Essay on the meaning of life by Oblomov. I.A
The life and death of Oblomov. Epilogue of the novel. On the third and last time Stolz visits his friend. Under the caring eye of Pshenitsyna, Oblomov almost realized his ideal: “He dreams that he has reached that promised land, where rivers of honey and milk flow, where they eat unearned bread, walk in gold and silver...”, and Agafya Matveevna turns into the fabulous Miliktrisa Kirbitevna.. The house on the Vyborg side resembles rural freedom.
However, the hero never reached his native village. Subject "Oblomov and the men" runs through the entire novel. Even in the first chapters, we learned that in the absence of the master, life is difficult for the peasants. The headman reports that the men are “running away,” “begging for rent.” It is unlikely that they felt better under the rule of the Overhauled One. While Oblomov was drowning in his problems, he missed the opportunity to pave a road, build a bridge, as his neighbor, a village landowner, did. It cannot be said that Ilya Ilyich does not think about his peasants at all. But his plans boil down to ensuring that everything remains as it is. And to the advice to open a school for the man, Oblomov replies with horror that “he probably won’t even plow…” But time cannot be stopped. In the finale we learn that “Oblomovka is not in the wilderness anymore<…>, the rays of the sun fell on her! The peasants, no matter how difficult it was, managed without the master: “... In four years it will be a road station<…>, the men will go to work on the embankment, and then it will roll along the cast iron<…>bread to the pier... And there...schools, literacy..." But did Ilya Ilyich manage without Oblomovka? Using the logic of the narrative, Goncharov proves his favorite thoughts. And the fact that on the conscience of every landowner lies concern for the fate of hundreds of people (“Happy Mistake”). And the fact that village life is the most natural and therefore the most harmonious for a Russian person; she herself will guide, teach and suggest what to do better than any “plans” (“Frigate “Pallada””).
In the house on Vyborgskaya Oblomov sank. What was a free dream became a hallucination - “the present and the past merged and mixed up.” On his first visit, Stolz managed to get Oblomov off the couch. In the second, he helped a friend in solving practical matters. And now he realizes with horror that he is powerless to change anything:<«Вон из этой ямы, из болота, на свет, на простор, где есть здоровая, нормальная жизнь!» - настаивал Штольц…
“Don’t remember, don’t disturb the past: you can’t bring it back! - said Oblomov. - I have grown to this hole with a sore spot: try to tear it off - there will be death... I feel everything, I understand everything: I have long been ashamed to live in the world! But I can’t go your way with you, even if I wanted to... Maybe the last time was still possible. Now... now it’s too late...” Even Olga is not able to resurrect him: “Olga! - the frightened Oblomov suddenly burst out... - For God’s sake, don’t let her here, leave!”
As on his first visit, Stolz sums it up sadly:
What's there? - Olga asked...
Nothing!..
Is he alive and well?
Why did you come back so soon? Why didn’t you call me there and bring him? Let me go!
What is going on there?... Has “the abyss opened”? Will you tell me?.. What's going on there?
Oblomovism!
And if Ilya Ilyich found people who agreed to endure this life around him, then nature itself, it seems, came out against it, measuring out a short period for such an existence. That is why the same Agafya Matveevna’s attempts to limit her husband produce a tragicomic impression. “How many times have you gone through? - she asked Vanyusha... - Don’t lie, look at me... Remember Sunday, I won’t let you visit<…>" And Oblomov, willy-nilly, counted eight more times, then came into the room...”; “It would be nice to have some pie!” - “I forgot, I really forgot! I wanted to since the evening, but my memory seems to have gone missing!” - Agafya Matveevna cheated.” This makes no sense. For she cannot offer him any other purpose in life other than food and sleep.
Goncharov devotes relatively little space to describing the illness and death of his hero. I. Annensky summarizes the reader’s impressions, saying that “we read 600 pages about him, we do not know a person in Russian literature so fully, so vividly depicted. And yet his death affects us less than the death of a tree in Tolstoy...” Why? Critics of the “Silver Age” are unanimous, because the worst has already happened to Oblomov. Spiritual death preceded physical death. “He died because he ended...” (I. Annensky). “Vulgarity has finally triumphed over purity of heart, love, and ideals.” (D. Merezhkovsky).
Goncharov says goodbye to his hero with an emotional lyrical requiem: “What happened to Oblomov? Where is he? Where? - In the nearest cemetery, under a modest urn, his body rests<…>. Lilac branches, planted by a friendly hand, doze over the grave, and wormwood smells serenely. It seems that the angel of silence himself is guarding his sleep.”
It would seem that there is an undeniable contradiction here. A high funeral speech for a fallen hero! But life cannot be considered useless when someone remembers you. Bright sadness filled the life of Agafya Matveevna with the highest meaning: “She realized that<…>God put his soul into her life and took it out again; that the sun shone in it and darkened forever... Forever, really; but on the other hand, her life was forever comprehended: now she knew why she lived and that she did not live in vain.”
In the finale, we meet Zakhar in the guise of a beggar on the church porch. The orphaned valet prefers to ask for Christ's sake rather than serve the “objectionable” lady. The following dialogue takes place between Stolz and his literary acquaintance about the late Oblomov:
And he was no more stupid than others, his soul was pure and clear, like glass; noble, gentle, and - disappeared!
Why? What's the reason?
The reason... what a reason! Oblomovism! - said Stolz.
Oblomovism! - the writer repeated with bewilderment. - What is this?
Now I’ll tell you... And you write it down: maybe it will be useful to someone. “And he told him what was written here.”
Thus, the composition of the novel is strictly circular, it is impossible to isolate the beginning and the end. Everything that we read from the first pages, it turns out, can be interpreted as a story about Oblomov, his friend. At the same time, Stolz could tell the story of a recently completed life. Thus, the circle of human life is completed twice: in reality and in the memories of friends.
Goncharov, the singer of harmony, could not end his book with one minor note. In the epilogue, a new little hero appears, who, perhaps, will be able to harmoniously combine the best features of his father and educator. “Don’t forget my Andrey! - were Oblomov’s last words, spoken in a faded voice...” “No, I won’t forget your Andrey<…>, Stolz promises. “But I’ll take your Andrey where you couldn’t go.”<…>and with him we will put our youthful dreams into action.”
Let's do a little experiment. Open the last page of the Oblomov publication - any one you hold in your hands. Turning it over, you will almost certainly find an article by Nikolai Aleksandrovich Dobrolyubov “What is Oblomovism?” It is necessary to know this work, if only because it is one of the examples of Russian critical thought of the nineteenth century. However, the first sign of a free person and a free country is the ability to choose. Dobrolyubov’s article is more interesting to consider next to the article with which it appeared almost simultaneously and with which it is largely polemical. This is a review of Alexander Vasilyevich Druzhinin “Oblomov”. Roman I.A. Goncharova".
Critics are unanimous in admiring Olga's image. But if Dobrolyubov sees in her a new heroine, the main fighter against Oblomovism, Druzhinin sees in her the embodiment of eternal femininity: “One cannot help but be carried away by this bright, pure creature, who has so wisely developed in herself all the best, true principles of a woman...”
The disagreements between them begin with Oblomov’s assessment. Dobrolyubov argues with the author of the novel himself, proving that Oblomov is a lazy, spoiled, worthless creature: “He (Oblomov) will not bow to the idol of evil! But why is that? Because he is too lazy to get up from the couch. But drag him down, put him on his knees in front of this idol: he will not be able to stand up. Dirt won't stick to it! Yes, he's lying alone for now. Nothing yet; and when Tarantyev, the Worn One, arrives. Ivan Matveich - brr! what disgusting filth begins around Oblomov.”
The critic astutely guesses the origins of Oblomov’s character in his childhood. He sees primarily social roots in Oblomovism: “... He ( Oblomov) from an early age he sees in his house that all housework is done by footmen and maids, and daddy and mummy only give orders and scold for bad performance.” Gives the example of the symbolic episode of pulling on stockings. He also views Oblomov as social type. This is a gentleman, the owner of “three hundred Zakharovs”, who “drawing the ideal of his bliss, ... did not think about establishing its legality and truth, did not ask himself the question: where will these greenhouses and hotbeds come from ... and why on earth will he use them?”
Yet the psychological analysis of the character and the meaning of the entire novel is not so interesting to the critic. He is constantly interrupted by “more general considerations” about Oblomovism. In Goncharov’s hero the critic is, first of all, an established literary type; the critic traces his genealogy from Onegin, Pechorin, Rudin. In literary science, it is usually called the type of superfluous person. Unlike Goncharov, Dobrolyubov focuses on his negative traits: “What all these people have in common is that they have no business in life that would be a vital necessity for them, a sacred thing of the heart...”
Dobrolyubov shrewdly guesses that the reason for Oblomov’s restless sleep was the lack of a high, truly noble goal. I chose Gogol’s words as my epigraph: “Where is the one who, in the native language of the Russian soul, could tell us this almighty word “forward?..””
Let's now look at Druzhinin's article. Let's be honest: it's a lot harder to read. As soon as we open the pages, the names of philosophers and poets, Carlyle and Longfellow, Hamlet and the artists of the Flemish school will dapple before our eyes. An intellectual of the highest outlook, an expert in English literature, Druzhinin does not stoop to the average level in his critical works, but seeks an equal reader. By the way, this is how you can check the degree of your own culture - ask yourself, which of the mentioned names, paintings, books are familiar to me?
Following Dobrolyubov, he pays a lot of attention to “The Dream...” and sees in it “a step towards understanding Oblomov with his Oblomovism.” But, unlike him, he focuses on the lyrical content of the chapter. Druzhinin saw poetry even in the “sleepy servant,” and gave Goncharov’s highest merit the fact that he “poeticized the life of his native land.” So the critic touched lightly national content Oblomovism. Defending his beloved hero, the critic calls: “Take a careful look at the novel, and you will see how many people in it are devoted to Ilya Ilyich and even adore him...” It’s not without reason!
“Oblomov is a child, and not a trashy libertine, he is a sleepyhead, and not an immoral egoist or an epicurean...” To emphasize the moral value of the hero, Druzhinin asks the question: who is ultimately more useful to humanity? A naive child or a zealous official, “signing paper after paper”? And he answers: “A child by nature and according to the conditions of his development, Ilya Ilyich ... left behind him the purity and simplicity of a child - qualities that are precious in an adult.” People “not of this world” are also necessary because “in the midst of the greatest practical confusion, they often reveal to us the realm of truth and at times put the inexperienced, dreamy eccentric above ... a whole crowd of businessmen surrounding him.” The critic is sure that Oblomov - universal type, and exclaims: “It’s not good for that land where there are no kind and incapable of evil eccentrics like Oblomov!”
Unlike Dobrolyubov, he does not forget about Agafya Matveevna. Druzhinin made a subtle observation about Pshenitsyna’s place in Oblomov’s fate: she was unwillingly the “evil genius” of Ilya Ilyich, “but everything will be forgiven for this woman because she loved a lot.” The critic is captivated by the subtle lyricism of the scenes depicting the sorrowful experiences of the widow. In contrast, the critic shows the egoism of the Stoltsev couple in relation to Oblomov in scenes where “neither everyday order, nor everyday truth... were violated.”
However, in his review one can find a number of controversial judgments. The critic avoids talking about why Ilya Ilyich dies. Stolz's despair at the sight of his friend's decline is caused, in his opinion, only by the fact that Oblomov married a commoner.
Like Dobrolyubov, Druzhinin goes beyond the consideration of the novel. He discusses the peculiarities of Goncharov's talent and compares it with Dutch painters. Like the Dutch landscape painters and creators of genre scenes, the details of everyday life under his pen acquire an existential scale and “his creative spirit was reflected in every detail... like the sun is reflected in a small drop of water...”
We saw that two critics argue and deny each other in their judgments about Oblomov and the novel as a whole. So which of them should we believe? I. Annensky answered this question, noting that it is a mistake to “dwell on the question of what type of Oblomov. Negative or positive? This question is generally one of the school-market ones...” And he suggests that “the most natural way in every type analysis is to start with an analysis of one’s impressions, deepening them if possible.” It is for this “deepening” that criticism is needed. To convey the reaction of contemporaries, to complement independent conclusions, and not to replace your impressions. In fact, Goncharov believed in his reader, and to comments that his hero was incomprehensible, he retorted: “What does the reader care about? Is he some kind of idiot who cannot use his imagination to complete the rest according to the idea given by the author? Have the Pechorins, Onegins... been told to the last detail? The author’s task is the dominant element of character, and the rest is up to the reader.”
OBLOMOV AND "OTHERS". Goncharov
The distinct division of the Russian calendar into four seasons is a gift from the continental power of its literature. The composition of his masterpiece, “Oblomov,” speaks about how brilliantly Goncharov learned this lesson. The annual cycle of nature, the measured and timely alternation of seasons constitutes the internal basis, the skeleton of the famous novel. The ideal Oblomovka, in which “the family circle is performed correctly and calmly - the prototype of the entire structure of Oblomov.” The plot obediently follows the seasons, finding the source of its existence in humility before the eternal order.
The novel is strictly subject to the calendar. It begins in the spring - May 1st. All the stormy action - the love of Oblomov and Olga - occurs in the summer. And the actual novel part of the book ends in winter - with the first snow.
The composition of the novel, inscribed in the annual circle, leads to a smooth completion of all plot lines. It seems that this construction was borrowed by Goncharov directly from his native nature. Oblomov's life - from his love to his dinner menu - is included in this organic order. It is reflected in the natural annual cycle, finding a scale for comparison in the calendar.
The sophisticated, original structure of Goncharov’s novel is characteristic of Russian poetics in its unusualness. Russian classics, not burdened by ancient traditions, often ignored ready-made genre forms, preferring to create them anew each time, for their own special purposes. Both novels in verse and poems in prose appeared from an overabundance of content that required an original system of presentation.
“Oblomov” is no exception. It could be called a special prose drama. Theatrical convention (seven guests come to the couch potato Oblomov in one day) in Goncharov is combined with detailed everyday life writing, a rhetorical outline of morals is combined with a stage-rapid, often absurd conversational element. (By the way, speaking of language, we can assume that the image of Oblomov was born out of the Russian passion for indefinite particles. He is the living embodiment of all these “something, would be, or something.”)
From the point of view of the history of literature, Oblomov occupies a middle position. He is the link between the first and second half of the 19th century. Goncharov, taking an extra person from Pushkin and Lermontov, gave him purely national - Russian - features. At the same time, Oblomov lives in Gogol’s universe, but yearns for Tolstoy’s ideal of universal “nepotism.”
Goncharov's kinship with his contemporaries is especially evident in the first part of the novel - this exposition that has grown over a quarter of the book. To introduce readers to the hero, the author arranges a parade of minor characters, each of whom is described according to the recipes of the then fashionable natural school. Socialite Volkov, careerist Sudbinsky, writer Penkin. Goncharov needs this gallery of types, popular in the middle of the last century, because he needs to show that for the sake of their ridiculous activities Oblomov should not get up from the couch. (Really, is it worth getting up to read the poem “A Bribe Taker’s Love for a Fallen Woman,” which Penkin warmly recommends to him?)
All these insignificant figures with their vanity compromise the life around them in Oblomov’s eyes. He, the motionless center of the plot, immediately stands out with mysterious significance among these non-character types.
And in the future, Goncharov does not abandon the methods of typification, but he no longer comes from physiological essays, but from “Dead Souls” - a book closely related to “Oblomov”. Thus, the fanfare and petty swindler Tarantiev grew out of Nozdryov, Oblomov himself is in some way close to Manilov, and Stolz is similar to Chichikov, as he could have become by the third volume of Dead Souls.
The frontal, condensed, accelerated image of Oblomov in the first part of the novel essentially exhausts the theme of “Oblomovism.” The hero’s whole life - both external and internal, his past (“Oblomov’s Dream”) and future - seems to be already being revealed in this part. However, the very fact of the existence of the other three parts suggests that a superficial reading of the book only allows one to detect Oblomovism in it, but not Oblomov’s - a type, not an image.
By provocatively suggesting conclusions about Oblomov to us at the beginning of the book, the author is actually masking his incomparably more complex point of view on the hero. Deep into the fabric of the novel, Goncharov implanted the contradictory voice of the narrator, which destroys the unambiguous interpretation of the novel.
On the last page of the book we learn that Stolz tells the whole story of Oblomov: “And he (Stoltz - Author) told him (the narrator - Author) what is written here.” This story was recorded by a listener of Stolz, in whom it is easy to recognize Goncharov himself: “A writer, plump, with an apathetic face, thoughtful, as if sleepy eyes.”
These two voices - the reasoning, pedantic tone of Stolz and the mocking but sympathetic tone of the author himself - accompany Oblomov throughout his entire journey, preventing the novel from becoming a flat sketch of morals. The complexly intertwined intonations do not contrast, but complement each other: the first does not deny the second. Because of this structure of the author’s speech, the book becomes multi-layered. As is usually the case in a Russian novel, a metaphysical theme emerges behind the social plane.
In Oblomov, all words that do not belong to the characters should be read not directly, as a preliminary criticism of the novel, but as an artistically depicted word. Only then will the phenomenal duality of Oblomov, a hero who goes far beyond the contours of the plot, be revealed.
The feeling of the monumentality of Oblomov’s figure is generated already by his first portrait: “The thought walked like a free bird across the face, fluttered in the eyes, sat on half-open lips, hid in the folds of the forehead, then completely disappeared, and then an even light of carelessness glowed throughout the whole face. From the face, carelessness passed into the poses of the whole body, even into the folds of the dressing gown.”
These frozen, petrified “folds” suggest an analogy with an ancient statue. The comparison is fundamentally important, which Goncharov consistently makes throughout the novel. In Oblomov’s figure, the golden ratio is observed, which gives a feeling of lightness, harmony and completeness to ancient sculpture. Oblomov's immobility is graceful in its monumentality, it is endowed with a certain meaning. In any case, as long as he does nothing, but only represents himself.
Oblomov seems funny only when he is on the move, for example, in the company of Stolz. But in the eyes of the widow Pshenitsyna, who is in love with him, Oblomov again turns into a statue: “He will sit down, cross his legs, rest his head on his hand - he does all this so freely, calmly and beautifully... he is all so good, so pure, maybe nothing do and don't do."
And in the eyes of Oblomov himself, his then-beloved Olga freezes in beautiful stillness: “If she were turned into a statue, she would be a statue of grace and harmony.”
The tragic ending of Oblomov’s love is explained precisely by the fact that he saw their union as a sculptural group as a union of two statues frozen in eternity.
But Olga is not a statue. For her, for Stolz, and for all the other characters in the book, Goncharov finds another analogy - a car.
The conflict of the novel is a collision between a statue and a car. The first is beautiful, the second is functional. One is standing, the other is moving. The transition from a static to a dynamic state - Oblomov's love for Olga - puts the main character in the position of a machine. Love is the winding key that sets romance in motion. The plant ends and Oblomov freezes - and dies - at home, on the Vyborg side.
“You are the fire and strength of this machine,” Oblomov says to Olga, calling himself a machine and already guessing that in fact there is simply no room for an engine in it, that it is solid, like a marble statue.
Active Stolz and Olga live to do something. Oblomov lives just like that. From their point of view, Oblomov is dead. With him, death and life merge together, there is no strict boundary between them - rather an intermediate state: sleep, dream, Oblomovka.
At the same time, Oblomov is the only genuine person in the novel, the only one whose existence is not limited to the role he has assumed. What frightens him most about the upcoming wedding is that he, Oblomov, will turn into a “groom” and acquire a specific, definite status. (Olga, on the contrary, is pleased: “I am a bride,” she thinks with proud trepidation.)
That’s why Oblomov cannot join the life around him, because it is done by people-machines, people-roles. Each has its own goal, its own gear, with which they mesh with others for convenience. The smooth, “marble” Oblomov has nothing to catch on with others. He is not able to split his personality into the role of husband, landowner, official. He is just a man.
Oblomov appears complete, perfect, and therefore motionless in the novel. He has already taken place, having fulfilled his destiny only by coming into the world. “His life not only took shape, but was created, even intended, so simply, no wonder, to express the possibility of an ideally peaceful side of human existence,” Oblomov comes to this conclusion towards the end of his days. Here, on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, in the modified Oblomovka, having finally come to terms with existence, he finally finds himself. And only here for the first time was he able to adequately reflect Stolz’s pedagogical claims. On their last date, “Oblomov calmly and decisively looked” at his friend, who, in tongue twister, for himself, was drawing “the dawn of new happiness” - railways, marinas, schools... Goncharov constructs his novel in such a way that it provokes the reader to make comparisons Stolz with Oblomov. All the advantages seem to be on Stolz’s side. After all, he - a homunculus - was created not naturally, but according to the recipe of an ideal personality. This is an ethnographic German-Russian cocktail that should set the clumsy Russian colossus in motion.
However, the glorification of Stolz looks like his self-justification. All journalistic pieces of text, where the narrator’s voice addresses directly the reader, are constructed in the same rational manner, with the same judicious intonation with which Stolz himself speaks. In this voice one can feel the foreign syntax of too correct Russian speech (“my incomparable, but clumsy Oblomov”).
Even more important is that Goncharov shows Oblomov and talks about Stoltz. Oblomov’s love for Olga, which, by the way, takes place against the backdrop of a Russian, and not a Swiss, like Stolz’s, landscape, is transmitted directly. The story of Stolz's marriage is given in an inserted short story. When Oblomov acts in the second and third parts of the novel - he takes care of Olga - the narrator almost completely disappears from the text, but he appears whenever Stolz appears in the book.
This subtle compositional compensation deepens the image of Oblomov. What we know about him from the narrator contradicts what we see for ourselves. For Stolz, Oblomov is clear and simple (he is the author of the famous term “Oblomovism”). For Goncharov and me, Oblomov is a mystery.
The emphasized clarity of Stolz's relations with the world, with people, is opposed to the mysterious understatement and illogicality of Oblomov's connections. Roughly speaking, Stolz can be retold, Oblomov - in no case.
This is the basis for Oblomov’s wonderful dialogue with Zakhar, a dialogue in which the master reproaches the servant who dared to confuse him with “the other.” This whole conversation, vividly reminiscent of both Gogol and Dostoevsky, is absurd. So, Oblomov, explaining to Zakhar why he cannot move to a new apartment, gives completely absurd arguments: “When I get up and see something else instead of this turner’s sign, on the contrary, or if this short-haired old woman doesn’t look out of the window before dinner , I’m so bored.” The unknown Lyagachev already appears in the text, for whom it’s easy to move: “He’ll take a ruler under his arm” and move. Already “both of them ceased to understand each other, and finally each of them and themselves.” But the scene does not lose tension; it is all filled with vague meaning.
This absurd scandal reveals the internal kinship between the master and his servant, their blood closeness - after all, they are brothers in Oblomovka. And without any logic, it is clear to Oblomov and Zakhar that “others” are strangers, strange creatures, strangers to their way of life.
It turns out that the worst thing for Oblomov is to lose this very uniqueness of his personality, to merge with “others.” That’s why he is so horrified when he accidentally overhears someone calling him “some kind of Oblomov.”
In the light of this mystical horror - losing oneself in the crowd - Oblomov’s supposedly empty exclamations sound completely different: “Where is the man here? Where is his integrity? Where did he disappear, how did he exchange for all sorts of little things?
Whatever form of activity the world around Oblomov offers, he always finds a way to see in it empty vanity, exchanging the soul for trifles. The world requires a person not to be a full-fledged person, but only a part of it - a husband, an official, a hero. And Stolz has nothing to object to Oblomov here, except: “You are arguing like an ancient man.”
Oblomov really talks like an “ancient.” And the narrator, describing his hero, constantly hints at the source of the novel, calling himself “another Homer.” The archaic idyll, signs of the prehistoric Golden Age, which are especially noticeable in the description of Oblomovka, transport the hero to another time - to the epic. Oblomov gradually plunges into eternity, where “the present and the past have merged and mixed,” and the future does not exist at all. The real meaning of his life is not to chase Stolz in a vain attempt to be modern, but, on the contrary, to avoid the movement of time. Oblomov lives in his own, autonomous time, which is why he died, “as if a clock had stopped and they forgot to wind it.” He dissolved in his dream - to hold on, to stop time, to freeze in the absolute existence of the coveted Oblomovka.
Oblomov's utopia is a world that has emerged from history, a world so beautiful that it cannot be improved. This means a world devoid of purpose.
Goncharov paints Oblomov’s ideal with living colors, but places it outside of earthly life. Sleepy Oblomovka is an afterlife, it is the absolute peace of a person turned into an ideal statue. Oblomovka is death.
This is how Goncharov leads his hero to a tragic paradox. Oblomov's incompatibility with the world stems from the fact that he is dead among the living. His completeness, completeness, lonely self-sufficiency is the perfection of a corpse, a mummy. “Or a beautiful but motionless statue.” At the same time, all the characters in the novel are just fragments of Oblomov’s whole personality - they are alive due to their imperfection, their incompleteness. Carrying out their life program, their machine function, they exist in today, in history. Oblomov remains in eternity, as endless as death.
It would seem that this predetermines Oblomov’s dispute with the “others”: the dead have no hope of defeating the living.
However, Oblomov’s perception of ideal life as death is hopeless, but not tragic. The equal sign that Oblomov puts between non-existence before birth and non-existence after death only indicates the illusory nature of the gap between these two states, the gap called life. Oblomov’s “equal” means only the identity of two zeros.
Goncharov does not undertake to challenge the correctness of this identity. He leaves the reader alone with zero - a symbol of Oblomov’s round, integral world.
This zero, finding its counterpart in the composition of the book, recalls both the ideal – in a continental climate – perfection of the annual circle, and the letter “o” with which the titles of all Goncharov’s novels begin.
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From the book History of the Russian Novel. Volume 1 author Philology Team of authors --I. A. Goncharov (1812–1891) Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov is the author of the famous trilogy (“Ordinary History”, “Oblomov”, “Cliff”), the book “Frigate Pallada”, critical articles and other works, one of the largest writers among great realists of the 19th century.I. A. Goncharov
From the book Ideals and Reality in Russian Literature author Kropotkin Petr Alekseevich“OBLOMOV” (N.I. Prutskov) 1 Goncharov’s second novel “Oblomov” was published in 1859 in Otechestvennye zapiski. It was published as a separate publication that same year. But the idea of the novel, the work on it and the publication of the chapter “Oblomov’s Dream”, which is very important for the entire work, relate
From the book Articles about Russian writers author Kotov Anatoly KonstantinovichChapter V Goncharov. - Dostoevsky. - Nekrasov Goncharov: “Oblomov.” - Russian disease “Oblomovism”. - Is she exclusively Russian? - “Breakage.” Dostoevsky: His first story. - The general character of his works. - “Notes from a Dead House.” - “Humiliated and
From the book Russian Literature in Assessments, Judgments, Disputes: A Reader of Literary Critical Texts author Esin Andrey BorisovichABOUT I. A. GONCHAROV’S NOVEL “OBLOMOV” “Oblomov” is the pinnacle of Goncharov’s creativity. In none of his works, including Ordinary History and The Precipice, does Goncharov appear as such a great artist of words, a merciless denouncer of serfdom, as in the novel
From the book All essays on literature for grade 10 author Team of authorsRoman I.A. Goncharov's "Oblomov" Goncharov's novel became an important event in the literary life of the late 50s - early 60s of the 19th century. Oblomov’s type itself contained such a broad generalization that it first of all attracted the attention of critics and received different interpretations. To others
From the book 100 Great Literary Heroes [with illustrations] author Eremin Viktor NikolaevichPisemsky, Turgenev and Goncharov<…>Read Goncharov from beginning to end, and you, in all likelihood, will not be carried away by anything, will not daydream about anything, will not argue heatedly with the author about anything, will not call him either an obscurantist1 or a zealous progressive and, closing the last
From the book How to Write an Essay. To prepare for the Unified State Exam author Sitnikov Vitaly PavlovichI. A. Goncharov “Oblomov” 24. Olga Ilyinskaya, and her role in the life of Oblomov (based on the novel “Oblomov” by I. A. Goncharov) The image of Oblomov in Russian literature closes the series of “superfluous” people. An inactive contemplator, incapable of active action, at first glance really
From the book of Litra author Kiselev AlexanderIlya Ilyich Oblomov Ilya Ilyich Oblomov can rightfully be called the most unknown literary hero in world history. Inspired from above, its creator, Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov, judging by individual statements of the writer, both in the novel itself and about
From the author's bookOblomov and “Oblomovism” in I. A. Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” I. Goncharov’s moral sensitivity. Modern society presented in the novel, in the moral, psychological, philosophical and social aspects of its existence. II. "Oblomovism".1. Oblomov and Stolz -
From the author's bookOne "O" out of three. Goncharov Turgenev wrote short novels. And we are grateful to him for this. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky wrote long novels. Goncharov wrote long and... Boring - it sounds insulting. Okay: long, slow novels. There is such a memo: Goncharov wrote three novels, and
Still from the film “A few days in the life of I.I. Oblomov" (1979)
Part one
In St. Petersburg, on Gorokhovaya Street, on the same morning as always, Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is lying in bed - a young man of about thirty-two, not burdening himself with any special activities. His lying down is a certain way of life, a kind of protest against established conventions, which is why Ilya Ilyich so ardently, philosophically and meaningfully objects to all attempts to get him off the couch. His servant, Zakhar, is the same, showing neither surprise nor displeasure - he is used to living the same way as his master: how he lives...
This morning, visitors come to Oblomov one after another: on the first of May, the whole St. Petersburg society gathers in Yekateringhof, so the friends are trying to push Ilya Ilyich away, to stir him up, forcing him to take part in the social holiday festivities. But neither Volkov, nor Sudbinsky, nor Penkin succeeds. With each of them, Oblomov tries to discuss his concerns - a letter from the headman from Oblomovka and the threatening move to another apartment; but no one cares about Ilya Ilyich’s worries.
But Mikhei Andreevich Tarantiev, Oblomov’s fellow countryman, “a man of a quick and cunning mind,” is ready to deal with the problems of the lazy master. Knowing that after the death of his parents, Oblomov remained the only heir of three hundred and fifty souls, Tarantyev is not at all opposed to settling down with a very tasty morsel, especially since he quite rightly suspects: the headman of Oblomov steals and lies much more than is required within reasonable limits. And Oblomov is waiting for his childhood friend, Andrei Stolts, who, in his opinion, is the only one who can help him understand his economic difficulties.
At first, when he arrived in St. Petersburg, Oblomov somehow tried to integrate into the life of the capital, but gradually he realized the futility of his efforts: no one needed him, and no one was close to him. So Ilya Ilyich lay down on his sofa... And so his unusually devoted servant Zakhar, who was in no way behind his master, lay down on his couch. He intuitively feels who can truly help his master, and who, like Mikhei Andreevich, only pretends to be Oblomov’s friend. But from a detailed showdown with mutual grievances, only a dream into which the master plunges, while Zakhar goes to gossip and relieve his soul with the neighboring servants, can save him.
Oblomov sees in a sweet dream his past, long-gone life in his native Oblomovka, where there is nothing wild, grandiose, where everything breathes calm and serene sleep. Here they only eat, sleep, discuss the news that comes to this region very late; life flows smoothly, flowing from autumn to winter, from spring to summer, to again complete its eternal circles. Here fairy tales are almost indistinguishable from real life, and dreams are a continuation of reality. Everything is peaceful, quiet, calm in this blessed land - no passions, no worries disturb the inhabitants of sleepy Oblomovka, among whom Ilya Ilyich spent his childhood. This dream could have lasted, it seems, for an eternity, if it had not been interrupted by the appearance of Oblomov’s long-awaited friend, Andrei Ivanovich Stoltz, whose arrival Zakhar joyfully announces to his master...
Part two
Andrei Stolts grew up in the village of Verkhlevo, which was once part of Oblomovka; here now his father serves as manager. Stolz developed into a personality, in many ways unusual, thanks to the double upbringing received from a strong-willed, strong, cold-blooded German father and a Russian mother, a sensitive woman who lost herself in the storms of life at the piano. The same age as Oblomov, he is the complete opposite of his friend: “he is constantly on the move: if society needs to send an agent to Belgium or England, they send him; you need to write some project or adapt a new idea to business - they choose it. Meanwhile, he goes out into the world and reads; when he succeeds, God knows.”
The first thing Stolz starts with is pulling Oblomov out of bed and taking him to visit different houses. Thus begins the new life of Ilya Ilyich.
Stolz seems to pour some of his ebullient energy into Oblomov, now Oblomov gets up in the morning and begins to write, read, take an interest in what is happening around him, and his acquaintances cannot be surprised: “Imagine, Oblomov has moved!” But Oblomov didn’t just move - his whole soul was shaken to the core: Ilya Ilyich fell in love. Stolz brought him into the Ilyinskys’ house, and in Oblomov a man, endowed by nature with unusually strong feelings, wakes up - listening to Olga sing, Ilya Ilyich experiences a genuine shock, he finally finally woke up. But for Olga and Stolz, who have planned a kind of experiment on the eternally dormant Ilya Ilyich, this is not enough - it is necessary to awaken him to rational activity.
Meanwhile, Zakhar found his happiness - having married Anisya, a simple and kind woman, he suddenly realized that dust, dirt, and cockroaches should be fought, and not put up with. In a short time, Anisya puts Ilya Ilyich’s house in order, extending her power not only to the kitchen, as initially expected, but throughout the entire house.
But this general awakening did not last long: the very first obstacle, moving from the dacha to the city, gradually turned into that swamp that slowly but steadily sucks in Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, who is not adapted to making decisions, to taking the initiative. A long life in a dream cannot end immediately...
Olga, feeling her power over Oblomov, is unable to understand too much about him.
Part three
Having succumbed to Tarantiev’s intrigues at the moment when Stolz left St. Petersburg again, Oblomov moved to an apartment rented to him by Mikhei Andreevich, on the Vyborg side.
Unable to deal with life, unable to get rid of debts, unable to manage his estate and expose the swindlers around him, Oblomov ends up in the house of Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna, whose brother, Ivan Matveevich Mukhoyarov, is friends with Mikhei Andreevich, not inferior to him, but rather superior the latter with cunning and cunning. In Agafya Matveevna’s house, in front of Oblomov, at first imperceptibly, and then more and more clearly, the atmosphere of his native Oblomovka unfolds, what Ilya Ilyich treasures most in his soul.
Gradually, Oblomov’s entire household passes into the hands of Pshenitsyna. A simple, ingenuous woman, she begins to manage Oblomov’s house, preparing him delicious dishes, organizing his life, and again the soul of Ilya Ilyich plunges into a sweet sleep. Although occasionally the peace and serenity of this dream explodes with meetings with Olga Ilyinskaya, who is gradually becoming disillusioned with her chosen one. Rumors about the wedding of Oblomov and Olga Ilyinskaya are already scurrying between the servants of the two houses - having learned about this, Ilya Ilyich is horrified: nothing has been decided yet, in his opinion, and people are already moving from house to house conversations about what is most likely , that won't happen. “That’s all Andrei: he instilled love, like smallpox, in both of us. And what kind of life is this, all the excitement and anxiety! When will there be peaceful happiness, peace?” - Oblomov reflects, realizing that everything that happens to him is nothing more than the last convulsions of a living soul, ready for the final, already continuous sleep.
Days pass by days, and now Olga, unable to bear it, comes to Ilya Ilyich on the Vyborg side. He comes to make sure that nothing will awaken Oblomov from his slow descent into final sleep. Meanwhile, Ivan Matveyevich Mukhoyarov is taking over Oblomov’s estate affairs, entangling Ilya Ilyich so thoroughly and deeply in his clever machinations that the owner of blessed Oblomovka is unlikely to be able to get out of them. And at this moment Agafya Matveevna is also repairing Oblomov’s robe, which, it seemed, no one could fix. This becomes the last straw in the throes of Ilya Ilyich’s resistance - he falls ill with fever.
Part four
A year after Oblomov’s illness, life flowed along its measured course: the seasons changed, Agafya Matveevna prepared delicious dishes for the holidays, baked pies for Oblomov, brewed coffee for him with her own hands, celebrated Elijah’s Day with enthusiasm... And suddenly Agafya Matveevna realized that she had fallen in love master She became so devoted to him that at the moment when Andrei Stolts, who came to St. Petersburg on the Vyborg side, exposed Mukhoyarov’s dark deeds, Pshenitsyna renounced her brother, whom she had so revered and even feared just recently.
Having experienced disappointment in her first love, Olga Ilyinskaya gradually gets used to Stolz, realizing that her attitude towards him is much more than just friendship. And Olga agrees to Stolz’s proposal...
And a few years later, Stolz reappears on the Vyborg side. He finds Ilya Ilyich, who has become “a complete and natural reflection and expression of ‹…› peace, contentment and serene silence. Looking and reflecting on his life and becoming more and more comfortable in it, he finally decided that he had nowhere else to go, nothing to look for...” Oblomov found his quiet happiness with Agafya Matveevna, who bore him a son, Andryusha. Stolz's arrival does not bother Oblomov: he asks his old friend just not to leave Andryusha...
And five years later, when Oblomov was no longer there, Agafya Matveevna’s house fell into disrepair, and the wife of the bankrupt Mukhoyarov, Irina Panteleevna, began to play the first role in it. Andryusha was asked to be raised by the Stoltsy. Living in the memory of the late Oblomov, Agafya Matveevna focused all her feelings on her son: “she realized that she had lost and her life shone, that God put his soul into her life and took it out again; that the sun shone in her and darkened forever...” And high memory forever connected her with Andrei and Olga Stolts - “the memory of the soul of the deceased, clear as crystal.”
And faithful Zakhar is there, on the Vyborg side, where he lived with his master, now asking for alms...
Retold
I. A. Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” was published in 1859 in the journal “Otechestvennye zapiski” and is considered the pinnacle of the writer’s entire work. The idea for the work appeared back in 1849, when the author published one of the chapters of the future novel, “Oblomov’s Dream,” in the “Literary Collection”. Work on the future masterpiece was often interrupted, ending only in 1858.
Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” is part of a trilogy with two other works by Goncharov – “The Cliff” and “An Ordinary Story.” The work is written according to the traditions of the literary movement of realism. In the novel, the author brings out an important problem for that time in Russian society - “Oblomovism”, examines the tragedy of the superfluous person and the problem of the gradual decline of personality, revealing them in all aspects of the hero’s everyday and mental life.
Main characters
Oblomov Ilya Ilyich- a nobleman, a landowner of thirty years old, a lazy, gentle man who spends all his time in idleness. A character with a subtle poetic soul, prone to constant dreams, which replace real life.
Zakhar Trofimovich- Oblomov’s faithful servant, who has served him from an early age. Very similar to the owner in his laziness.
Stolts Andrey Ivanovich- Oblomov’s childhood friend, his peer. A practical, rational and active man who knows what he wants and is constantly developing.
Ilyinskaya Olga Sergeevna- Oblomov’s beloved, an intelligent and gentle girl, not devoid of practicality in life. Then she became Stolz's wife.
Pshenitsyna Agafya Matveevna- the owner of the apartment in which Oblomov lived, a thrifty but weak-willed woman. She sincerely loved Oblomov, who later became his wife.
Other characters
Tarantyev Mikhey Andreevich- cunning and selfish are familiar to Oblomov.
Mukhoyarov Ivan Matveevich- Pshenitsyna’s brother, an official, as cunning and selfish as Tarantyev.
Volkov, official Sudbinsky, writer Penkin, Alekseev Ivan Alekseevich- Oblomov’s acquaintances.
Part 1
Chapter 1
The work “Oblomov” begins with a description of Oblomov’s appearance and his home - the room is a mess, which the owner does not seem to notice, dirt and dust. As the author says, several years ago Ilya Ilyich received a letter from the headman that he needed to restore order in his native estate - Oblomovka, but still did not dare to go there, but only planned and dreamed. Having called their servant Zakhar after morning tea, they discuss the need to move out of the apartment, since the owner of the property has become needed.
Chapter 2
Volkov, Sudbinsky and Penkin come to visit Oblomov in turn. They all talk about their lives and invite them to go somewhere, but Oblomov resists and they leave with nothing.
Then Alekseev comes - an indefinite, spineless man, no one could even say exactly what his name is. He calls Oblomov to Ekateringof, but Ilya Ilyich does not even want to get out of bed at last. Oblomov shares his problem with Alekseev - a stale letter arrived from the head of his estate, in which Oblomov was informed about serious losses this year (2 thousand), which makes him very upset.
Chapter 3
Tarantiev arrives. The author says that Alekseev and Tarantiev entertain Oblomov in their own way. Tarantiev, making a lot of noise, brought Oblomov out of boredom and immobility, while Alekseev acted as an obedient listener who could quietly remain in the room for hours until Ilya Ilyich paid attention to him.
Chapter 4
Like all visitors, Oblomov covers himself from Tarantiev with a blanket and asks not to come close, since he came in from the cold. Tarantiev invites Ilya Ilyich to move into an apartment with his godfather, which is located in the Vyborg side. Oblomov consults with him about the headman’s letter, Tarantiev asks for money for advice and says that most likely the headman is a fraudster, recommending that he be replaced and write a letter to the governor.
Chapter 5
Next, the author talks about Oblomov’s life; in short, it can be retold as follows: Ilya Ilyich lived in St. Petersburg for 12 years, being a collegiate secretary by rank. After the death of his parents, he became the owner of an estate in a remote province. When he was young, he was more active and strived to achieve a lot, but with age he realized that he was standing still. Oblomov perceived his service as a second family, which did not correspond to reality, where he had to hurry and sometimes work even at night. For more than two years he served somehow, but then he accidentally sent an important paper to the wrong place. Without waiting for punishment from his superiors, Oblomov himself left, sending a medical certificate in which he was ordered to refuse to go to work and soon resigned. Ilya Ilyich never fell deeply in love, he soon stopped communicating with friends and dismissed his servants, he became very lazy, but Stoltz still managed to get him out into the public eye.
Chapter 6
Oblomov considered training as a punishment. Reading tired him, but poetry captivated him. For him there was a whole gulf between study and life. He was easy to deceive; he believed everything and everyone. Long journeys were alien to him: the only trip in his life was from his native estate to Moscow. Spending his life on the couch, he thinks about something all the time, either planning his life, or experiencing emotional moments, or imagining himself as one of the great people, but all this remains only in his thoughts.
Chapter 7
Characterizing Zakhar, the author presents him as a thieving, lazy and clumsy servant and gossip who was not averse to drinking and partying at the master’s expense. It was not out of malice that he came up with gossip about the master, but at the same time he sincerely loved him with special love.
Chapter 8
The author returns to the main narrative. After Tarantyev left, Oblomov lay down and began to think about developing a plan for his estate, how he would have a good time there with his friends and wife. He even felt complete happiness. Gathering his strength, Oblomov finally got up to have breakfast, deciding to write a letter to the governor, but it turned out awkwardly and Oblomov tore up the letter. Zakhar again talks to the master about moving, so that Oblomov will leave the house for a while and the servants can safely move things, but Ilya Ilyich resists in every possible way and asks Zakhar to settle the issue of moving with the owner so that they can stay in the old apartment. Having quarreled with Zakhar and, thinking about his past, Oblomov falls asleep.
Chapter 9 Oblomov's Dream
Oblomov dreams of his childhood, quiet and pleasant, which slowly passed in Oblomovka - practically heaven on earth. Oblomov remembers his mother, his old nanny, other servants, how they prepared for dinners, baked pies, how he ran on the grass and how his nanny told him fairy tales and retold myths, and Ilya imagined himself as the hero of these myths. Then he dreams of his adolescence - his 13th-14th birthday, when he studied in Verkhlev, at the Stolz boarding school. There he learned almost nothing, because Oblomovka was nearby, and their monotonous life, like a calm river, influenced him. Ilya remembers all his relatives, for whom life was a series of rituals and feasts - births, weddings and funerals. The peculiarity of the estate was that they did not like to spend money and were ready to endure any inconvenience because of this - an old stained sofa, a worn out chair. Days were spent in idleness, sitting silently, yawning or conducting semi-meaningless conversations. The residents of Oblomovka were alien to chance, change, and troubles. Any issue took a long time to be resolved, and sometimes it was not resolved at all, being put on the back burner. His parents understood that Ilya needed to study, they would like to see him educated, but since this was not included in the foundations of Oblomovka, he was often left at home on school days, fulfilling his every whim.
Chapters 10-11
While Oblomov was sleeping, Zakhar went out into the yard to complain about the master to other servants, but when they spoke unkindly about Oblomov, ambition awoke in him and he began to fully praise both the master and himself.
Returning home, Zakhar tries to wake up Oblomov, since he asked to wake him up in the evening, but Ilya Ilyich, cursing at the servant, tries in every possible way to continue sleeping. This scene greatly amuses Stolz, who arrived and stood in the doorway.
Part 2
Chapters 1-2
The second chapter of the story “Oblomov” by Ivan Goncharov begins with a retelling of the fate of Andrei Ivanovich Stolts. His father was German, his mother Russian. His mother saw in Andrey the ideal master, while his father raised him by his own example, taught him agronomy, and took him to factories. From his mother, the young man adopted a love of books and music, and from his father, practicality and the ability to work. He grew up as an active and lively child - he could leave for several days, then return dirty and shabby. His childhood was given life by the frequent visits of the princes, who filled their estate with fun and noise. His father, continuing the family tradition, sent Stolz to university. When Andrei returned after studying, his father did not allow him to stay in Verkhlev, sending him with a hundred rubles in banknotes and a horse to St. Petersburg.
Stolz lived strictly and practically, fearing dreams most of all; he had no idols, but was physically strong and attractive. He stubbornly and accurately walked along the chosen path, everywhere he showed perseverance and a rational approach. For Andrei, Oblomov was not only a school friend, but also a close person with whom he could calm his troubled soul.
Chapter 3
The author returns to Oblomov’s apartment, where Ilya Ilyich complains to Stoltz about problems on the estate. Andrei Ivanovich advises him to open a school there, but Oblomov believes that this is too early for men. Ilya Ilyich also mentions the need to move out of the apartment and the lack of money. Stolz doesn’t see a problem with the move and is surprised at how Oblomov has wallowed in laziness. Andrei Ivanovich forces Zakhar to bring clothes to Ilya in order to take him out into the world. Stolz also orders the servant to send Tarantiev out every time he comes, since Mikhei Andreevich constantly asks Oblomov for money and clothes, without intending to return them.
Chapter 4
For a week, Stolz takes Oblomov to various societies. Oblomov is dissatisfied, complaining about the fuss, the need to walk in boots all day and the noisiness of people. Oblomov blurts out to Stoltz that the ideal of life for him is Oblomovka, but when Andrei Ivanovich asks why he won’t go there, Ilya Ilyich finds many reasons and excuses. Oblomov draws an idyll of life in Oblomovka to Stolz, to which his friend tells him that this is not life, but “Oblomovism.” Stolz reminds him of the dreams of his youth, that he needs to work and not spend his days in laziness. They come to the conclusion that Oblomov finally needs to go abroad, and then to the village.
Chapters 5-6
Stolz’s words “now or never” made a great impression on Oblomov and he decided to live differently - he made a passport, bought everything he needed for a trip to Paris. But Ilya Ilyich did not leave, since Stolz introduced him to Olga Sergeevna - at one of the evenings Oblomov fell in love with her. Ilya Ilyich began to spend a lot of time with the girl, and soon bought a dacha opposite her aunt’s dacha. In the presence of Olga Sergeevna, Oblomov felt awkward, could not lie to her, but admired her, listening with bated breath to the girl singing. After one of the songs, he exclaimed without controlling himself that he felt love. Having come to his senses, Ilya Ilyich ran out of the room.
Oblomov blamed himself for his incontinence, but, meeting with Olga Sergeevna afterwards, he said that it was a momentary passion for music and not true. To which the girl assured him that she had forgiven him for taking liberties and had forgotten everything.
Chapter 7
The changes affected not only Ilya, but his entire house. Zakhar married Anisya, a lively and agile woman who changed the established order in her own way.
While Ilya Ilyich, who had returned from a meeting with Olga Sergeevna, was worried about what had happened, he was invited to dinner with the girl’s aunt. Oblomov is tormented by doubts; he compares himself with Stolz, wondering if Olga is flirting with him. However, when meeting him, the girl behaves reservedly and seriously with him.
Chapter 8
Oblomov spent the whole day with Aunt Olga - Marya Mikhailovna - a woman who knew how to live and manage life. The relationship between the aunt and their niece had its own special character; Marya Mikhailovna was an authority for Olga.
After waiting all day, bored with Aunt Olga and Baron Langwagen, Oblomov finally waited for the girl. Olga Sergeevna was cheerful and he asked her to sing, but in her voice he did not hear yesterday’s feelings. Disappointed, Ilya Ilyich went home.
Oblomov was tormented by the change in Olga, but the girl’s meeting with Zakhar gave Oblomov a new chance - Olga Sergeevna herself made an appointment in the park. Their conversation turned to the topic of unnecessary, useless existence, to which Ilya Ilyich said that his life is like this, because all the flowers have fallen from it. They touched upon the issue of feelings for each other and the girl shared Oblomov’s love, giving him her hand. Walking with her further, happy Ilya Ilyich kept repeating to himself: “This is all mine! My!".
Chapter 9
The lovers are happy together. For Olga Sergeevna, with love, meaning appeared in everything - in books, in dreams, in every moment. For Oblomov, this time became a time of activity, he lost his previous peace, constantly thinking about Olga, who tried in every possible way and tricks to bring him out of a state of idleness, forced him to read books and go on visits.
When talking about their feelings, Oblomov asks Olga why she doesn’t constantly talk about her love for him, to which the girl replies that she loves him with a special love, when it’s a pity to leave for a short time, but it hurts for a long time. When talking about her feelings, she relied on her imagination and believed it. Oblomov didn’t need anything more than the image with which he was in love.
Chapter 10
The next morning, a change occurred in Oblomov - he began to wonder why he needed a burdensome relationship and why Olga might fall in love with him. Ilya Ilyich doesn’t like that her love is lazy. As a result, Oblomov decides to write a letter to Olga, in which he says that their feelings have gone far and began to influence their life and character. And those “I love, love, love” that Olga told him yesterday were not true - he is not the person she dreamed of. At the end of the letter, he says goodbye to the girl.
Having given the letter to the maid Olga, and knowing that she would be walking through the park, he hid in the shadow of the bushes and decided to wait for her. The girl walked and cried - he saw her tears for the first time. Oblomov could not stand it and caught up with her. The girl is upset and gives him the letter, reproaching him for the fact that yesterday he needed her “love”, and today her “tears”, that in fact he does not love her, and this is just a manifestation of selfishness - Oblomov only talks about feelings and sacrifice in words, but in reality it is not so. In front of Oblomov was an insulted woman.
Ilya Ilyich asks Olga Sergeevna for everything to be as before, but she refuses. Walking next to her, he realizes his mistake and tells the girl that the letter was not needed. Olga Sergeevna gradually calms down and says that in the letter she saw all his tenderness and love for her. She had already moved away from the offense and was thinking about how to soften the situation. Having asked Oblomov for a letter, she pressed his hands to her heart and ran home happy.
Chapters 11-12
Stolz writes to Oblomov to settle matters with the village, but Oblomov, preoccupied with his feelings for Olga Sergeevna, puts off solving the problems. The lovers spend a lot of time together, but Ilya Ilyich begins to feel depressed that they are meeting in secret. He tells Olga about this and the lovers discuss that they might need to officially declare their relationship.
Part 3
Chapters 1-2
Tarantiev asks Oblomov for money for his godfather’s house, in which he did not live, and is trying to beg more money from Oblomov. But Ilya Ilyich’s attitude towards him has changed, so the man receives nothing.
Joyful that the relationship with Olga will soon become official, Oblomov goes to the girl. But his beloved does not share his dreams and feelings, but approaches the matter practically. Olga tells him that before telling his aunt about their relationship, he needs to settle things in Oblomovka, rebuild a house there, and in the meantime rent housing in the city.
Oblomov goes to the apartment that Tarantiev advised him, his things are piled up there. He was met by Tarantieva’s godfather, Agafya Matveevna, who asked him to wait for her brother, since she was not in charge of this herself. Not wanting to wait, Oblomov leaves, asking him to tell him that he no longer needs the apartment.
Chapter 3
In Ilya Ilyich’s opinion, the relationship with Olga becomes sluggish and protracted; he is increasingly oppressed by uncertainty. Olga persuades him to go and sort things out with the apartment. He meets with the owner’s brother and he says that while his things were in the apartment, it could not be rented out to anyone, so Ilya Ilyich owes 800 rubles. Oblomov is indignant but then promises to find the money. Having discovered that he only has 300 rubles left, he cannot remember where he spent the money over the summer.
Chapter 4
Oblomov still moves in with Tarantiev’s godfather, the woman worries about his quiet life, everyday life, and is raising Zakhar’s wife Anisya. Ilya Ilyich finally sends a letter to the headman. Their meetings with Olga Sergeevna continue, he was even invited to the Ilyinsky box.
One day Zakhar asks if Oblomov has found an apartment and whether the wedding will happen soon. Ilya is surprised how the servant can know about the relationship with Olga Sergeevna, to which Zakhar replies that the Ilyinsky servants have been talking about this for a long time. Oblomov assures Zakhar that this is not true, explaining how troublesome and expensive it is.
Chapters 5-6
Olga Sergeevna makes an appointment with Oblomov and, putting on a veil, meets him in the park secretly from her aunt. Oblomov is against the fact that she is deceiving her relatives. Olga Sergeevna invites him to open up to his aunt tomorrow, but Oblomov delays this moment, since he wants to first receive a letter from the village. Not wanting to go to visit the girl in the evening and the next day, he conveys through the servants that he is ill.
Chapter 7
Oblomov spent a week at home, communicating with the hostess and her children. On Sunday, Olga Sergeevna persuaded her aunt to go to Smolny, since it was there that they agreed to meet with Oblomov. The Baron tells her that in a month she can return to her estate and Olga dreams of how happy Oblomov will be when he finds out that he doesn’t have to worry about the fate of Oblomovka and immediately goes to live there.
Olga Sergeevna came to visit Oblomov, but immediately noticed that he was not sick. The girl reproaches the man that he deceived her and did nothing all this time. Olga forces Oblomov to go with her and her aunt to the opera. Inspired Oblomov is waiting for this meeting and a letter from the village.
Chapters 8,9,10
A letter arrives in which the owner of a neighboring estate writes that things are bad in Oblomovka, there is almost no profit, and in order for the land to give money again, the owner’s urgent personal presence is needed. Ilya Ilyich is upset that because of this the wedding will have to be postponed for at least a year.
Oblomov shows the letter to the owner’s brother, Ivan Matveevich, and asks him for advice. He recommends his colleague Zatertoy to go and settle matters on the estate instead of Oblomov.
Ivan Matveyevich discusses a “successful deal” with Tarantiev; they consider Oblomov to be a fool from whom they can make good money.
Chapters 11-12
Oblomov comes with a letter to Olga Sergeevna and says that a person has been found who will sort everything out, so they won’t have to part. But the wedding issue will have to wait another year until everything is finally settled. Olga, who hoped that Ilya would ask her aunt for her hand any day now, faints from this news. When the girl comes to her senses, she blames Oblomov for his indecisiveness. Olga Sergeevna tells Ilya Ilyich that even in a year he will not settle his life, continuing to torment her. They break up.
Upset, Oblomov walks unconscious around the city until late at night. Returning home, he sits motionless for a long time, and in the morning the servants find him in a fever.
Part 4
Chapter 1
A year has passed. Oblomov lived there with Agafya Matveevna. The worn-out one settled everything in an ancient manner and sent good proceeds for the bread. Oblomov was glad that everything had been settled and money appeared without the need for his personal presence at the estate. Gradually, Ilya’s grief was forgotten and he unconsciously fell in love with Agafya Matveevna, who also, without realizing it, fell in love with him. The woman surrounded Oblomov with care in every possible way.
Chapter 2
Stolz also came to visit at the magnificent celebration in the house of Agafya Matveevna Ivanov. Andrei Ivanovich tells Ilya Ilyich that Olga went abroad with her aunt, the girl told Stoltz everything and still cannot forget Oblomov. Andrei Ivanovich reproaches Oblomov for living in the “Oblomovka” again and trying to take him with him. Ilya Ilyich agrees again, promising to come later.
Chapter 3
Ivan Matveyevich and Tarantyev are concerned about Stolz’s arrival, since he may find out that the rent from the estate was collected, but they took it for themselves without Oblomov’s knowledge. They decide to blackmail Oblomov by allegedly seeing him go to Agafya Matveevna.
Chapter 4
The author in the story moves back to a year ago, when Stolz accidentally met Olga and her aunt in Paris. Noticing a change in the girl, he became concerned and began to spend a lot of time with her. He offers her interesting books, tells her something that excites him, goes with them to Switzerland, where he realizes that he is in love with a girl. Olga herself also feels great sympathy for him, but is worried about her past love experience. Stolz asks to tell about her unhappy love. Having learned all the details and the fact that she was in love with Oblomov, Stolz discards his worries and calls her to marry. Olga agrees.
Chapter 5
A year and a half after Midsummer and Oblomov’s name day, everything in his life became even more boring and gloomy - he became even more flabby and lazy. Agafya Matveevna’s brother counts the money for him, so Ilya Ilyich doesn’t even understand why he is making losses. When Ivan Matveevich got married, money became very bad and Agafya Matveevna, taking care of Oblomov, even went to pawn her pearls. Oblomov did not notice this, falling further into laziness.
Chapters 6-7
Stolz comes to visit Oblomov. Ilya Ilyich asks him about Olga. Stolz tells him that everything is fine with her and the girl married him. Oblomov congratulates him. They sit down at the table and Oblomov begins to tell that now he has little money and Agafya Matveevna has to manage herself, since there is not enough for servants. Stolz is surprised, because he regularly sends him money. Oblomov talks about the loan debt to the hostess. When Stolz tries to find out the terms of the loan from Agafya Matveevna, she assures that Ilya Ilyich does not owe her anything.
Stolz draws up a paper stating that Oblomov does not owe anything. Ivan Matveich plans to frame Oblomov.
Stolz wanted to take Oblomov with him, but he asked to leave him for only a month. In parting, Stolz warns him to be careful, since his feelings for the hostess are noticeable.
Oblomov quarrels with Tarantiev over deception, Ilya Ilyich beats him and drives him out of the house.
Chapter 8
Stolz did not come to St. Petersburg for several years. They lived with Olga Sergeevna in complete happiness and harmony, enduring all difficulties, coping with sadness and loss. One day, during a conversation, Olga Sergeevna remembers Oblomov. Stolz tells the girl that in fact it was he who introduced her to the Oblomov she loved, but not the one Ilya Ilyich really is. Olga asks not to leave Oblomov, and when they are in St. Petersburg, to take her to him.
Chapter 9
In the Vyborg side everything was quiet and calm. After Stolz arranged everything in Oblomovka, Ilya Ilyich had money, the pantries were bursting with food, Agafya Matvevna had a wardrobe with clothes. Oblomov, out of his habit, lay all day on the sofa, watching Agafya Matveevna’s classes; for him this was a continuation of Oblomov’s life.
However, at one point after a lunch break, Oblomov suffered an apoplexy and the doctor said that he urgently needed to change his lifestyle - move more and follow a diet. Oblomov does not follow instructions. He increasingly falls into oblivion.
Stolz comes to Oblomov to take him with him. Oblomov does not want to leave, but Andrei Ivanovich invites him to visit him, informing him that Olga is waiting in the carriage. Then Oblomov says that Agafya Matveevna is his wife, and the boy Andrei is his son, named after Stoltz, so he does not want to leave this apartment. Andrei Ivanovich leaves upset, telling Olga that “Oblomovism” has now reigned in Ilya Ilyich’s apartment.
Chapters 10-11
Five years have passed. Three years ago, Oblomov had a stroke again and died quietly. Now her brother and his wife are in charge of the house. Stolz took Oblomov’s son Andrei into his care. Agafya greatly misses Oblomov and her son, but does not want to go to Stolz.
One day, while walking, Stolz meets Zakhar, begging on the street. Stolz calls him to his place, but the man does not want to go far from Oblomov’s grave.
When asked by Stolz’s interlocutor who Oblomov is and why he disappeared, Andrei Ivanovich answers: “The reason... what a reason! Oblomovism!
Conclusion
Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” is one of the most detailed and accurate studies of such a Russian phenomenon as “Oblomovism” - a national trait characterized by laziness, fear of change and daydreaming, replacing real activity. The author deeply analyzes the reasons for “Oblomovism,” seeing them in the pure, gentle, uncalculating soul of the hero, seeking peace and quiet, monotonous happiness, bordering on degradation and stagnation. Of course, a brief retelling of “Oblomov” cannot reveal to the reader all the issues considered by the author, so we strongly recommend that you evaluate the masterpiece of literature of the 19th century in full.
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Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” was written in 1859, when the choice between old, feudal, primordially Russian foundations and new, bourgeois, pro-European ideas became especially acute in Russian society. The ambiguous portrayal of the characters, the lack of a precisely formulated opinion of the author and the subtle psychologism of the narrative make it difficult to understand the ideological content of the novel, however, understanding the essence of “Oblomov” is possible through an analysis of the central characters of the work - Oblomov and Stolz.
Oblomov is depicted in the novel as a lazy, apathetic, unwilling to do anything, reflective character. For the hero, leaving the “comfort zone” is tantamount not to a step forward, but to a life catastrophe. Even when Stolz takes him to guests and social events for a while, it is difficult for Ilya Ilyich even physically - it is not convenient for him to walk around in boots all day. Oblomov sees the essence of his life in a distant, almost unattainable future, similar to his childhood in Oblomovka, where everything was quiet, calm, filled with rituals and inaction. On a philosophical scale, Ilya Ilyich’s native village becomes a symbol of everything primordially Russian, which every sensitive nature with a Russian mentality dreams of.
The complete opposite of Oblomov is Stolz. Andrey Ivanovich is an active, purposeful person who is constantly moving forward. If for Oblomov it is scary to go beyond the boundaries of his little world, then for Stolz it is scary to remain at one point without developing further. At first glance, against the backdrop of Ilya Ilyich, Andrei Ivanovich evokes sympathy, as a person who knows what he wants and what he is striving for. However, this is not so - it is not for nothing that many researchers compare Stolz with an automated mechanism that works for the sake of work. He does not see the ultimate goal of his life and what he lives for, and therefore returns to Oblomov as the bearer of the principles and fundamental truths that he lacks.
Oblomov and Stolz in the novel are not just characters opposed to each other, they organically complement each other - which is why their friendship continues from a very early age. Goncharov showed that choosing one of the paths - the old or the new - is fundamentally wrong. A person who pursues only one thing deprives himself of a full life, living it as if half-asleep, like Oblomov, or in a frantic race, like Stolz. The essence of the novel “Oblomov” is the author’s goal to convey to the reader the importance of harmonizing the wisdom of his ancestors with the speed and variability of the modern world.
