Eugene Onegin · Chapter
XXXV explained
The narrator explores Onegin's malady, identifying it as the 'British spleen' transplanted to Russia.
What happens
The narrator explores Onegin's malady, identifying it as the 'British spleen' transplanted to Russia. Onegin becomes indifferent to everything, resembling Childe Harold in his gloom, and is unmoved by social gatherings, games, or romantic advances.
Themes in this chapter
The Aristocratic Malaise
Onegin's spleen and indifference exemplify the aristocratic boredom and disillusionment characteristic of the Russian nobility.
Characters to notice
- Eugene Onegin
Onegin's malady of spleen is described; he is indifferent to all, attending festivals gloomily like Childe Harold.
Key passages
“His malady, whose cause I ween It now to investigate is time, Was nothing but the British spleen Transported to our Russian clime.”
His illness, which I now have time to examine, was simply the English melancholy brought to Russia.
The narrator diagnoses Onegin's condition as a cultural import of British ennui.
“Indifferent he became to all, And like Childe Harold gloomily He to the festival repairs”
He grew indifferent to everything and, like Childe Harold, attended festivities in a gloomy mood.
Onegin's behavior mirrors the Byronic hero's detached melancholy.