Epigraphs to the novel “Eugene Onegin. In search of hidden meaning

This is Pushkin's characterization of Onegin, but not the character of the novel, but Onegin, the author of his memoirs. Even before the start of the narrative, the title of the novel is linked to the epigraph and dedication, and this not only gives a comprehensive description of the hero, but also reveals him as the “author”. “Resisting” the “publisher,” who has revealed to the reader what he, the narrator, seeks to hide, he breaks the semantic connection between the title and the epigraph, introducing, by the right of the author of memoirs, the words: “novel in verse,” although he himself calls it “in the text.” poem." The combination “novel in verse” takes on a special meaning: “a novel hidden in verse,” with the hint that the reader has yet to extract the novel itself from this external form, from Onegin’s memoirs.

The first chapter is preceded by a dedication: “Not thinking of amusing the proud world, having loved the attention of friendship, I would like to present you with a pledge more worthy of you.” The ambiguity of the expression “The pledge is more worthy than you” is immediately striking (the only case in creative biography Pushkin, when he used the comparative degree of this adjective) the question arises: to whom is this dedication addressed? The addressee clearly knows the writer and is in a “biased” relationship with him. Let’s compare, in the penultimate stanza of the novel: “Forgive you, my strange companion, and you, my eternal ideal...” “Eternal ideal” - Tatyana, which was written about, in particular, by S.M. Bondi. It is Onegin who dedicates his creation to her, and not Pushkin to Pletnev - in this case, the dedication would appear before the epigraph. The dedication already contains a voluminous self-characteristic of the hero, relating both to the period of the events described and to Onegin the “memoirist”.

The weight of Pushkin's epigraph has often been noted by Pushkin scholars: from an explanatory inscription, the epigraph turns into a highlighted quotation, which is in a complex, dynamic relationship with the text.

An epigraph can highlight part of the text and enhance its individual elements. The punning epigraph to the second chapter of “Eugene Onegin” highlights the rural part of the novel: Rus' is primarily a village, the most important part of life takes place there.

Projected onto Pushkin’s hero, the epigraph to the fourth chapter takes on an ironic meaning: the morality that governs the world is confused with the moral teaching that the “sparkling-eyed” hero reads to the young heroine in the garden. Onegin treats Tatyana morally and nobly: he teaches her to “rule herself.” Feelings need to be rationally controlled. However, we know that Onegin himself learned this by vigorously practicing the “science of tender passion.” Obviously, morality stems not from rationality, but from the natural physical limitations of a person: “the feelings in him cooled down early” - Onegin became moral involuntarily, due to premature old age, lost the ability to receive pleasure and instead of lessons of love he gives lessons of morality. This is another possible meaning of the epigraph.

The role and function of epigraphs in the works of A.S. Pushkin

The epigraph is one of the optional elements of the composition of a literary work. It is precisely because of its optionality that the epigraph, when used, always carries an important semantic load. Considering that an epigraph is a type of author’s expression, we can distinguish two options for its use, depending on whether the author’s direct statement is present in the work. In one case, the epigraph will be an integral part of the structure of artistic speech given on behalf of the author. In the other, it is the only element, other than the title, that clearly expresses the author’s point of view. "Eugene Onegin" and "The Captain's Daughter" respectively represent the two mentioned cases. Pushkin often used epigraphs. In addition to the works under consideration, we encounter them in “Belkin’s Tales”, “The Queen of Spades”, “Poltava”, “The Stone Guest”, “Arap of Peter the Great”, “Dubrovsky”, “Egyptian Nights”, “Bakhchisarai Fountain”. The above list of works emphasizes that epigraphs in Pushkin’s works “work” in a certain way towards the formation of meaning. What is the mechanism of this work? What connections does each epigraph have with the text? What does it serve? The answers to these questions will clarify the role of Pushkin's epigraphs. Without this, one cannot count on a serious understanding of his novels and stories. IN " The captain's daughter", as in "Eugene Onegin" or in "Belkin's Tales", we are faced with a whole system of epigraphs. They precede each chapter and the entire work. Some chapters have several epigraphs. Such a system is not uncommon in the literature. A similar thing occurs, for example, in Stendhal’s novel “Red and Black,” written approximately at the same time as Pushkin’s novels.

Epigraphs in the novel “Eugene Onegin”

In the twenties of the 19th century, the romantic novels of Walter Scott and his many imitators were very popular among the Russian public. Byron was especially loved in Russia, whose sublime disappointment contrasted effectively with the motionless domestic everyday life. Romantic works attracted people with their unusualness: the characters’ characters, passionate feelings, and exotic pictures of nature excited the imagination. And it seemed that it was impossible to create a work based on the material of Russian everyday life that could interest the reader.

The appearance of the first chapters of Eugene Onegin caused a wide cultural resonance. Pushkin not only depicted a wide panorama of Russian reality, not only recorded the realities of everyday life or social life, but managed to reveal the causes of phenomena and ironically connect them with the peculiarities of the national character and worldview.

Space and time, social and individual consciousness are revealed by the artist in the living facts of reality, illuminated by a lyrical and sometimes ironic look. Pushkin is not characterized by moralizing. The reproduction of social life is free from didactics, and the most interesting subject of research unexpectedly appears to be secular customs, theater, balls, inhabitants of estates, details of everyday life - narrative material that does not pretend to be a poetic generalization. System of oppositions (St. Petersburg light - landed nobility; patriarchal Moscow - Russian dandy; Onegin - Lensky; Tatyana - Olga, etc.) organizes the diversity of life reality. Hidden and obvious irony shines through in the description of the landowner's existence. Admiration of the “dear old days”, the village that showed the feminine ideal to the national world, is inseparable from the mocking characteristics of the Larins’ neighbors. The world of everyday worries develops with pictures of fantastic dreams read from books, and the miracles of Christmas fortune-telling.

The scale and at the same time intimate nature of the plot, the unity of epic and lyrical characteristics allowed the author to give an original interpretation of life, its most dramatic conflicts, which were maximally embodied in the image of Eugene Onegin. Contemporary criticism of Pushkin more than once wondered about the literary and social roots of the image of the protagonist. The name of Byron's Childe Harold was often heard, but references to domestic origins were no less common.

Onegin’s Byronism and the character’s disappointment are confirmed by his literary preferences, character, and views: “What is he? Is it really an imitation, an insignificant ghost, or a Muscovite in Harold’s cloak...” – Tatyana discusses “the hero of her novel.” Herzen wrote that “in Pushkin they saw the successor of Byron,” but “by the end of their lives, Pushkin and Byron are completely moving away from each other,” which is expressed in the specifics of the characters they created: “Onegin is Russian, he is possible only in Russia: there he is necessary, and there you meet him at every step... The image of Onegin is so national that it is found in all novels and poems that receive any recognition in Russia, and not because they wanted to copy him, but because you constantly find him near oneself or in oneself.”

Reproduction with encyclopedic completeness of problems and characters relevant to Russian reality of the 20s of the 19th century is achieved not only by the most detailed depiction of life situations, inclinations, sympathies, moral guidelines, spiritual world contemporaries, but also with special aesthetic means and compositional solutions, the most significant of which are epigraphs. Quotes from familiar to the reader and authoritative artistic sources open up the opportunity for the author to create a multifaceted image, designed for the organic perception of contextual meanings, fulfilling the role preliminary explanations, a kind of exposition of Pushkin’s narrative. The poet delegates the role of a quotation from another text communication intermediary.

The choice of a general epigraph for the novel seems no coincidence. The epigraphs of “Eugene Onegin” are distinguished by their closeness to the personality of its author. Their literary sources are either the works of modern Russian writers connected with Pushkin through personal relationships, or the works of old and new European authors who were part of his reading circle.

Let us dwell on the connection between the general epigraph and the title of the novel. Epigraph to the novel: “Imbued with vanity, he also possessed a special pride, which prompts him to admit with equal indifference both his good and bad deeds - as a consequence of a sense of superiority: perhaps imaginary. From a private letter." The content of the text of the epigraph to “Eugene Onegin” is a direct psychological description given in the third person. It is natural to attribute her to the main character after whom the novel is named. Thus, the epigraph strengthens the focus of our attention on Onegin (the title of the novel focuses on this), prepares us for his perception.

When Pushkin addresses his readers in the second stanza:
Friends of Lyudmila and Ruslan,
With the hero of my novel
Without delay, right now
Let me introduce you -

we already have some idea about it.

Let's move on to a direct analysis of the role of epigraphs before individual chapters of Pushkin's novels.

The first chapter of “Eugene Onegin” begins with a line from P. A. Vyazemsky’s poem “The First Snow.” This line succinctly expresses the character of the “social life of a St. Petersburg young man,” to the description of which the chapter is devoted, indirectly characterizes the hero and generalizes the worldviews and moods inherent in “young ardor”: “And he is in a hurry to live, and he is in a hurry to feel.” Let's read the poem by P.A. Vyazemsky. The hero’s pursuit of life and the transience of sincere feelings are allegorically contained both in the title of the poem “The First Snow” and in its content: “One fleeting day, like a deceptive dream, like a ghost’s shadow, / Flashing, you carry away the inhuman deception!” The ending of the poem - “And having exhausted our feelings, leaves a trace of a faded dream on our lonely heart...” - correlates with the spiritual state of Onegin, who “no longer has charms.” In a deeper understanding the epigraph sets not only the topic, but also the nature of its development . Onegin not only “hurries to feel.” It follows that “the feelings in him cooled down early.” Through the epigraph, this information turns out to be expected for a prepared reader. What becomes important is not the plot itself, but what stands behind it.

The epigraph may highlight part of the text, enhance its individual elements. Epigraph of the second chapter of “Eugene Onegin” is built on a punning comparison of an exclamation taken from the sixth satire of Horace with a similar-sounding Russian word. This creates a play on words: “Oh rus!.. Oh Rus'!” This epigraph highlights the rural part of the novel: Rus' is primarily a village, the most important part of life takes place there. And here the author’s irony about the combination of the motives of European culture and domestic patriarchy is clearly heard. The unchanging world of landowners' estates with a feeling of eternal peace and immobility contrasts sharply with the life activity of the hero, likened to the “first snow” in the first chapter.

In the well-known table of contents for the novel third chapter has the name "Young Lady". The epigraph to this chapter quite accurately represents its character. It is no coincidence that the French verse taken from the poem “Narcissus” is used here. Let us remember that Tatyana
...I didn’t know Russian well,
And it was difficult to express myself
In your native language.

Quote from Malfilatr "She was a girl, she was in love" becomes the theme of the third chapter, revealing the inner world of the heroine. Pushkin offers formula for a girl's emotional state , which will determine the basis of love twists and turns not only of this novel, but also of subsequent literature. The author depicts various manifestations of Tatiana's soul, explores the circumstances of the formation of the image, which later became classic. Pushkin's heroine opens a gallery of female characters in Russian literature, combining sincerity of feelings with special purity of thoughts, ideal ideas with the desire to embody themselves in real world; in this character there is neither excessive passion nor mental licentiousness.

“Morality is in the nature of things,” we read before the fourth chapter. Necker's words in Pushkin are only set the problems of the chapter. In relation to the situation of Onegin and Tatyana, the statement of the epigraph can be perceived ironically. Irony is an important artistic means in the hands of Pushkin. “Morality is in the nature of things.” Various interpretations of this saying, famous at the beginning of the 19th century, are possible. On the one hand, this is a warning of Tatyana’s decisive action, but the heroine, in her declaration of love, repeats the pattern of behavior outlined in romantic works. On the other hand, this ethical recommendation seems to concentrate the rebuke of Onegin, who uses the date for teaching and is so carried away by edifying rhetoric that Tatyana’s love expectations are not destined to come true. The reader’s expectations are not destined to come true: sensuality, romantic vows, happy tears, silent consent expressed through the eyes, etc. All this is deliberately rejected by the author due to the far-fetched sentimentality and literary nature of the conflict. A lecture on moral and ethical topics seems more convincing to a person who has an understanding of the basics of the “nature of things.” Projected onto Pushkin's hero, the epigraph to the fourth chapter acquires ironic meaning: the morality that governs the world is confused with the moral teaching that the “sparkling-eyed” hero reads to the young heroine in the garden. Onegin treats Tatyana morally and nobly: he teaches her to “control herself.” Feelings need to be rationally controlled. However, we know that Onegin himself learned this by vigorously practicing the “science of tender passion.” Obviously, morality stems not from rationality, but from the natural physical limitations of a person: “the feelings in him cooled down early” - Onegin became moral involuntarily, due to premature old age, lost the ability to receive pleasure and instead of lessons of love he gives lessons of morality. This is another possible meaning of the epigraph.

The role of the epigraph to the fifth chapter is explained by Yu. M. Lotman in terms of setting the parallelism of the images of Svetlana Zhukovsky and Tatyana in order to identify the differences in their interpretation: “one focused on romantic fantasy, play, the other on everyday and psychological reality.” In the poetic structure of “Eugene Onegin,” Tatiana’s dream sets a special metaphorical meaning for assessing the heroine’s inner world and the narrative itself. The author expands the space of the story to a mythopoetic allegory. Quoting Zhukovsky at the beginning of the fifth chapter - “Oh, don’t know these terrible dreams, my Svetlana!”– clearly reveals an association with the work of his predecessor, prepares a dramatic plot. The poetic interpretation of the “wonderful dream” - a symbolic landscape, folklore emblems, open sentimentality - anticipates the tragic inevitability of the destruction of the world familiar to the heroine. The warning epigraph, carrying out a symbolic allegory, also depicts the rich spiritual content of the image. In the composition of the novel, based on the techniques of contrast and parallelism with mirror projections (Tatiana’s letter - Onegin’s letter; Tatiana’s explanation - Onegin’s explanation, etc.), there is no opposition to the heroine’s dream. The “awake” Onegin is set in the plane of real social existence, his nature is freed from the associative and poetic context. And on the contrary, the nature of Tatiana’s soul is infinitely diverse and poetic.

The epigraph of the sixth chapter prepares the death of Lensky. The epigraph-epitaph that opens the sixth chapter of the novel - “Where the days are cloudy and short, a tribe will be born that does not hurt to die” - brings the pathos of Petrarch’s “On the Life of Madonna Laura” into the plot of the romantic Vladimir Lensky, an alien Russian life, who created a different world in the soul, the difference of which from those around him prepares the tragedy of the character. The motives of Petrarch's poetry are necessary for the author to introduce the character to the philosophical tradition of accepting death developed by Western culture , interrupting the short-term life mission of the “singer of love”. But Yu. M. Lotman also showed another meaning of this epigraph. Pushkin did not completely take the quote from Petrarch, but released a verse saying that the reason for the lack of fear of death is the innate belligerence of the tribe. With such an omission, the epigraph can also be applied to Onegin, who took equal risks in the duel. For the devastated Onegin, perhaps, it also “does not hurt to die.”

The triple epigraph to the seventh chapter creates intonations of various natures(panegyric, ironic, satirical) narratives. Dmitriev, Baratynsky, Griboyedov, united by statements about Moscow, represent a variety of assessments of the national symbol. The poetic characteristics of the ancient capital will be developed in the plot of the novel, outline the specifics of resolving conflicts, and determine the special shades of behavior of the heroes.

Epigraph from Byron appeared at the stage of the white manuscript, when Pushkin decided that the eighth chapter will be the last. The theme of the epigraph is farewell.
I ask you to leave me, -
Tatiana says to Onegin in the last scene of the novel.
Forgive me too, my strange companion,
And you, my true ideal,
And you, alive and constant,
Even a little work -
says the poet. Pushkin devotes the entire forty-ninth stanza to farewell to the reader.
The couplet from Byron’s series of “Poems on Divorce,” chosen as the epigraph of the eighth chapter, is permeated with elegiac moods, metaphorically conveying the author’s sadness of farewell to the novel and characters, Onegin’s parting with Tatiana.

The aesthetics of epigraphs, along with other artistic decisions of Pushkin, forms the discussion-dialogical potential of the work, colors artistic phenomena with special semantic intonations, and prepares a new scale of generalization of classical images. final exams. When forming educational...

Ranchin A. M.

A lot has been written about epigraphs in Pushkin’s novel in verse. And yet, the role of epigraphs and their relationship in the text of the chapters are still not completely clear. Let's try, without claiming absolute novelty of interpretations, without rushing to re-read the novel. The guides in this rereading - a journey through the small and endless space of the text - will be three famous commentaries: ““Eugene Onegin”. Roman by A. S. Pushkin. A manual for secondary school teachers” by N. L. Brodsky (1st ed.: 1932), “A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”. Commentary" by Yu. M. Lotman (1st ed.: 1980) and "Commentary to the novel by A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”" by V. V. Nabokov (1st ed., on English language: 1964).

Let's start, naturally, from the beginning - with the French epigraph to the entire text of the novel (V.V. Nabokov called it the “main epigraph”). In the Russian translation, these lines, supposedly taken from a certain private letter, sound like this: “Imbued with vanity, he possessed, moreover, a special pride, which prompts him to admit with equal indifference both his good and bad deeds - a consequence of a sense of superiority, perhaps imaginary."

Without touching on the content for now, let’s think about the form of this epigraph and ask ourselves two questions. Firstly, why are these lines presented by the author of the work as a fragment from a private letter? Secondly, why are they written in French?

The reference to a private letter as the source of the epigraph is intended, first of all, to give Onegin the features real personality: Evgeny supposedly exists in reality, and one of his acquaintances gives him such an attestation in a letter to another mutual friend. Pushkin will also point out the reality of Onegin later: “Onegin, my good friend” (chapter I, stanza II). Lines from a private letter give the story about Onegin a touch of a certain intimacy, almost small talk, gossip and “gossip.”

The true source of this epigraph is literary. As Yu. Semenov pointed out, and then, independently of him, V.V. Nabokov, this French translation works of the English social thinker E. Burke “Thoughts and details about poverty” (Nabokov V.V. Commentary on the novel “Eugene Onegin” by A.S. Pushkin. Translated from English. St. Petersburg, 1998. P. 19, 86-88 ). The epigraph, like other epigraphs in the novel, turns out to have a “double bottom”: its true source is reliably hidden from the inquisitive eyes of the reader. IN AND. Arnold pointed to another source - the novel by C. de Laclos “Dangerous Liaisons”.

French The letter indicates that the person being reported undoubtedly belongs to high society, in which French, and not Russian, dominated in Russia. And in fact, Onegin, although in the eighth chapter he will be opposed to the light, personified in the image of “N. N. a wonderful man" (stanza X), - a young man from the capital’s world, and belonging to secular society– one of its most important characteristics. Onegin is a Russian European, “a Muscovite in Harold’s cloak” (chapter VII, stanza XXIV), a zealous reader of modern French novels. The French writing language is associated with Eugene's Europeanism. Tatyana, looking through the books from his library, even asks the question: “Isn’t he a parody?” (Chapter VII, stanza XXIV). And if the Author resolutely defends the hero from such a thought expressed by a collective reader from high society in the eighth chapter, then he does not dare argue with Tatyana: her assumption remains neither confirmed nor refuted. Let us note that in relation to Tatyana, who inspiredly imitates the heroines of sentimental novels, the judgment about pretense and insincerity is not expressed even in the form of a question. She is “above” such suspicions.

Now about the content of the “main epigraph”. The main thing in it is the inconsistency of the characteristics of the person referred to in the “private letter”. A certain special pride is connected with vanity, seemingly manifested in indifference to people’s opinions (that’s why “he” admits with indifference both in good and evil deeds). But isn’t this imaginary indifference, isn’t there a strong desire behind it to gain, albeit unfavorable, the attention of the crowd, to show one’s originality? Is “he” taller than those around him? And yes (“a sense of superiority”), and no (“perhaps imaginary”). So, starting from the “main epigraph,” the complex attitude of the Author to the hero is set, it is indicated that the reader should not expect an unambiguous assessment of Eugene by his creator and “friend.” The words “Yes and no” are the answer to the question about Onegin, “Do you know him?” (Chapter 8, stanza VIII) seems to belong not only to the voice of light, but also to the creator Eugene himself.

The first chapter opens with a line from the famous elegy of Pushkin’s friend Prince P. A. Vyazemsky “The First Snow”: “And he is in a hurry to live and in a hurry to feel.” In Vyazemsky’s poem, this line expresses rapture, enjoyment of life and its main gift - love. The hero and his beloved are rushing in a sleigh through the first snow; nature is engulfed in the stupor of death under a white veil; he and she are burning with passion:

Who can express the joy of the lucky ones?

Like a light blizzard, their winged run

Even reins cut through the snow

And, lifting it from the ground like a bright cloud,

Silvery dust covers them.

They were pressed for time in one winged moment.

This is how young ardor glides through life,

And he’s in a hurry to live, and he’s in a hurry to feel.

Vyazemsky writes about the joyful intoxication of passion, Pushkin in the first chapter of his novel writes about the bitter fruits of this intoxication. About satiety. About the premature aging of the soul. And at the beginning of the first chapter, Onegin flies “in the dust on the post office,” hastening to the village to visit the sick and ardently unloved Lyada, and does not ride in a sleigh with a charming girl. In the village, Eugene is greeted not by numb winter nature, but by flowering fields, but for him, the living dead, there is no joy in that. The motif from “The First Snow” is “inverted”, turned into its opposite. As Yu. M. Lotman noted, the hedonism of “The First Snow” was openly challenged by the author of “Eugene Onegin” in stanza IX of the first chapter, removed from the final text of the novel (Yu. M. Lotman. A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.” Commentary // Pushkin A. S. Evgeny Onegin: A Novel in Verse. M., 1991. P. 326).

The epigraph from the Roman poet Horace “O rus!...” (“O village”, Latin) with the pseudo-translation “O Rus'!”, built on the consonance of Latin and Russian words, is at first glance nothing more than an example of a pun, a language game. According to Yu. M. Lotman, “the double epigraph creates a punning contradiction between the tradition of the conventional literary image of the village and the idea of ​​the real Russian village” (Yu. M. Lotman, A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.” P. 388). Probably, one of the functions of this “twin” is exactly this. But she is not the only one and, perhaps, not the most important. The identification of “village” and “Russia”, dictated by punning consonance, is ultimately quite serious: it is the Russian village that appears in Pushkin’s novel as the quintessence of Russian national life. And besides, this epigraph is a kind of model of the poetic mechanism of Pushkin’s entire work, which is built on switching from a serious plan to a humorous one and vice versa, demonstrating the omnipresence and limitations of translated meanings. (Let us recall at least the ironic translation of Lensky’s pre-duel poems, filled with colorless metaphors: “All this meant, friends: // I’m shooting with a friend” [Chapter V, stanzas XV, XVI, XVII]).

The French epigraph from the poem “Narcissus, or the Island of Venus” by S. L. K. Malfilatre, translated into Russian as: “She was a girl, she was in love,” opens chapter three. Malfilatre talks about the unrequited love of the nymph Echo for Narcissus. The meaning of the epigraph is quite transparent. This is how V.V. Nabokov describes him, citing a more extensive quotation from the poem than Pushkin: ““She [the nymph Echo] was a girl [and therefore curious, as is typical of all of them]; [moreover], she was in love... I forgive her, [as my Tatyana should be forgiven]; love made her guilty<…>. Oh, if only fate would forgive her too!”

According to Greek mythology, the nymph Echo, who wasted away from love for Narcissus (who, in turn, was exhausted from unrequited passion for his own reflection), turned into a forest voice, like Tatiana in ch. 7, XXVIII, when the image of Onegin appears before her in the margins of the book he was reading (chapter 7, XXII-XXIV)” (Nabokov V.V. Commentary on the novel by A.S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin.” P. 282).

However, the relationship between the epigraph and the text of the third chapter is still more complex. The awakening of Tatyana's love for Onegin is interpreted in the text of the novel and as a consequence natural law(“The time has come, she fell in love. / So the fallen grain / of spring is revived by the fire” [chapter III, stanza VII]), and as the embodiment of fantasies, games of imagination, inspired by the sensitive novels read (“By the happy power of dreams / Animated creatures, / Lover of Julia Volmar, / Malek-Adele and de Linard, / And Werther, the rebellious martyr, / And the incomparable Grandison,<…>All for the tender dreamer / Were clothed in a single image, / Merged in one Onegin” [chapter III, stanza IX]).

The epigraph from Malfilater, it would seem, speaks only of the omnipotence of natural law - the law of love. But in fact, this is indicated by the lines quoted by Pushkin in the poem Malfilatr itself. In relation to Pushkin’s text, their meaning changes somewhat. The power of love over the heart of a young maiden is spoken of in lines from literary work, moreover, created in the same era (in the 18th century) as the novels that fed Tatyana’s imagination. Thus, Tatiana’s love awakening turns from a “natural” phenomenon into a “literary” one, becoming evidence of the magnetic influence of literature on the world of feelings of a provincial young lady.

With Evgeniy’s narcissism, everything is also not so simple. Of course, the mythological image of Narcissus will be forgiven for the role of a “mirror” for Onegin: the narcissistic handsome man rejected the unfortunate nymph, Onegin turned away from his lover Tatiana. In the fourth chapter, responding to Tatyana’s confession that touched him, Evgeny admits his own selfishness. But Narcissus’ narcissism is still alien to him; he did not love Tatyana because he only loved himself.

The epigraph to the fourth chapter, “Morality in the nature of things,” a saying of the French politician and financier J. Necker, is interpreted by Yu. M. Lotman as ironic: “In comparison with the content of the chapter, the epigraph takes on an ironic sound. Necker says that morality is the basis of human behavior and society. However, in the Russian context, the word “morality” could also sound like a moral teaching, a preaching of morality<...>. The mistake of Brodsky, who translated the epigraph: “Moral teaching in the nature of things” is indicative.<…>. The possibility of ambiguity, in which the morality that governs the world is confused with the moral teaching that the “sparkling-eyed” hero reads to the young heroine in the garden, created a situation of hidden comedy” (Yu. M. Lotman, A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.” Commentary. P. 453).

But this epigraph undoubtedly has a different meaning. Responding to Tatyana’s confession, Onegin indeed somewhat unexpectedly puts on the mask of a “moralist” (“So Eugene preached” [chapter IV, stanza XVII]). And later, in turn, responding to Evgeniy’s confession, Tatyana will remember his mentoring tone with resentment. But she will note and appreciate something else: “You acted nobly” (chapter VIII, stanza XLIII). Not being a Grandison, Eugene did not act like Lovelace, rejecting the role of a cynical seducer. In this regard, I acted morally. The hero's response to the confession of an inexperienced girl turns out to be ambiguous. Therefore, the translation of N. L. Brodsky, despite the factual inaccuracy, is not without meaning. Eugene’s moral teaching is somewhat moral.

The epigraph to the fifth chapter from V. A. Zhukovsky’s ballad “Svetlana”, “Oh, do not know these terrible dreams, / You, my Svetlana!”, Yu. M. Lotman explains as follows: “<…>The “duplicity” of Svetlana Zhukovsky and Tatyana Larina, specified by the epigraph, revealed not only the parallelism of their nationalities, but also the deep difference in the interpretation of the image of one, focused on romantic fiction and play, and the other on everyday and psychological reality” (Lotman Yu. M. Roman A. S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin".

In the reality of Pushkin’s text, the correlation between Svetlana and Tatyana is more complex. Even at the beginning of the third chapter, Lensky compares Tatyana with Svetlana: “Yes, the one who is sad / And silent, like Svetlana” (stanza V). The dream of Pushkin's heroine, in contrast to Svetlana's dream, turns out to be prophetic and, in this sense, “more romantic” than the dream of the heroine of the ballad. Onegin, rushing to a date with Tatiana, the St. Petersburg princess, “walks, looking like a dead man” (chapter VIII, stanza XL), like a dead groom in Zhukovsky’s ballad. Onegin in love is in a “strange dream” (chapter VIII, stanza XXI). And Tatiana is now “now surrounded / by Epiphany cold” (chapter VIII, stanza XXXIII). Epiphany cold is a metaphor reminiscent of Svetlana’s fortune-telling that took place at Christmas time, in the days from Christmas to Epiphany.

Pushkin either deviates from the romantic ballad plot, then turns the events of “Svetlana” into metaphors, or revives ballad fantasy and mysticism.

The epigraph to the sixth chapter, taken from F. Petrarch’s canzone, in Russian translation, which reads “Where the days are cloudy and short, / A tribe will be born that does not hurt to die,” was deeply analyzed by Yu. M. Lotman: “P<ушкин>, when quoting, he omitted the middle verse, which is why the meaning of the quote changed: In Petrarch: “Where the days are foggy and short - the innate enemy of the world - a people will be born for whom it is not painful to die.” The reason for the lack of fear of death is the innate ferocity of this tribe. With the omission of the middle verse, it became possible to interpret the reason for not fearing death differently, as a consequence of disappointment and “premature old age of the soul”” (Yu. M. Lotman, A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.” Commentary. P. 510).

Of course, the removal of one line dramatically changes the meaning of Petrarch’s lines, and an elegiac key is easily selected for the epigraph. The motifs of disappointment and premature old age of the soul are traditional for the elegy genre, and Lensky, whose death is narrated in the sixth chapter, paid a generous tribute to this genre: “He sang the faded color of life, / Almost at the age of eighteen” (chapter II, stanza X). But Vladimir entered the duel with the desire not to die, but to kill. Take revenge on the offender. He was killed outright, but it was painful for him to say goodbye to life.

So Petrarch's text, elegiac code and the realities created by Pushkin art world Thanks to mutual overlap, they create a flicker of meaning.

Let's stop there. The role of epigraphs to the seventh chapter is succinctly and fully described by Yu. M. Lotman; various, complementary interpretations of the epigraph from Byron to the eighth chapter are given in the comments of N. L. Brosky and Yu. M. Lotman.

Perhaps it would be worth mentioning just one thing. Pushkin’s novel is “multilingual”; it brings together different styles and even different languages- in the literal meaning of the word. (The stylistic multidimensionality of “Eugene Onegin” is remarkably traced in S. G. Bocharov’s book “The Poetics of Pushkin” [M., 1974].) The external, most noticeable sign of this “multilingualism” is the epigraphs to the novel: French, Russian, Latin, Italian, English.

The epigraphs to Pushkin’s novel in verse are similar to that “magic crystal” with which the poet himself compared his creation. Seen through their fancy glass, the chapters of Pushkin’s text take on new shapes and turn into new facets.

VICTORIA PIPE
(Poltava)

Key words: intertextualist, novel in verse, epigraph, quote.

The current state of the study of works of art is marked by increased interest in the problem of intertextuality. However, to date, the boundaries and content of the concept of “intertextuality” in literary criticism have NOT been fully clarified, as evidenced by countless discussions and various interpretations of the term. The question, in our opinion, can be clarified not only by theoretical developments, but also by comparative historical research, in which it would be possible to trace specific forms of intertextuality, the specificity of its manifestation in different types and genres, the uniqueness of development in the work of INDIVIDUAL writers. An in-depth study of the theory of intertextuality is integral to the analysis of this phenomenon in artistic creativity. In this regard, studying the work of A.S. Pushkin from the point of view of intertextuality is extremely important.

In our opinion, when studying specific historical manifestations of intertextuality in literature, including when analyzing the work of A.S. Pushkin, it is advisable to use the concept of “intertextuality” in a narrow sense - as the use of components of a text (or texts) in structure work of art and intertextual relations arising on this basis, which contribute to the implementation author's intention and activate the reader's perception. One can completely agree with the opinion of E.Ya. Fesenko, who understands intertextuality as “a connection with other works expressed through VARIOUS techniques.” Such techniques include, for example, epigraph, parody, periphrasis, quotation, mention of works of other authors familiar to readers, the use of catchwords and expressions known from literary examples. The study of forms of intertextuality faces the task of determining not only the traces (quotes, images, motifs, signs, etc.) of certain works that precede the work being studied, but also how they influenced the ideological and aesthetic structure of the work. It is also important to establish artistic methods (techniques) for a writer to assimilate other texts and how much “someone else’s word” can contribute to the expression of “his own word” in literature. This helps to identify the uniqueness of the artist’s work, the features of his individual style and place in the literary process.

The novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” by A.S. Pushkin is one of the most significant phenomena not only of Russian, but also of European literature, therefore its aesthetic perception will not be complete without studying the novel in the context of the European literary process and European culture.

epigraphs play a significant role in the composition of the novel in verse "Eugene Onegin". It should be noted that A.S. Pushkin attached great importance to the epigraph and took BaIronov’s system of epigraphs as a basis. The chapters of the poem “Chaild Harold's Pilgrimage” by J. G. BaIron were preceded by epigraphs, which performed various functions: they revealed the author’s point of view, contributed to the creation of the image lyrical hero, helped to recreate artistic time and space, etc. A.S. Pushkin also chose an epigraph for each chapter of his novel, which served as a kind of key.

As is known, the author's manuscripts of the first chapter of Eugene Onegin contained several epigraphs. Subsequently, all of them were discarded by A.S. Pushkin, except for one (“Imbued with vanity, he also possessed a special pride, which prompts him to admit with equal indifference both his good and bad deeds - a consequence of a sense of superiority, perhaps imaginary "), which replaced all the others and remained before the text of the first chapter, published in St. Petersburg as a separate edition around February 20, 1825. The question of why these epigraphs were carefully selected by the poet, alternated with each other, and then gradually excluded from the text of his novel in verse has received almost no attention from researchers. However, we know well what an important role epigraphs played in the work of A. Pushkin in all periods of his life and work. As a type of quotation borrowed from someone else’s literary work, which should prepare the reader for the perception and understanding of the text to which it is prefaced, the epigraph became one of A.S. Pushkin’s favorite techniques of creative thinking. The poetics of the epigraph in A.S. Pushkin as the subtle art of verbal comparison, selection and use of other people's words for better understanding has long deserved special study.

For the first time, this issue was paid attention to by S.D. Krzhizhanovsky, who, in the article “The Art of the Epigraph: Pushkin,” highlighted the problem of studying epigraphs in A.S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.” This was the first experience of a systematic analysis of epigraphs to Pushkin’s work. V.V. Vinogradov in his work “Pushkin’s Style”, who carried out an interpretive analysis of INDIVIDUAL epigraphs to the novel. Particularly noteworthy is “Comments on A.S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin” by V.V. Nabokov, in which the literary critic turned to the sources of epigraphs, which made it possible for a new interpretation of epigraphs and their functions in the writer’s novel. In subsequent years, the problem of epigraphs in the novel by A.S. Pushkin was dealt with by Yu.M. Lotman, S.G. Bocharov, N.L. Brodsky, G.P. Makogonenko and others. However, the problem of epigraphs to the novel by A.S. .Pushkin “Eugene Onegin” from the point of view of intertext?? This relationship has not yet been finally resolved, which determined the relevance of our research.

The epigraph to the first chapter is taken from P. Vyazemsky’s poem “The First Snow” (1819), in the content of which A.S. Pushkin discerned the features of his hero. In his work, P. Vyazemsky talks about the young people of his time, who joyfully race in a troika in the first snow:

Who can express Schastlivtsev’s rapture

Like a light blizzard, their winged running reins smoothly cuts through the snow And, like a bright cloud, lifts it from the ground

Silver dust showers them.

This is how young ardor glides through life

He's in a hurry to live, and he's in a hurry to feel! .

As Yu.M. Lotman notes, a reminiscence from this passage was included by the poet in the later released stanza IX of the first chapter, dedicated to the connection between early development and “premature old age of the soul”:

Nature's voice warning We only harm happiness And late, late after him Young ardor flies.

Also, according to the researcher, the descriptions of winter in “Eugene Onegin” entail reminiscences from the poem “The First Snow” (in P. Vyazemsky: “silver dust”, in A. Pushkin - “silver with frosty dust”).

By choosing P. Vyazemsky’s poems for the epigraph, A. Pushkin encouraged readers to take a closer look at his hero and find out how Eugene Onegin lived in his youth, what mental losses he experienced, what he believed in, what he loved, and what, in the end, he expected in the future.

The second chapter is preceded by an epigraph from Horace: “O rus! ...”, in which the conventional image of the village is recreated: “Oh, when I see the fields! And when will I be able, either over the Scriptures of the ancients, or in sweet drowsiness and laziness, to again enjoy the blissful oblivion of a troubled life! "[Cit. from: 2, p.587]. Reader Pushkin's time, well acquainted with the works of Horace, hoped that he would see the image of the village in rapturous romantically that A.S. Pushkin will sing all the delights of free, natural village life. However, the content of the second chapter, as well as subsequent ones, contradicts these hopes. A.S. Pushkin, speaking here as a realist, showed the true state of the village and the real tragedy of human life at that time. The poet made readers see the whole truth of reality, which directly contradicts the romantic image. A.S. Pushkin appeared here as a philosopher, as a researcher of human relations and the whole society. He reproduced the contradictions between the traditions of the conventional literary image of the village and the real province, which was dominated by vulgarity, hypocrisy and the decline of morals.

The epigraph to the third chapter is taken from Malfilatre’s poem “Narcissus, or the Island of Venus”: “She was a girl, she was in love.” THESE lines emphasize the romantic nature and love of Tatiana, but this epigraph also contains a hidden hint of selfishness and narcissism of Eugene Onegin (he is directly compared to the mythical Narcissus, who neglected the love of the nymph Echo, for which he was punished by the goddess of love Aphrodite).

For the fourth chapter, an epigraph was selected from J. Stael’s book “Reflections on the French Revolution” (1818): “Morality is in the nature of things,” in which the author says that morality is the basis of human life and society. With the help of this epigraph, A.S. Pushkin calls on us to reflect on the morality of our time and society. And here again we observe a clash of romantic and realistic principles in the intertext. The novel “Eugene Onegin” shows the processes of destruction of morality, spiritual transformations of man and society.

The epigraph to the fifth chapter is taken from V. Zhukovsky’s ballad “Svetlana”: “Oh, you don’t know these terrible dreams, my Svetlana!” . This epigraph creates an additional characteristic of Tatyana, emphasizing the romantic nature of the heroine. At the same time, the epigraph contains a hint of the subsequent terrible events that happen in the novel - the duel and death of Lensky. In addition, the epigraph also has a satirical connotation. Before the arrival of the guests, Tatyana had a terrible dream with various chimeras, fantastic monsters, and during the name day in the Larins’ house, these grotesque characters actually incarnate in the form of village inhabitants:

Meeting new faces in the living room,

Barking mosek, smacking girls,

Noise, laughter, crush at the threshold,

Bows, shuffling guests,

The nurse screams and the children cry.

A.S. Pushkin emphasizes that the spiritless world is a terrible dream for the heroine, in which she is forced to live her entire life.

The epigraph to the sixth chapter is taken from F. Petrarch’s book “On the Life of Madonna Laura”: “Where the days are cloudy and short, a tribe will be born for which it is NOT painful to die.” It takes on a deep philosophical resonance, forcing readers to think about the problem of death. A.S. Pushkin develops the theme of life and death in this chapter, shows Lensky’s death not in a romantic form, but in a real one, tragically(from the point of view of Onegin and the author).

Moscow, Russia's beloved daughter,

Where can I find someone equal to you?

I. Dmitrieva

No matter how much you love your native Moscow

E. Baratynsky

Go to Moscow! What does it mean to see the light!

Where is it better? Where we are not.

A. Griboyedov.

The triple epigraph further emphasizes the ambiguity and complexity of life in the depiction of A.S. Pushkin, and also expresses his own view, which is unlike any of the previous literary traditions.

The eighth chapter of “Eugene Onegin” is rushing?? There is an Epigraph taken by the author from the beginning of J. Byron’s poem “Fare Thee Well”:

Fare thee well! and if for ever

Still for ever, fare thee well... .

L. Brodsky Believes that this Epigraph can be understood in three ways. The poet says “forgive” to Onegin and Tatyana. Also, with these words, Onegin sends his last farewell greetings to Tatyana. Yu.M. Lotman suggests turning directly to the text of the work “Eugene Onegin” to understand the meaning of the epigraph and what the poet wanted to say:

Whoever you are, O my reader

Friend, foe, I want to part with you today like a friend.

Sorry...

Forgive me too, my Strange companion

And you, my true ideal,

And you, alive and permanent.

So, we see that in this way A.S. Pushkin says goodbye to his readers, heroes and to the novel “Eugene Onegin” as a whole.

Thus, the epigraphs to the chapters of the novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” express the poet’s ironic attitude towards romantic images and situations, and the content of each chapter convinces readers that A.S. Pushkin tried to explore the essence of the realities of life, and not their romantic overtones. Movement of Pushkin's novel in verse through Russian and world culture carried out in a wide range of interpretations.

LITERATURE

Bocharov S. G. Pushkin’s Poetics: Essays /S. G. Bocharov. - M.: Nauka, 1974. - 207 p.

Brodsky N. L. Comments on the novel by A. S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin” / N. L. Brodsky. - M.: Mir, 1932. - 352 p.

Vinogradov V.V. Pushkin’s style /V. V. Vinogradov. - M.: Goslitizdat, 1941. - 618 p.

Krzhizhanovsky S. D. The art of the epigraph: Pushkin / S. D. Krzhizhanovsky // Lit. studies. - 1989. - No. 3. - P. 102-112.

Lotman Yu. M. Pushkin. Biography of the writer. Articles and notes. "Eugene Onegin". Comment /Yu. M. Lotman. - St. Petersburg. : “Art - St. Petersburg”, 2003. - 848 p.

Makogonenko G. P. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin” / G. P. Makogonenko. - M.: Artist. lit., 1963. - 146 p.

Nabokov V.V. Commentary on “Eugene Onegin” by Alexander Pushkin /V. V. Nabokov. - M.: NPK "Intelvac", 1999. - 1007 p.

Pushkin A. S. Selected works: in 2 volumes / A. S. Pushkin. - M.: Artist. lit., 1970. T. 2: Novels. Stories. - 479 p.

Smirnov-Sokolsky I. The first chapter of “Eugene Onegin” /I. Smirnov-Sokolsky // Stories about Pushkin’s lifetime publications / I. Smirnov-Sokolsky. - M.: All-Union Book Chamber, 1962. - P. 95-112.

Fesenko E.. Ya. Theory of literature: textbook. allowance [For universities] /E.. Y. Fesenko. - [Ed. 3rd, add. and corr.]. - M.: Academic project, Mir Foundation, 2008. - 780 p.

Ranchin A. M.

A lot has been written about epigraphs in Pushkin’s novel in verse. And yet, the role of epigraphs and their relationship in the text of the chapters are still not completely clear. Let's try, without claiming absolute novelty of interpretations, without rushing to re-read the novel. The guides in this rereading - a journey through the small and endless space of the text - will be three famous commentaries: ““Eugene Onegin”. Roman by A. S. Pushkin. A manual for secondary school teachers” by N. L. Brodsky (1st ed.: 1932), “A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin”. Commentary" by Y. M. Lotman (1st ed.: 1980) and "Commentary to A. S. Pushkin's novel “Eugene Onegin”” by V. V. Nabokov (1st ed., in English: 1964).

Let's start, naturally, from the beginning - with the French epigraph to the entire text of the novel (V.V. Nabokov called it the “main epigraph”). In the Russian translation, these lines, supposedly taken from a certain private letter, sound like this: “Imbued with vanity, he possessed, moreover, a special pride, which prompts him to admit with equal indifference both his good and bad deeds - a consequence of a sense of superiority, perhaps imaginary."

Without touching on the content for now, let’s think about the form of this epigraph and ask ourselves two questions. Firstly, why are these lines presented by the author of the work as a fragment from a private letter? Secondly, why are they written in French?

The reference to a private letter as the source of the epigraph is intended, first of all, to give Onegin the features of a real personality: Eugene supposedly exists in reality, and one of his acquaintances gives him such an attestation in a letter to another mutual friend. Pushkin will also point out the reality of Onegin later: “Onegin, my good friend” (chapter I, stanza II). Lines from a private letter give the story about Onegin a touch of a certain intimacy, almost small talk, gossip and “gossip.”

The true source of this epigraph is literary. As Yu. Semyonov pointed out, and then, independently of him, V.V. Nabokov, this is a French translation of the work of the English social thinker E. Burke “Thoughts and Details on Poverty” (Nabokov V.V. Commentary on the novel by A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin". Translation from English. St. Petersburg, 1998. P. 19, 86-88). The epigraph, like other epigraphs in the novel, turns out to have a “double bottom”: its true source is reliably hidden from the inquisitive eyes of the reader. IN AND. Arnold pointed to another source - the novel by C. de Laclos “Dangerous Liaisons”.

The French language of the letter indicates that the person being reported undoubtedly belongs to high society, in which French, and not Russian, dominated in Russia. And in fact, Onegin, although in the eighth chapter he will be opposed to the light, personified in the image of “N. N. a wonderful person” (stanza X), is a young man from the capital’s society, and belonging to a secular society is one of his most important characteristics. Onegin is a Russian European, “a Muscovite in Harold’s cloak” (chapter VII, stanza XXIV), a zealous reader of modern French novels. The French writing language is associated with Eugene's Europeanism. Tatyana, looking through the books from his library, even asks the question: “Isn’t he a parody?” (Chapter VII, stanza XXIV). And if the Author resolutely defends the hero from such a thought expressed by a collective reader from high society in the eighth chapter, then he does not dare argue with Tatyana: her assumption remains neither confirmed nor refuted. Let us note that in relation to Tatyana, who inspiredly imitates the heroines of sentimental novels, the judgment about pretense and insincerity is not expressed even in the form of a question. She is “above” such suspicions.

Now about the content of the “main epigraph”. The main thing in it is the inconsistency of the characteristics of the person referred to in the “private letter”. A certain special pride is connected with vanity, seemingly manifested in indifference to people’s opinions (that’s why “he” admits with indifference both in good and evil deeds). But isn’t this imaginary indifference, isn’t there a strong desire behind it to gain, albeit unfavorable, the attention of the crowd, to show one’s originality? Is “he” taller than those around him? And yes (“a sense of superiority”), and no (“perhaps imaginary”). So, starting from the “main epigraph,” the complex attitude of the Author to the hero is set, it is indicated that the reader should not expect an unambiguous assessment of Eugene by his creator and “friend.” The words “Yes and no” are the answer to the question about Onegin, “Do you know him?” (Chapter 8, stanza VIII) seems to belong not only to the voice of light, but also to the creator Eugene himself.

The first chapter opens with a line from the famous elegy of Pushkin’s friend Prince P. A. Vyazemsky “The First Snow”: “And he is in a hurry to live and in a hurry to feel.” In Vyazemsky’s poem, this line expresses rapture, enjoyment of life and its main gift - love. The hero and his beloved are rushing in a sleigh through the first snow; nature is engulfed in the stupor of death under a white veil; he and she are burning with passion:

Who can express the joy of the lucky ones?

Like a light blizzard, their winged run

Even reins cut through the snow

And, lifting it from the ground like a bright cloud,

Silvery dust covers them.

They were pressed for time in one winged moment.

This is how young ardor glides through life,

And he’s in a hurry to live, and he’s in a hurry to feel.

Vyazemsky writes about the joyful intoxication of passion, Pushkin in the first chapter of his novel writes about the bitter fruits of this intoxication. About satiety. About the premature aging of the soul. And at the beginning of the first chapter, Onegin flies “in the dust on the post office,” hastening to the village to visit the sick and ardently unloved Lyada, and does not ride in a sleigh with a charming girl. In the village, Eugene is greeted not by numb winter nature, but by flowering fields, but for him, the living dead, there is no joy in that. The motif from “The First Snow” is “inverted”, turned into its opposite. As Yu. M. Lotman noted, the hedonism of “The First Snow” was openly challenged by the author of “Eugene Onegin” in stanza IX of the first chapter, removed from the final text of the novel (Yu. M. Lotman. A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.” Commentary // Pushkin A. S. Evgeny Onegin: A Novel in Verse. M., 1991. P. 326).

The epigraph from the Roman poet Horace “O rus!...” (“O village”, Latin) with the pseudo-translation “O Rus'!”, built on the consonance of Latin and Russian words, is at first glance nothing more than an example of a pun, a language game. According to Yu. M. Lotman, “the double epigraph creates a punning contradiction between the tradition of the conventional literary image of the village and the idea of ​​the real Russian village” (Yu. M. Lotman, A. S. Pushkin’s novel “Eugene Onegin.” P. 388). Probably, one of the functions of this “twin” is exactly this. But she is not the only one and, perhaps, not the most important. The identification of “village” and “Russia”, dictated by punning consonance, is ultimately quite serious: it is the Russian village that appears in Pushkin’s novel as the quintessence of Russian national life. And besides, this epigraph is a kind of model of the poetic mechanism of Pushkin’s entire work, which is built on switching from a serious plan to a humorous one and vice versa, demonstrating the omnipresence and limitations of translated meanings. (Let us recall at least the ironic translation of Lensky’s pre-duel poems, filled with colorless metaphors: “All this meant, friends: // I’m shooting with a friend” [Chapter V, stanzas XV, XVI, XVII]).

The French epigraph from the poem “Narcissus, or the Island of Venus” by S. L. K. Malfilatre, translated into Russian as: “She was a girl, she was in love,” opens chapter three. Malfilatre talks about the unrequited love of the nymph Echo for Narcissus. The meaning of the epigraph is quite transparent. This is how V.V. Nabokov describes him, citing a more extensive quotation from the poem than Pushkin: ““She [the nymph Echo] was a girl [and therefore curious, as is typical of all of them]; [moreover], she was in love... I forgive her, [as my Tatyana should be forgiven]; love made her guilty<…>. Oh, if only fate would forgive her too!”

According to Greek mythology, the nymph Echo, who wasted away from love for Narcissus (who, in turn, was exhausted from unrequited passion for his own reflection), turned into a forest voice, like Tatiana in ch. 7, XXVIII, when the image of Onegin appears before her in the margins of the book he was reading (chapter 7, XXII-XXIV)” (Nabokov V.V. Commentary on the novel by A.S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin.” P. 282).

However, the relationship between the epigraph and the text of the third chapter is still more complex. The awakening of Tatyana's love for Onegin is interpreted in the text of the novel both as a consequence of natural law (“The time has come, she fell in love. / So the fallen grain / of Spring is revived by fire” [chapter III, stanza VII]), and as the embodiment of fantasies, games of imagination , inspired by the sensitive novels I read (“By the happy power of dreams / Animated creatures, / Julia Volmar’s lover, / Malek-Adele and de Linard, / And Werther, the rebellious martyr, / And the incomparable Grandison,<…>All for the tender dreamer / Were clothed in a single image, / Merged in one Onegin” [chapter III, stanza IX]).

The epigraph from Malfilater, it would seem, speaks only of the omnipotence of natural law - the law of love. But in fact, this is indicated by the lines quoted by Pushkin in the poem Malfilatr itself. In relation to Pushkin’s text, their meaning changes somewhat. The power of love over the heart of a young maiden is spoken of in lines from a literary work, moreover, created in the same era (in the 18th century) as the novels that fed Tatiana’s imagination. Thus, Tatiana’s love awakening turns from a “natural” phenomenon into a “literary” one, becoming evidence of the magnetic influence of literature on the world of feelings of a provincial young lady.

With Evgeniy’s narcissism, everything is also not so simple. Of course, the mythological image of Narcissus will be forgiven for the role of a “mirror” for Onegin: the narcissistic handsome man rejected the unfortunate nymph, Onegin turned away from his lover Tatiana. In the fourth chapter, responding to Tatyana’s confession that touched him, Evgeny admits his own selfishness. But Narcissus’ narcissism is still alien to him; he did not love Tatyana because he only loved himself.