In fact, Pushkin made Onegin a prototypical Byronic hero so that the reader can discern the clear differences between Pushkin and Byron. Pushkin in his youth had greatly admired and drawn influence from Lord Byron, but as the Russian poet matured, just at the time of his writing Eugene Onegin, he began to distance himself from his former hero. 'For otherwise some mocking reader /Or, God forbid, some wretched breeder /Of twisted slanders might combine /My hero's features here with mine /And then maintain the shameless fiction /That, like proud Byron, I have penned /A mere self-portrait in the end.' pg. However, Pushkin points out that a true Russian would either naturally dislike the affectations of such society or become dissatisfied with their lives no matter the circumstance. In taking up this world-weary attitude, he is very much like the English Byronic heroes that he enjoys reading about. Onegin becomes bored and disdainful of the high-society partying life he had led all his youth. 'The spleen is what the English call it, /We call it simply Russian soul.' pg. He leaves for the countryside in hopes to find a better life but ends up finding it just as boring. Having wasted his youth in dissipation to the point that he has become utterly desensitized and jaded to parties, Onegin yawns at everything. The novel begins with Onegin complaining about the boredom of taking care of his sick uncle, who will soon pass away leaving him the provincial manor. 'But God, what deadly boredom, brothers, /To tend a sick man night a day,/ Not daring once to steal away!' pg.

Pushkin eugene onegin