# Zaretski — Eugene Onegin character guide

> Zaretski in Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0010-vi

## Snapshot

A garrulous country neighbor and former duelist, once a notorious card-player and brawler, now the local authority on affairs of honor.

## Who they are

Zaretski is the kind of man every provincial society produces: a talker, a mediator, a keeper of old scandals, and the inevitable choice when a quarrel must be settled by pistols. He brings the rituals of the duel—its etiquette, its cold formality—into the middle of a dispute that began over a dance. His presence turns private hurt into public performance, and the machinery of honor he represents does the rest.

## Relationships

### [Eugene Onegin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/characters/eugene_onegin)

_social_

Zaretski is the cynical second in Onegin's duel with Lenski, facilitating the tragic outcome.

### [Vladimir Lenski](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/characters/vladimir_lenski)

_social_

Zaretski is Lenski's second in the duel, though he is more aligned with Onegin's cynical world.

### [Olga Larina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/characters/olga_larina)

_social_

Olga is merely an acquaintance of Zaretski, who is part of the provincial social circle.

### [Monsieur Triquet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/characters/monsieur_triquet)

_social_

Both are minor figures in the Larins' social orbit, with no deep connection.

### [Eugene Onegin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/characters/eugene_onegin)

_social_

Zaretski is the cynical second in Onegin's duel with Lenski, facilitating the tragic outcome.

### [Vladimir Lenski](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/characters/vladimir_lenski)

_social_

Zaretski is Lenski's second in the duel, though he is more aligned with Onegin's cynical world.

## In the story

### [Canto the Sixth: The Duel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/canto-the-sixth-the-duel)

Delivers Lenski's challenge to Onegin; described as a former bully now a settled landowner.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/iv)

Introduced as a reformed gambler and troublemaker, now a simple and honorable landowner living near Krasnogory.

### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/v)

Introduced as a former ruffian and duelist, now a gossip and neighbor, who acts as Lenski's second in the duel.

### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/vii)

Once a fiery duelist and gossip, now lives a quiet rural life, planting cabbages and teaching his children.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/viii)

Delivers Lenski's letter to Onegin with a knowing grin.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/ix)

Delivers the cartel and departs without further explanation.

### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/xi)

A well-known duellist, malicious and a slanderer, who has mixed himself in the affair.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/xii)

The braggart neighbor who brings the triumphant answer confirming the duel.

### [XXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/xxiv)

Acts as the duel's organizer and inspector, shocked that Onegin has no second.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/xxv)

Bites his lip in wrath at Onegin's choice of second but consults with Guillot.

### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/xxvii)

The second who paces off the thirty-two steps with great exactitude.

### [XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/xxxiii)

Shouts that Lenski is killed and arranges the transport of the body.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in the context of the duel.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/characters/zaretski
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/eugene_onegin_se/characters