Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse (Russian: Евгений Онегин, роман в стихах, romanized: Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh, pre-reform Russian: Евгеній Онѣгинъ, романъ въ стихахъ, [jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn]) is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.

The story is told by a narrator (a lightly fictionalized version of Pushkin's public image), whose tone is educated, worldly, and intimate.

The book is admired for the artfulness of its verse narrative as well as for its exploration of life, death, love, ennui, convention, and passion.

When he moves to the country, he strikes up a friendship with his neighbor, a starry-eyed young poet named Vladimir Lensky.

This famous speech is often referred to as Onegin's Sermon: he admits that the letter was touching, but says that he would quickly grow bored with marriage and can only offer Tatyana friendship; he coldly advises more emotional control in the future, lest another man take advantage of her innocence.

Tatyana, still brokenhearted by the loss of Onegin, is persuaded by her parents to live with her aunt in Moscow to find a suitor.

He sees the most beautiful woman, who captures the attention of all and is central to society's whirl, and he realizes that it is the same Tatyana whose love he had once spurned.

Pushkin incurred the displeasure of the Tsarist regime in Odessa and was restricted to his family estate Mikhaylovskoye in Pskov for two years.

The writing of chapter 5 began on January 4, 1826, and 24 stanzas were complete before the start of his trip to petition the Tsar for his freedom.

Zaretsky's first chance to end the duel is when he delivers Lensky's written challenge to Onegin (chapter 6, stanza IX).

[clarification needed] Zaretsky urges Lensky to get ready shortly after 6 o'clock in the morning (chapter 6, stanza XXIII), while the sun only rises at 20 past 8, because he expects Onegin to be on time.

Onegin, against all rules, appoints his servant Guillot as his second (chapter 6, stanza XXVII), a blatant insult for the nobleman Zaretsky.

As the first shooter, he couldn't deliberately miss the opponent: this was considered a serious insult and could create a formal reason to arrange another duel.

Instead, he tried to minimize his chances of hitting Lensky by shooting without precise aim, from the maximum possible distance, not even trying to come closer and get a clear shot.

This particular challenge and the importance of Eugene Onegin in Russian literature have resulted in a large number of competing translations.

Nabokov's main criticism of Arndt's and other translations is that they sacrificed literalness and exactness for the sake of preserving the melody and rhyme.

[9] Even later, the Russian critic Ernest Simmons praised Spalding for his translation and scholarly notes on Pushkin's novel in verse.

In 1977, Sir Charles Johnston published another translation trying to preserve the Onegin stanza, which is generally considered to surpass Arndt's.

Hofstadter's translation employs a unique lexicon of both high and low register words, as well as unexpected and almost reaching rhymes that give the work a comedic flair.

(ISBN 1-903517-28-1) Wordsworths Classics in 2005 published an English prose translation by Roger Clarke, which sought to retain the lyricism of Pushkin's Russian.

In September 2008, Stanley Mitchell, emeritus professor of aesthetics at the University of Derby, published, through Penguin Books, a complete translation, again preserving the Onegin stanzas in English.

Instead, he orchestrated some little-known piano works by Tchaikovsky such as The Seasons, along with themes from the opera Cherevichki[24] and the latter part of the symphonic fantasia Francesca da Rimini.

[26][27] Most recently Lera Auerbach created a ballet score titled Tatiana, with a libretto written by John Neumeier for his choreographic interpretation and staging of Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, for a co-production by the Hamburg State Opera and the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre in Moscow.

[28] A staged version was adapted by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky and slated for production in the Soviet Union in 1936, directed by Alexander Tairov and with incidental music by Sergei Prokofiev, as part of the centennial celebration of Pushkin's death.

It successfully combines spoken dialogue and narration from the novel, with music arranged from Tchaikovsky's operatic score, and incorporates some striking theatrical sequences inspired by Tatyana's dreams in the original.

In 2016, the legendary Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre of Russia put on a production of Onegin starring Sergei Makovetsky, described as "exuberant, indelible, and arrestingly beautiful" by the New York Times.

Opening in 2016 for its world premiere, the Arts Club Theatre Company in Vancouver, Canada, staged a musical version called Onegin by Amiel Gladstone and Veda Hille.

[31] In fact, it was Gladstone's time as assistant director for Vancouver Opera’s last production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin that opened his eyes to the story’s potential for musical adaptation.

[30] Furthermore, several critics have pointed out similarities to the smash hit Hamilton and especially to Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, a sung-through musical likewise inspired by a classic of Russian literature (in this case, a sliver of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace), usually to Onegin’s disadvantage.

[39] In 2017, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a five-part adaptation by Duncan Macmillan, directed by Abigail le Fleming, as part of their 15-Minute Drama series, with Geoffrey Streatfeild as Pushkin, David Dawson as Onegin, Zoë Tapper as Natalya, Alix Wilton Regan as Tatyana, Joshua McGuire as Lensky, and Sean Murray as Zaretsky.