Widely acknowledged as the master work of the fountainhead of Russian literature, "Eugene Onegin" is a novel in verse, first published serially in 1825. This work, comprised of 389 verses, follows the destinies of three men and three women in imperialist Russia. Eugene is a dandy bored with the social whirl of St. Petersburg, and in moving to the country for a change of scene, he becomes the friend of the poet Lensky, changing their fates dramatically. "Eugene Onegin" is narrated by Pushkin himself, though an idealized version who frequently yet entrancingly digresses in the midst of the beauty Tatyana's embarrassment with Onegin and maturity in the social world. Pushkin, with a tone that is at once satirical and full of storytelling verve, additionally utilizes the characters of Olga, Tatyana's sister, and a Muse, as well as a wide array of other individuals who enhance the tale's narrative. Tragically suspenseful, lively, and skillfully rendered, "Eugene Onegin" has proven to be not only the favorite work of its author, but a classic of Russian literature.
