# XXXII explained — On the Eve

> Chapter companion for On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev.

## What happens

The day of departure arrives for Elena and Insarov. Elena's mother, Anna Vassilyevna, meets Insarov secretly and gives her reluctant blessing. On the day of departure, Bersenyev and Shubin join them for a final farewell. Nikolai Stahov arrives at the last moment to offer his blessing and a toast. Elena, Insarov, and their companions share an emotional parting before the couple departs Moscow.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Sacrifice

Elena and Insarov's love is marked by sacrifice: Elena leaves her family and homeland, while Insarov's illness underscores the personal cost of their commitment.

### Generational Conflict

The tension between Elena's choices and her parents' expectations is evident in Anna Vassilyevna's mourning and Nikolai Stahov's coldness, though both ultimately yield.

### Patriotism and Revolution

Insarov's dedication to Bulgaria's liberation drives the couple's departure, linking personal love to a larger revolutionary cause.

## Character check-ins

### Elena Nikolaevna Stahova

Elena is anxious and impatient for departure, distressed by Insarov's illness, and deeply emotional during the farewell with her parents and friends.

### Dmitri Nikanorovitch Insarov

Insarov is eager to leave Moscow, though visibly ill and emaciated; he meets Anna Vassilyevna secretly and prepares for the journey.

### Anna Vassilyevna Stahova

Anna Vassilyevna mourns Elena as if dead, meets Insarov secretly, and gives a tearful blessing despite her inner turmoil.

### Nikolai Artemyevitch Stahov

Nikolai Stahov arrives at the last moment to offer his parental blessing and a toast, hiding his own grief behind a facade of duty.

### Andrei Petrovitch Bersenyev

Bersenyev arrives to see the couple off, shares an emotional embrace with Elena and Insarov, and reflects on the past.

### Pavel Yakovlitch Shubin

Shubin attempts to lighten the mood with words and a song, but feels the weight of the moment and the death of their shared past.

## Key lines

> The day of departure drew near. November was already over; the latest date for starting had come.

The departure day approached as November ended, marking the final possible time to leave.

_Sets the temporal urgency for the chapter's events._

> Anna Vassilyevna at last expressed a wish to see Insarov. He was taken up to her secretly by the back stairs.

Anna Vassilyevna finally agreed to meet Insarov, who was brought to her room via the back stairs to avoid notice.

_Highlights the clandestine nature of the meeting and Anna's reluctant acceptance._

> It is a sin to sing where the dead are lying: and at that instant, in that room, the past of which he had spoken was dying, the past of the people met together in it.

Shubin felt it was inappropriate to sing, as the shared history of those present was ending, like a death.

_Reflects the theme of loss and transformation as the characters part ways._

> Nikolai Artemyevitch ran beside the sledge. 'Mind and write to us,' he said in a broken voice.

Nikolai Stahov ran alongside the departing sledge, his voice breaking as he asked them to write.

_Shows Nikolai's emotional vulnerability despite his earlier cold demeanor._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_the_eve_se/chapters/xxxii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_the_eve_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/on_the_eve_se/chapters