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Chapter 3
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Eugene Onegin, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Youth, Regrets, and the Passage of Time
Love, Courtship, and Marriage
Poetry vs. Reality
Russian Identity
Summary
Analysis
The narrator believes it’s easier to woo a woman one doesn’t actually love. He finds the whole ritual of courtship exhausting. Eugene used to feel the same way. At one point, Eugene stopped feeling romantic attraction altogether, but Tatyana’s letter stirred something in him. Now, in the present as Eugene stands outside Tatyana’s house, he gives her a speech that begins with how much the letter moved him.
Although the narrator spoke fondly of romance in previous chapters, as he goes on, he becomes more cynical and exhausted, reflecting how many of the characters themselves feel as the novel progresses. Still, Eugene’s ability to be moved by Tatyana’s letter is a sign that this cynicism may not be permanent and that it may still be possible to feel the passions of youth again, at least momentarily.
Active
Themes
Eugene continues his speech, telling Tatyana that he’d marry her if he were looking to marry someone, but marriage isn’t in the future for him. He knows he’d be a bad husband. Although he loves her, he feels it’s better for both their sakes if he’s more like a brother and she learns to love someone else. Tatyana listens breathlessly in tears, then just silently bows and leaves at the end.
In his speech to Tatyana, which is one of the most famous parts of the novel, Eugene rejects his emotions, which were stirred by Tatyana’s letter, and instead focuses on the logical. He believes that he would be a bad husband for Tatyana, and so he reasons that any relationship between the two of them would be futile and not worth pursuing for any amount of time. Although Eugene presents himself as doing a noble, selfless thing, this passage raises the question of whether he’s deluding himself or even getting self-righteous about his stoic rejection of Tatyana, as he lectures her without considering her perspective.
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Themes
Although the narrator thinks Eugene did the right thing, other people gossiping in the area look down on Eugene for rejecting Tatyana. The narrator believes that sometimes friends are the cruelest people of all when it comes to spreading gossip. The narrator goes on to say that it’s always dangerous when choosing whom to love—the safest option is to just choose oneself rather than making potentially futile efforts to love someone else.
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Themes
Tatyana become pale and weak after her meeting with Eugene. Meanwhile, Lensky continues to fall more in love with Olga. They spend a lot of time together, and when he’s alone, he creates paintings and poems for her. His writing seems to just flow out of him because it's motivated by true love. He particularly enjoys reading his work aloud to Olga, who listens with interest, although the narrator warns that sometimes when a person seems to be in love, they aren’t always thinking of you. The narrator himself likes to read his own writing aloud to random people in his life like his neighbors or guests at dinners.
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The narrator turns his attention back to Eugene. He gets into a routine for the summer of waking up at the same time every day and going for a sim in the local stream. He takes long walks across the property and doesn’t pay much attention to any of the people living in town. When it becomes winter, however, Eugene has a more difficult time enjoying the pleasures of nature. He becomes lazy, and his only entertainment is playing a version of billiards with himself.
Active
Themes
One day that winter, Lensky comes to dinner with Eugene. They talk until the fire in Eugene’s home starts to go out. Eugene asks about Olga and Tatyana, and Lensky says the family is doing well, and he goes on about Olga’s good qualities. Suddenly, he remembers that he was supposed to tell Lensky that he is invited to come to their house next week. It’s Tatyana’s name day celebration, and Lensky insists Eugene must come. Lensky reveals that he’s marrying Olga in two weeks. The narrator warns that Lensky hasn’t yet imagined how boring married life can be.
