“And my Nobility in me is Hanging Head...”: Which of the Four Eugenes is True?

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of four characters named Eugene (heroes of A. Kantemir’ satire, A.E. Izmailov’s novel, A. Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin and The Bronze Horseman), represents the initial stage in the evolution of the semantic halo of this name in Russian literature, through an onomastic prism. The study is based on a matrix that takes into account the interaction of components that make up the semantic core of the concept of "nobility": nobility of the family, adherence to external decorum, high moral qualities. The main point was to check in Russian literature for "true Eugene", possessing all the signs of nobility, genetic, external, internal. The answer turned out to be negative: the semantics of the loss of various components turns out to be a constitutional feature of the semantic halo of the name. Russian literature at the initial stage of the development of "Eugene's plot" was more likely to move away from the semantics of the name, fixing the absence of nobility in the "noble", differently approaching the description of this phenomenon. Four heroes were involved in a united plot of the evolution of the semantic halo of the name - processing from satire to tragedy.