Eugene Onegin, a young philosopher, is interested in books. He probably read The History of the Russian State, written by Nikolai Karamzin. Eugene Onegin's interaction with the Russian state is limited to reading such books. The state is on its own, Eugene Onegin is on his own. Evgeny Onegin lives comfortably, enjoys life. He's not married. He has no children. His personal life is very complicated, even is very confusing. What are the Eugene Onegin's life prospects? Alexander Pushkin, the author of "Eugene Onegin", does not write about the prospects of the young philosopher Eugene Onegin to be forcibly dressed in the uniform of a chamber junker.
Pechorin. Pechorin is wearing a military uniform. Pechorin is not as free as Onegin. Not to say that Pechorin enjoyed life. There are a discomfort, an irritation, and an anxiety in his statements. What are Pechorin's life prospects? If he goes to travel to the countries of the East, then this will not be the worst option for him.
Mikhail Lermontov, the author of "The Hero of Our Time" (where the main character is Pechorin), - Mikhail Lermontov was thinking about the traveling to the countries of the East.
Chichikov. "We" (that is, Chichikov) have finished with the service, take the bills, go to a carefree life. For Chichikov, the vast serf state (through which his cart travels) is a field of application for his entrepreneurial energy. Nikolai Gogol, author of "Dead Souls" (where the main character is Chichikov) - Nikolai Gogol began his creative career with a minor position in the bureaucratic apparatus, and ended up as a writer.
After Onegin, Pechorin and Chichikov, it is difficult to find the literary heroes comparable to them in scale.
If you try very hard, you can find major historical characters from Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace". They were very concerned about the fate of the Russian state, but for some reason, they are not people from the era of Leo Tolstoy, not contemporaries of Leo Tolstoy, but they are characters from history, from the "days of the Alexander's wonderful beginning."
Vladimir Lenin encourages us to make an effort of memory - to recall Rakhmetov (the character who slept on nails). Rakhmetov - from "What to do?" by Nikolai Chernyshevsky. If you don't make an effort, then then you (an ordinary lover of literature) have no thoughts about Rakhmetov. Rakhmetov plunged into the vast depths of a literary history.
After Onegin, Pechorin and Chichikov, the historical figures from the "days of the Alexander's wonderful beginning," - the literary mass of characters crumbles into a bizarre mosaic.
Slightly rising above the general mosaic of literary characters are Chelkash-vagrant and the inhabitants of the Moscow flophouse (created by Maxim Gorky).
"The Young Philosopher" (Onegin) - "a skeptical officer" (Pechorin) - "an entrepreneur in a serf environment" (Chichikov) - ... "the Chelkash-vagrant and the inhabitants of the flophouses." Some later there was a change of historical periods.