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Intro
Eugene Onegin is a man in his mid-20s living in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the early part of the 19th century. His story is told by an unnamed narrator, a well-educated acquaintance of Eugene’s who sometimes diverges from Eugene’s story to reflect on the love affairs of his own youth. Eugene used to live a decadent lifestyle of going to feasts, balls, and ballets, but eventually this lifestyle starts to bore him, leaving him feeling melancholy and adrift. His father dies, and not long after, his wealthy uncle dies too, leaving Eugene with a fortune and a large home in the country.
For a couple days after his uncle’s funeral, Eugene takes pleasure in the tranquil countryside, but he soon gets bored, and his melancholy returns. One day, however, Eugene meets the young man Vladimir Lensky, who is still full of enthusiasm for life and has dreams of one day becoming a great poet. Lensky entertains Eugene with stories of his own attempts at romance, in particular with stories of the Larin family. Lensky is in love with the beautiful Olga, but as he tells the story to Eugene, Eugene is more intrigued by Olga’s shy older sister Tatyana, who likes to read lots of foreign romance books. One day, Lensky invites Eugene to meet the Larins himself.
After Eugene’s meeting the Larins, Tatyana is intrigued by him and eventually falls in love with him, to the point where she is so obsessed that she can think about little else. Soon, she writes Eugene a love letter. Although the love letter moves Eugene and causes him to have feelings he hasn’t had in a long time, when he finally speaks with Tatyana, he rejects her. Eugene gives a speech about how, although a part of him loves Tatyana, he would ultimately make a bad husband, so any potential relationship between the two of them is futile. Tatyana is crushed and embarrassed by the rejection.
Eugene doesn’t see the Larins for a while after that. Sometime later, Lensky, who has become engaged to Olga, invites Eugene to attend Tatyana’s name day celebration. Although Eugene attempts to be polite to Tatyana during the celebration, he is annoyed with the whole situation. Eventually, he decides to dance with Olga as a way of getting back at Lensky for inviting him. Eugene is an excellent dancer, and when Lensky sees them, he believes that Olga has even fallen in love with Eugene. Lensky leaves angrily, and the next morning, he sends his friend Zaretsky to challenge Eugene to a duel with Lensky.
Eugene is reluctant to duel, showing up late and only coming up with a second for the duel at the last minute. Nevertheless, when the duel commences, Eugene fires first and manages to fatally shoot Lensky. Immediately, Eugene regrets what he’s done, but it’s too late to save Lensky. Lensky dies and is buried under a small gravestone in the forest. Olga grieves him for a little while but soon seems to forget him and goes off to marry a lancer instead.
Eugene is haunted by his past actions and withdraws from the world for a while. Meanwhile, after Olga moves out, Tatyana’s mother, Dame Larin, suggests that it’s time for Tatyana herself to marry and that the best place to find a husband for her will be in Moscow. The whole family goes there for the winter, where there are many balls and social events with eligible bachelors. Although Tatyana feels out of place in this world, eventually she attracts the attention of a general who makes a sensible choice for her to marry.
Years later, at a different ball in St. Petersburg, Eugene sees a beautiful woman with a general and is surprised to realize that she is Tatyana. He becomes suddenly obsessed with her and starts writing poetry in earnest for the first time in a long while. Eventually, he writes her love letters and starts sending them. But when he finally goes to visit her in person after sending the letters, she rejects him. She tells him he’s too late—she’s already married and has no intention to be unfaithful. Eugene leaves full of regrets, and the narrator says it’s time to part ways with Eugene, hoping that the reader at least found something interesting in his story.
