; people to whom you trust your most intimate things and know that they will not betray you. Anything can happen in life. Can friendship turn into enmity in an instant? And does this apply to all friendships? Similar questions worried many writers and poets.
The famous Russian writer and poet A.S. Pushkin did not remain aloof from this problem. In his novel “Eugene Onegin”, he successfully reveals the theme of friendship and enmity using the example of two friends - Onegin and Lensky. It would seem that two completely opposite people with different characters, views on life and experiences suddenly become friends.
But is this real friendship? Will she be able to survive all the trials that the unpredictability of life will present to them? I think no. After all, even at the very beginning, Pushkin wrote that their friendship was out of nothing to do. But despite all the differences between Onegin and Lensky, there was still something that united them: a situation in the rural wilderness, imposed communication from neighbors and a sharp mind. In turn, they seemed to complement each other. Vladimir Lensky, due to his age, was an inexperienced person; he had little understanding of people and love: let us remember his love for Olga. Do you think these were the same sublime feelings that many writers and poets write about, namely love for a person, with all his shortcomings, or was it a blind pursuit of the image of a girl who was far from the ideal of this young man? I think it's the second one. As for Onegin in this friendly duet, he was an excellent listener, often remained silent, and if he objected, he was sure to justify his point of view and was interested in the topic of conversation. Lensky needed a person to whom he could pour out his soul and read poetry; the same Eugene Onegin did a good job with this.
If these two people got along so well with each other, then what was the impetus for their duel? And the beginning of all troubles was Onegin’s frivolity: Olga’s invitation to dance aroused jealousy in her beau. It was Lensky’s mistrust that served as the beginning of their enmity. Could the two's friendship end so easily? Wasn't there a way to fix everything? There was a chance. But have now ex-friends taken advantage of it? No. Perhaps the outcome of this story would have been slightly different. This once again proves the superficiality and formality of their friendship. What connected them was so small that they could easily throw it aside and shoot each other in a duel.
Thus, we can conclude that friendship can develop into enmity, but not every one. After all, if people are truly friends, without formalities and selfishness, then such friendship will exist for a long time and will pass through many years and trials prepared by fate.