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Eugene Onegin, Part 1, no. 116, Part XXII summary

Part 1, no. 116, Part XXII of 368 · 1 min to read the part

In XXII, the speaker recalls beautiful women whose coldness impresses his mind but makes him flee despite his respect for their sense and kindness. He compares their forbidding appearance to a warning at Hell’s entrance and suggests that readers may recognize similar women beside the Neva.

What happens

  1. The speaker recalls beautiful women whose purity seems as cold as winter and whose lack of feeling inspires awe.
  2. He admires their good sense and kindness but admits that he runs from them.
  3. He imagines a warning against hope on their brows and presents them as rejecting love.
  4. He suggests that his readers may have encountered similar women beside the Neva.

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What does the speaker do despite admiring the women’s sense and kindness?

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