The Romantic Hero in Pechorin, Onegin, and the Demon
Through examining the works of Lermontov, A Hero of Our Time, and “The Demon,” as well as Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, we can see the similarities between Pechorin, the Demon, and Onegin and how each character embodies the qualities of the romantic hero. A romantic hero is a very contradicting character. For example, in the History of Russian Literature by Charles A. Moser, he describes the romantic hero as having “the anguish of emptiness; the trembling anxieties of a shallow self-love – as well as genuine power and courage; noble aspirations along with ignorance and poor upbringing” (137). All of the traits stated above are very conflicting. Pechorin, Onegin and the Demon, being the…show more content… He starts to realize this with Vera and Grushnitsky, which soon leads to his complete emotional collapse. Once again, we can identify similarities between Pechorin and Onegin in the fact that pure boredom is what drives each character to do as they please with little regard to the consequences they will face.
Pechorin’s evidently crushed spirit toward the end of the novel suggests that he is not the detached character that he makes himself out to be. It shows that he truly suffers from his actions. Over time, Pechorin grows dissatisfied with his life as each of his impulsive actions lead him through more emotional suffering which he represses from the view of others.
A Hero of Our Time is a romantic story about the main protagonist Pechorin and the happenings of his life. By analyzing Pechorin’s character throughout the novel, we can identify many similarities between Pechorin, Onegin and the Demon. Each character possesses characteristics that encompass the typical description of the romantic hero. More specifically, Pechorin, Onegin, and the Demon all have dual personalities; one side of their character is evil and careless, while the other side is closer to nature and expresses human emotion. Each character has deep insight into his-self, and he is also both cynical and sensitive; his character is very contradictory. Throughout each literary work, Pechorin, Onegin, and the Demon come to the realization that they are self-destructive and the
