Eugene Onegin · Chapter
XIII explained
Onegin rides through the dark in a sleigh to a restaurant, where he enjoys a lavish meal with Kavèrine, featuring fine foods and champagne.
What happens
Onegin rides through the dark in a sleigh to a restaurant, where he enjoys a lavish meal with Kavèrine, featuring fine foods and champagne.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Convention
Onegin's indulgent meal at a fashionable restaurant reflects the leisure and excess of the upper class.
Characters to notice
- Eugene Onegin
Onegin rides in a sleigh to Talon's restaurant.
- Alexander Pushkin
The narrator describes Onegin's evening.
Key passages
“’Tis dark. He seats him in a sleigh, “Drive on!” the cheerful cry goes forth, His furs are powdered on the way By the fine silver of the north.”
It is dark. Onegin gets into a sleigh and cheerfully orders the driver to go; his furs become dusted with snow.
Onegin sets out for a night on the town.
“He enters. High the cork arose And Comet champagne foaming flows.”
He goes inside, where the cork pops and Comet champagne pours out foaming.
Onegin enjoys a luxurious meal with champagne.