Eugene Onegin · Chapter
Canto the First: "The Spleen" explained
The narrator introduces the hero, Eugene Onegin, a young dandy from St.
What happens
The narrator introduces the hero, Eugene Onegin, a young dandy from St. Petersburg who inherits his uncle's estate. Onegin is educated in a superficial manner, skilled in the art of seduction, and quickly becomes disillusioned with high society. He abandons social life, attempts to read and write but fails, and befriends the narrator. The chapter ends with Onegin's father dying and him awaiting his uncle's inheritance.
Themes in this chapter
The Aristocratic Malaise
Onegin's boredom and disillusionment with high society, his abandonment of social pleasures, and his inability to find meaning in reading or writing exemplify the aristocratic spleen.
Love and Rejection
Onegin's mastery of the 'amatory science' and his subsequent rejection of romantic pursuits highlight the theme of love as a game and the emptiness of superficial affection.
Characters to notice
- Eugene Onegin
Introduced as the hero; a young, educated, and cynical dandy from St. Petersburg who inherits his uncle's estate.
- Alexander Pushkin
The narrator and friend of Onegin, who describes their friendship and shared disillusionment.
- The Muse
Invoked in the opening as the poet prepares to write the romance.
Key passages
“My uncle’s goodness is extreme, If seriously he hath disease; He hath acquired the world’s esteem And nothing more important sees; A paragon of virtue he! But what a nuisance it will be, Chained to his bedside night and day Without a chance to slip away.”
Onegin cynically reflects on his uncle's illness, acknowledging the social duty to care for him while resenting the burden.
Opens the chapter with Onegin's selfish and ironic perspective on family obligations.
“He wrote and spoke, so all allowed, In the French language perfectly, Danced the mazurka gracefully, Without the least constraint he bowed. What more’s required? The world replies, He is a charming youth and wise.”
Onegin's social success is attributed to his fluency in French, graceful dancing, and polished manners, which the world deems sufficient for a young man.
Illustrates the superficial values of high society that Onegin later rejects.
“He thought to write, but labour long Inspired him with disgust and so Nought from his pen did ever flow, And thus he never fell among That vicious set whom I don’t blame— Because a member I became.”
Onegin attempts to write but is quickly disgusted by the effort, so he never joins the literary circle—which the narrator humorously admits to being part of.
Shows Onegin's inability to commit to creative work, a symptom of his malaise.
“He who hath lived and living, thinks, Must e’en despise his kind at last; He who hath suffered ofttimes shrinks From shades of the relentless past.”
Those who have experienced life and reflection inevitably come to despise humanity, and those who have suffered are haunted by memories.
Expresses the philosophical cynicism shared by Onegin and the narrator.