The world of objects in Eugene onegin by A.S.Pushkin

HNUE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE DOI: 10.18173/2354-1067.2017-0040 Social Sci., 2017, Vol. 62, Iss. 5, pp. 106-109 This paper is available online at THEWORLD OF OBJECTS IN EUGENE ONEGIN BY A.S.PUSHKIN Thanh Duc Hong Ha The Faculty of Philology, Hanoi National University of Education Abstract. For the first time in Russian Literature, Puskin has incorporated everyday life in Russia with its typical objects into his famous work, Eugene Onegin. Such objects help readers gain a deeper insight into Russian society during the early nineteenth century as well as the complex and diverse personality of Onegin. Keywords: Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, Verse novel, Russian literature, World of objects. 1. Introduction Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin is the first realistic work of Russian Literature. The novel demonstrated the talent of the great poet, a master in depicting life in Russia, “the Russian life is described with impeccable art that did not exist until Pushkin and, in my opinion, may never again after him” [1;322]. Pushkin was the first to bring objects into his work. Pospelov stated: “The depiction of objects around people has a long-standing tradition in literature. . . Realist authors depict everyday activities and experiences. The world of objects with the character of social activities entered Russian literature starting with Eugene Onegin” [2;80]. It is “the number of topics and the world of objects that distinguished the work from previous literary works. In Eugene Onegin, before the readers’ eyes are a series of details of everyday life: clothes, dishes, customs, and objects. The daily life background has created a contrasting picture in the education of Onegin and Tachiana. It is this background that determined the content, the character, the ethics, the culture and the nature of thought.” [3;140]. This article will introduce some significant points about the world of objects in Eugene Onegin, thus contributing another perspective to the study and further analysis of the work. 2. Content As a pioneer in Russian Realist Literature, Pushkin depicted the world of objects so as to demonstrate the behavior and personality of the protagonist, Eugene Onegin. In chapter I, Pushkin described Onegin’s room in Petersburg as a room with all valuables, Received date: 10/1/2017. Published date: 3/5/2017. Contact: Thanh Duc Hong Ha, e-mail: thd_hongha@yahoo.com.vn 106 The world of objects in Eugene Onegin by A.S.Pushkin all the tools for love and youth, all the clothes for the owner to dress up – a fashionable and stylish person: “Whatever for caprice of spending Ingenious London has been sending Across the Baltic in exchange For wood and tallow; all the range Of useful objects that the curious Parisian taste invents for one For friends of languor, or of fun, Or for the modishly luxurious All this, at eighteen years of age, Adorned the sanctum of our sage.” (Stanza 23, Chapter I) The expensive and luxurious Western objects created the value of the room and served the lavish life of a fashionable boy who just turned 17, serving the frivolous days of wasting his youth and a life without purpose in tea rooms and theaters with brief love affairs. These possessions made up the excessive material possessions of the Russian nobility in the early nineteenth century. Pushkin described in more detail the objects in the room: “Porcelain and bronzes on the table, With amber pipes from Tsaregrad Such crystalled scents as best are able To drive the swooning senses mad; With combs, and steel utensils serving As files, and scissors straight and curving, Brushes on thirty different scales; Brushes for teeth, brushes for nails.” (Stanza 24, Chapter I) With his careful and precise observation coupled with the listing of objects in Onegin’s room, Pushkin depicted the redundant and blissful life of the characters. Sufficient and luxurious amenities caused Onegin to become lazy. Pushkin was very unique in the way that he used description to not only emphasize the character’s personality, but also find out the cause of that personality. The house Onegin inherited from his uncle once again helped readers see the wealth of rural aristocrats. The house is typical of traditional izba chalet, exhibiting ancient and dignified beauty, stylishly decorated with lofty chambers, a living room with silk tapestry, a stove, a bookshelf, a wine cabinet and portraits on the wall: “The château was of a construction Befitting such a noble pile: It stood, defiant of destruction In sensible old-fashioned style. High ceilings everywhere abounded; In the saloon, brocade-surrounded, Ancestral portraits met the view And stoves with tiles of various hue”. (Stanza 2, Chapter II) 107 Thanh Duc Hong Ha And the room of his uncle: “Oak-floored, and simple as a stable: Two cupboards, one divan, a table, No trace of ink, no spots, no stains”. (Stanza 3, Chapter II) Wealth is shown through the objects and their placement in each room. This demonstrated the thorough and deep knowledge on rural Russia of the author. Onegin’s personality has always been a mystery to Tachiana as well as the readers. The process of unraveling the mystery is the plot of the novel. Lensky’s death caused Tachiana to have a crisis. She was determined to find the answer. Her visit served to explore Onegin’s soul, his inner world. It started with the horsewhip, the cue and the books. Later, the office revealed the secret about Onegin: “That table where the lamp has languished, Beside the window-sill, that bed On which a carpet has been spread, Piled books, and through the pane the sable Moonscape, the half-light overall, Lord Byron’s portrait on the wall, The iron figure on the table, The hat, the scowling brow, the chest Where folded arms are tightly pressed”. (Stanza 19, Chapter VII) The picture of Byron and the statue of the clown Napoleon evoked sympathy: “Tatyana in a deep emotion Gazes at all the scene around; She drinks it like a priceless potion; It stirs her drooping soul to bound In fashion that’s half-glad, half-anguished”. (Stanza 19, Chapter VII) Dostoyevsky commented: “oh, if only, during that first encounter, it was Chaild – Garold instead of Onegin, or even Lord Byron from England, that came to you, witness your shyness, maybe he would be the one to see. . . But that did not happen” [4;324] Onegin’s soul is shown more clearly through the books: “The books then underwent inspection... At first she had no heart to range; But then she found their choice was strange. To reading from this odd collection Tatyana turned with thirsting soul: And watched a different world unroll”. (Stanza 21, Chapter VII) If in chapter III, Tachiana always thought of Onegin as a typical character in the works of romance writers Russell and Richardson then in chapter V, her character is shown fully, without an ounce of romance. Finally, the “mentally weak” Tachiana has solved the mysterious riddle: “That soul without a moral tie, All egoistical and dry, To dreaming given up unduly, 108 The world of objects in Eugene Onegin by A.S.Pushkin And that embittered mind which boils In empty deeds and futile toils”. (Stanza 22, Chapter VII) With realistic images, Pushkin accurately depicts the Onegin’s nature. His human world is also the world of people like "Gaual", "Don Juan". Onegin – pragmatic, selfish, narrow minded, always thinking about himself and loves only himself. Aside from that, there is no denying Onegin’s curiosity about knowledge and life. Onegin has a very clear-cut point of view in life: “What kind of thought, what observation, Had drawn Eugene’s especial heed And where he’d silently agreed. Her eyes along the margin flitting Pursue his pencil. Everywhere Onegin’s soul encountered there Declares itself in ways unwitting – Terse words or crosses in the book, Or else a query’s wondering hook”. (Stanza 23, Chapter VII) Pages after pages caused Tachiana to understand more about the person she once loved: “More thoroughly, thank God, the creature For whom her passion has been planned By fate’s decree: this freakish stranger, Who walks with sorrow, and with danger, Whether from heaven or from hell”. (Stanza 24, Chapter VII) Her love has completely collapsed before Tachiana’s very eyes. The visit, though unexpected, was the opportunity for her to discover the mysteries surrounding Onegin. Every time the objects are described, it leads to a turning point for the plot and characters’ personalities. 3. Conclusion Pushkin used themethod of depicting objects not only to describe but also to portray the characters’ personalities at different angles. Objects are elements of illustration as well as the reason behind personalities and the basis to comment on and evaluate the characters. The depiction of objects with its many functions helped Pushkin portray the liveliness, diversity and complexity in Onegin. REFERENCES [1] Dostoievsky M.F. Pushkin// Works Proceeding, (Translation of Cao Xuan Hao), Volume 5, Literature Publisher, The Centre of East West Culture and Linguistic. [2] Pospelov G.N., 1985. An introduction of literature studies. Publisher of Education, Volume 2. [3] Goukovxky G.A., 1957. Pushkin and the problem of realism. Moskow. [4] Goukovxky G.A., 1957. Pushkin and the problem of realism. Moskow. [5] Translation by Charles H. Johnston, This translation first published 1977. Copyright Charles Johnston, 1977, 1979. 109 HNUE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE DOI: 10.18173/2354-1067.2017-0041 Social Sci., 2017, Vol. 62, Iss. 5, pp. 110-119 This paper is available online at LINGUISTIC POLITENESS STRATEGY WHEN USING THE SPEECH ACT TRACH (TRÁCH) IN COMMUNICATION Nguyen Thu Hanh Officer for Political Affairs and Students, Hanoi National University of Education. Abstract. When communicating, people not only exchange information, set a goal but also present themselves in several respects such as: their knowledge, their behavior, their culture, etc... (it is called the face of participants). Moreover, it shows the relationship between the speaker and the listener. So it is necessary to build the linguistic politeness strategy in order that people who take part in the communication can achieve their purpose, save their public self-image (face), and maintain friendly relationship. From doing research and surveying the using of speech act Trach, the research proposals the linguistic politeness strategy when using the Trach for both speaker and listener. Base on these, this article suggests using other speech acts and to heighten people’s awareness of using linguistic politeness strategy in communicating for a better civilized community. Keywords: Speech act, illocutionary act, utterance, linguistic politeness strategy, face, communication. 1. Introduction Pragmatics theory concerned with the highly effective language using in communication and rules of linguistic politeness [2, 3]. Applying pragmatics theory in doing research speech acts, there are a number of researches concentrated on the using of speech acts in communication and finding out the characteristic aspects of each speech act. However, there are a few of those concerned with the politeness and effect of using speech acts. This research focuses on giving some specific characteristics of the speech act Trach (from here it is called Trach for short) (a strongly negative speech act, and easily damages both the user’s and the receiver’s face) in the context in which Trach is performed. Besides we carried out a survey on a number of conversations in which Trach is used and then proposed the linguistic politeness strategy of using Trach that can limit the lowest damage to the user and the recipient. Received date: 7/1/2017. Published date: 5/5/2017. Contact: Nguyen Thu Hanh, e-mail: hanhnt@hnue.edu.vn 110