SCHILLER’S MOTIFS IN THE IMAGE OF LENSKY IN A.S. PUSHKIN’S NOVEL EUGENE ONEGIN

Abstract

When creating the image of Lensky, Pushkin combined two concepts of how Schiller was perceived in Russian culture of the 1820s: “sublime”, freedomloving, idealistic (as a figure of Sturm und Drang) and “pseudo-romantic”, elegiac, dating back to translations of Schiller’s elegies and ballads by Zhukovsky. At the same time, Pushkin himself in Eugene Onegin, obviously, does not completely separate them and does not oppose them, updating one or the other if necessary. The projection of both in the novel ranges from ironic reduction to sympathetic acceptance, which, along with their latent conflict with each other, creates a dialectical tension of Lensky’s image. It is Schiller’s motifs that give this image depth. In the draft versions, the exposition of Lensky’s image, the expressiveness and passion of his nature, rebellion and political engagement of the poet are much more strongly emphasized. But the author, while working on the text, “shifts” the image of Lensky towards a dreamy elegiac, while maintaining a recognizable Schiller appearance. The description of Lensky’s ideals moves entirely along the lines of Schiller’s philosophy and creativity. In this regard, the article for the first time examines possible reminiscences to the image of Lensky from Schiller’s poems “Die Hoffnung”, “Die Ideale”, “Die Freundschaft”, “Der Triumph der Liebe”, “Das Geheimnis der Reminiszenz. An Laura”, “Die Künstler”, “Das Glück”, “Das Ideal und das Leben”, “Der Flüchtling”. Having parodied the tradition of “dull” elegy on the example of Lensky’s dying poems, the author unexpectedly places two similar elegies as lyrical digressions. Despite the predominance of the Byron ideological and artistic context in the novel and Pushkin’s apparent irony in relation to the Schiller tradition, it represented for him a possible reference point for the development of Russian literature.