Introduction

Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” is a landmark work of Russian literature of the 19th century, describing the phenomenon of “Oblomovism” characteristic of Russian society. A prominent representative of this social trend in the book is Ilya Oblomov, who comes from a family of landowners, whose family structure was a reflection of the norms and rules of Domostroy. Developing in such an atmosphere, the hero gradually absorbed the values ​​and priorities of his parents, which significantly influenced the formation of his personality. A brief description of Oblomov in the novel “Oblomov” is given by the author at the beginning of the work - he is an apathetic, introverted, dreamy man who prefers to live his life in dreams and illusions, imagining and experiencing fictional pictures so vividly that sometimes he can sincerely rejoice or cry from those scenes that are born in his mind. Oblomov’s inner softness and sensuality seemed to be reflected in his appearance: all his movements, even in moments of alarm, were restrained by external softness, grace and delicacy, excessive for a man. The hero was flabby beyond his years, had soft shoulders and small plump hands, and a sedentary and inactive lifestyle was visible in his sleepy gaze, which lacked any concentration or any basic idea.

Life of Oblomov

As if a continuation of the soft, apathetic, lazy Oblomov, the novel describes the hero’s life. At first glance, his room was beautifully decorated: “There was a mahogany bureau, two sofas upholstered in silk, beautiful screens with embroidered birds and fruits unprecedented in nature. There were silk curtains, carpets, several paintings, bronze, porcelain and many beautiful little things.” However, if you looked closely, you could see cobwebs, dusty mirrors and long-opened and forgotten books, stains on the carpets, uncleaned household items, bread crumbs and even a forgotten plate with a gnawed bone. All this made the hero’s room unkempt, abandoned, and gave the impression that no one had been living here for a long time: the owners had long since left the home without having time to clean it up. To some extent, this was true: Oblomov did not live in the real world for a long time, replacing it with an illusory world. This is especially clearly visible in the episode when his acquaintances come to the hero, but Ilya Ilyich does not even bother to extend his hand to them to greet them, much less get out of bed to meet the visitors. The bed in this case (like the robe) is a borderline between the world of dreams and reality, that is, having gotten out of bed, Oblomov would to some extent agree to live in the real dimension, but the hero did not want this.

The influence of “Oblomovism” on Oblomov’s personality

The origins of Oblomov’s all-encompassing escapism, his irresistible desire to escape from reality, lie in the “Oblomov” upbringing of the hero, which the reader learns about from the description of Ilya Ilyich’s dream. The character’s native estate, Oblomovka, was located far from the central part of Russia, located in a picturesque, peaceful area, where there were never strong storms or hurricanes, and the climate was calm and mild. Life in the village flowed smoothly, and time was measured not in seconds and minutes, but in holidays and rituals - births, weddings or funerals. The monotonous, quiet nature was also reflected in the character of the inhabitants of Oblomovka - the most important value for them was rest, laziness and the opportunity to eat to their fill. Work was seen as a punishment and people tried in every possible way to avoid it, delay the time of work, or force someone else to do it.

It is noteworthy that the characterization of the hero Oblomov in childhood differs significantly from the image that appears before readers at the beginning of the novel. Little Ilya was an active child, interested in many things and open to the world, with a wonderful imagination. He liked to walk and explore the surrounding nature, but the rules of “Oblomov’s” life did not imply his freedom, so gradually his parents re-educated him in their own image and likeness, raising him like a “greenhouse plant,” protecting him from the adversities of the outside world, the need to work and learn new things. Even the fact that they sent Ilya to study was more a tribute to fashion than a real necessity, because for any slightest reason they themselves left their son at home. As a result, the hero grew up as if closed from society, unwilling to work and relying in everything on the fact that if any difficulties arose he could shout “Zakhar” and the servant would come and do everything for him.

The reasons for Oblomov’s desire to escape reality

The description of Oblomov, the hero of Goncharov’s novel, gives a vivid idea of ​​Ilya Ilyich as a man who has firmly fenced himself off from the real world and internally does not want to change. The reasons for this lie in Oblomov’s childhood. Little Ilya loved to listen to fairy tales and legends about great heroes and heroes that his nanny told him, and then imagine himself as one of these characters - a person in whose life at one moment a miracle would happen that would change the current state of affairs and make the hero a cut above others. However, fairy tales are significantly different from life, where miracles do not happen on their own, and to achieve success in society and career you need to constantly work, overcome failures and persistently move forward.

The greenhouse upbringing, where Oblomov was taught that someone else would do all the work for him, combined with the dreamy, sensual nature of the hero, led to Ilya Ilyich’s inability to fight difficulties. This feature of Oblomov manifested itself even at the moment of his first failure in the service - the hero, fearing punishment (although, perhaps, no one would have punished him, and the matter would have been decided by a banal warning), he quits his job and no longer wants to face a world where everyone for myself. An alternative to harsh reality for the hero is the world of his dreams, where he imagines a wonderful future in Oblomovka, his wife and children, a peaceful calm that reminds him of his own childhood. However, all these dreams remain just dreams; in reality, Ilya Ilyich puts off in every possible way the issues of arranging his native village, which, without the participation of a reasonable owner, is gradually being destroyed.

Why didn’t Oblomov find himself in real life?

The only person who could pull Oblomov out of his constant half-asleep idleness was the hero’s childhood friend, Andrei Ivanovich Stolts. He was the complete opposite of Ilya Ilyich both in appearance and in character. Always active, striving forward, able to achieve any goals, Andrei Ivanovich still valued his friendship with Oblomov, since in communicating with him he found that warmth and understanding that he really lacked in those around him.

Stolz was most fully aware of the destructive influence of “Oblomovism” on Ilya Ilyich, therefore, until the last moment, he tried with all his might to pull him into real life. One time Andrei Ivanovich almost succeeded when he introduced Oblomov to Ilyinskaya. But Olga, in her desire to change Ilya Ilyich’s personality, was driven solely by her own egoism, and not by an altruistic desire to help her loved one. At the moment of parting, the girl tells Oblomov that she could not bring him back to life, because he was already dead. On the one hand, this is true, the hero is too deeply mired in “Oblomovism,” and in order to change his attitude towards life, superhuman efforts and patience were required. On the other hand, Ilyinskaya, active and purposeful by nature, did not understand that Ilya Ilyich needed time to transform, and he could not change himself and his life in one jerk. The break with Olga became an even greater failure for Oblomov than a mistake in the service, so he finally plunges into the network of “Oblomovism”, leaves the real world, not wanting to experience any more mental pain.

Conclusion

The author's characterization of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, despite the fact that the hero is the central character, is ambiguous. Goncharov reveals both his positive traits (kindness, tenderness, sensuality, ability to worry and sympathize) and negative ones (laziness, apathy, reluctance to decide anything on his own, refusal of self-development), portraying to the reader a multifaceted personality that can evoke sympathy , and disgust. At the same time, Ilya Ilyich is undoubtedly one of the most accurate depictions of a truly Russian person, his nature and character traits. It is precisely this ambiguity and versatility of Oblomov’s image that allows even modern readers to discover something important for themselves in the novel, asking themselves those eternal questions that Goncharov raised in the novel.

Work test

It was first published in 1859. The novel is part of a trilogy with the works “An Ordinary Story” and “The Precipice”, being its second part.

History of creation

“Having read what was written carefully, I saw that all this had gone to the extreme, that I had taken up the subject in the wrong way, that one thing needed to be changed, another should be released<…>The thing is being developed in my head slowly and heavily.”

The entire novel “Oblomov” was first published only in 1859 in the first four issues of the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski”. The beginning of work on the novel dates back to an earlier period. In 1849, one of the central chapters of “Oblomov” was published - “Oblomov’s Dream”, which the author himself called “the overture of the entire novel.” The author asks the question: what is “Oblomovism” - a “golden age” or death, stagnation? In “The Dream...” the motifs of staticity and immobility, stagnation prevail, but at the same time one can feel the author’s sympathy, good-natured humor, and not just satirical negation.

As Goncharov later claimed, in 1849 the plan for the novel “Oblomov” was ready and the draft version of its first part was completed. “Soon,” wrote Goncharov, “after the publication of Ordinary History in 1847 in Sovremennik, I already had Oblomov’s plan ready in my mind.” In the summer of 1849, when “Oblomov’s Dream” was ready, Goncharov made a trip to his homeland, to Simbirsk, whose life retained the imprint of patriarchal antiquity. In this small town, the writer saw many examples of the “sleep” that the inhabitants of his fictional Oblomovka slept.

Work on the novel was interrupted due to Goncharov's trip around the world on the frigate Pallada. Only in the summer of 1857, after the publication of the travel essays “Frigate “Pallada””, Goncharov continued work on “Oblomov”. In the summer of 1857 he went to the resort of Marienbad, where he completed three parts of the novel within a few weeks. In August of the same year, Goncharov began working on the last, fourth, part of the novel, the final chapters of which were written in 1858.

However, while preparing the novel for publication, Goncharov rewrote Oblomov in 1858, adding new scenes, and made some cuts. Having completed work on the novel, Goncharov said: “I wrote my life and what grew into it.”

Goncharov admitted that the idea of ​​“Oblomov” was influenced by the ideas of Belinsky. The most important circumstance that influenced the concept of the work is considered to be Belinsky’s speech regarding Goncharov’s first novel, “An Ordinary Story.” The image of Oblomov also contains autobiographical features. By Goncharov’s own admission, he himself was a sybarite, he loved serene peace, which gives rise to creativity.

Published in 1859, the novel was hailed as a major social event. The Pravda newspaper, in an article dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Goncharov’s birth, wrote: “Oblomov appeared in an era of public excitement, several years before the peasant reform, and was perceived as a call to fight against inertia and stagnation.” Immediately after its publication, the novel became the subject of discussion in criticism and among writers.

Plot

The novel tells about the life of landowner Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. Ilya Ilyich, together with his servant Zakhar, lives in St. Petersburg, on Gorokhovaya Street, practically without leaving the house and without even getting up from the couch. He does not engage in any activities, does not go out; he only indulges in thoughts about how to live, and dreams of a cozy, serene life in his native Oblomovka estate. No problems - the decline of the economy, threats of eviction from the apartment - can move him from his place.

His childhood friend, Andrei Stolz from the Russified Germans, the complete opposite of the sluggish, dreamy Ilya, makes the hero wake up for a while and plunge into life. Oblomov falls in love with the talented and progressive-minded Olga Ilyinskaya and subsequently, after much thought and digression, proposes to her.

However, succumbing to the intrigues of the vile Tarantiev, Oblomov moves to an apartment rented to him on the Vyborg side (at that time the distant rural outskirts of the city), ending up in the house of Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna. Gradually, the entire estate of Ilya Ilyich passes into the hands of Pshenitsyna, and he himself finally fades away into inactivity and lack of will. Rumors are circulating around St. Petersburg about the imminent wedding of Oblomov and Ilyinskaya, but upon learning about this, Ilya Ilyich himself is horrified: nothing has been decided yet, in his opinion. Ilyinskaya comes to his house and is convinced that nothing will awaken Oblomov from his slow immersion in the final “sleep”, and their relationship ends. At the same time, Oblomov’s affairs are taken over by Pshenitsyna’s brother, Ivan Mukhoyarov (unlike his sister, a dishonest and cruel man), who entangles Ilya Ilyich in his machinations. Good-natured Agafya Matveevna is repairing Oblomov’s robe, which, it would seem, no one can fix. In upset feelings, Ilya Ilyich falls ill with a fever. In order to avoid becoming a completely robbed victim of fraud, his best friend Stolz saves him.

A year later, Pshenitsyna falls in love with Ilya Ilyich. Subsequently, they have a son, Andrei, named after Stolz. Also, an honest woman capable of selfless love exposes her brother’s plans and renounces him. At the same time, Ilyinskaya, disillusioned with her first love, marries Stolz; After some time, he visits Oblomov. Sick and early broken by a stroke due to a sedentary lifestyle, anticipating an imminent death, Ilya Ilyich asks his friend not to leave his son. Two years later, Oblomov dies from a second stroke. His son was asked to be raised by Andrei and Olga Stolts. Pshenitsyna concentrated all her feelings on her son. And the faithful servant Zakhar, an old man who outlived his young master, drank out of grief and began to beg.

Characters and some quotes

Main characters

• Ilya Ilyich Oblomov- landowner, nobleman living in St. Petersburg. Leads a lazy lifestyle, doing nothing except thinking and daydreaming in bed and eating fatty foods. Therefore, being still at a fairly young age (30-33 years), he has an obese, swollen body and a sickly appearance. Despite all this, Ilya is far from stupid. His name and patronymic are a hint at the monotony of his lifestyle.

Life is poetry. Whom you don’t love, who isn’t good, you can’t dip bread into the salt shaker with. I know everything, I understand everything - but there is no strength and will. It's hard to be smart and sincere at the same time, especially in feeling. Passion must be limited: strangled and drowned in marriage.

• Zakhar Trofimovich- Oblomov’s servant, faithful to him since childhood. Clumsy, steals in small things, but incredibly loyal to his master.
• Stolts, Andrey Ivanovich- Oblomov’s childhood friend, the closest person to him; half German, practical and active. The complete opposite of Ilya. Stolz's practicality is so great that he calculates his every action, right down to his movements, but Stolz is not a spiritual (highly moral) person.

This is not life, this is some kind of... Oblomovism(Part 2, Chapter 4). Labor is the image, content, element and purpose of life. At least mine.

• Tarantyev, Mikhei Andreevich- an acquaintance of Oblomov, roguish and cunning.
• Ilyinskaya, Olga Sergeevna- noblewoman; Oblomov's beloved for some time, then Stolz's wife.
• Anisya- Zakhara's wife.
• Pshenitsyna, Agafya Matveevna- the owner of the apartment into which Oblomov moved to live, who later became his wife.
• Mukhoyarov, Ivan Matveevich- Pshenitsyna’s brother, official.

Supporting heroes

• Volkov- a guest in Oblomov’s apartment. Lives the high life.
• Sudbinsky- guest. Official, head of department.
• Penkin- guest. Writer and publicist.
• Alekseev, Ivan Alekseevich- a guest in Oblomov’s apartment, “a faceless hint at the mass of people.”
• Marya Mikhailovna- Olga Ilyinskaya's aunt.
• Sonechka- friend of Olga Ilyinskaya.
• Baron von Langwagen- friend of the Ilyinskys.
• Andrey- son of Oblomov and Pshenitsina.
• Kate- Olga Ilyinskaya's maid.
• Vanya- son of Pshenitsyna.
• Masha- daughter of Pshenitsyna.
• Akulina- cook in Pshenitsyna’s house.

Criticism

The novel is discussed more comprehensively in the article “Oblomov.” A novel by I. A. Goncharov” by another famous critic Alexander Vasilyevich Druzhinin.

• Nechaenko D. A. The myth about the dreaminess of Russian life in the artistic interpretation of I. A. Goncharov and I. S. Turgenev (“Oblomov” and “Nov”).
• Nechaenko D. A. History of literary dreams of the 19th-20th centuries: Folklore, mythological and biblical archetypes in literary dreams of the 19th-early 20th centuries. M.: University Book, 2011. P.454-522. ISBN 978-5-91304-151-7

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Excerpt characterizing Oblomov

“I saw it myself,” said the orderly with a self-confident grin. “It’s time for me to know the sovereign: it seems like how many times I’ve seen something like this in St. Petersburg.” A pale, very pale man sits in a carriage. As soon as the four blacks let loose, my fathers, he thundered past us: it’s time, it seems, to know both the royal horses and Ilya Ivanovich; It seems that the coachman does not ride with anyone else like the Tsar.
Rostov let his horse go and wanted to ride on. A wounded officer walking past turned to him.
-Who do you want? – asked the officer. - Commander-in-Chief? So he was killed by a cannonball, killed in the chest by our regiment.
“Not killed, wounded,” another officer corrected.
- Who? Kutuzov? - asked Rostov.
- Not Kutuzov, but whatever you call him - well, it’s all the same, there aren’t many alive left. Go over there, to that village, all the authorities have gathered there,” said this officer, pointing to the village of Gostieradek, and walked past.
Rostov rode at a pace, not knowing why or to whom he would go now. The Emperor is wounded, the battle is lost. It was impossible not to believe it now. Rostov drove in the direction that was shown to him and in which a tower and a church could be seen in the distance. What was his hurry? What could he now say to the sovereign or Kutuzov, even if they were alive and not wounded?
“Go this way, your honor, and here they will kill you,” the soldier shouted to him. - They'll kill you here!
- ABOUT! what are you saying? said another. -Where will he go? It's closer here.
Rostov thought about it and drove exactly in the direction where he was told that he would be killed.
“Now it doesn’t matter: if the sovereign is wounded, should I really take care of myself?” he thought. He entered the area where most of the people fleeing from Pratsen died. The French had not yet occupied this place, and the Russians, those who were alive or wounded, had long abandoned it. On the field, like heaps of good arable land, lay ten people, fifteen killed and wounded on every tithe of space. The wounded crawled down in twos and threes together, and one could hear their unpleasant, sometimes feigned, as it seemed to Rostov, screams and moans. Rostov started to trot his horse so as not to see all these suffering people, and he became scared. He was afraid not for his life, but for the courage that he needed and which, he knew, would not withstand the sight of these unfortunates.
The French, who stopped shooting at this field strewn with the dead and wounded, because there was no one alive on it, saw the adjutant riding along it, aimed a gun at him and threw several cannonballs. The feeling of these whistling, terrible sounds and the surrounding dead people merged for Rostov into one impression of horror and self-pity. He remembered his mother's last letter. “What would she feel,” he thought, “if she saw me now here, on this field and with guns pointed at me.”
In the village of Gostieradeke there were Russian troops, although confused, but in greater order, walking away from the battlefield. The French cannonballs could no longer reach here, and the sounds of firing seemed distant. Here everyone already saw clearly and said that the battle was lost. Whoever Rostov turned to, no one could tell him where the sovereign was, or where Kutuzov was. Some said that the rumor about the sovereign’s wound was true, others said that it was not, and explained this false rumor that had spread by the fact that, indeed, the pale and frightened Chief Marshal Count Tolstoy galloped back from the battlefield in the sovereign’s carriage, who rode out with others in the emperor’s retinue on the battlefield. One officer told Rostov that beyond the village, to the left, he saw someone from the higher authorities, and Rostov went there, no longer hoping to find anyone, but only to clear his conscience before himself. Having traveled about three miles and having passed the last Russian troops, near a vegetable garden dug in by a ditch, Rostov saw two horsemen standing opposite the ditch. One, with a white plume on his hat, seemed familiar to Rostov for some reason; another, unfamiliar rider, on a beautiful red horse (this horse seemed familiar to Rostov) rode up to the ditch, pushed the horse with his spurs and, releasing the reins, easily jumped over the ditch in the garden. Only the earth crumbled from the embankment from the horse’s hind hooves. Turning his horse sharply, he again jumped back over the ditch and respectfully addressed the rider with the white plume, apparently inviting him to do the same. The horseman, whose figure seemed familiar to Rostov and for some reason involuntarily attracted his attention, made a negative gesture with his head and hand, and by this gesture Rostov instantly recognized his lamented, adored sovereign.
“But it couldn’t be him, alone in the middle of this empty field,” thought Rostov. At this time, Alexander turned his head, and Rostov saw his favorite features so vividly etched in his memory. The Emperor was pale, his cheeks were sunken and his eyes sunken; but there was even more charm and meekness in his features. Rostov was happy, convinced that the rumor about the sovereign’s wound was unfair. He was happy that he saw him. He knew that he could, even had to, directly turn to him and convey what he was ordered to convey from Dolgorukov.
But just as a young man in love trembles and faints, not daring to say what he dreams of at night, and looks around in fear, looking for help or the possibility of delay and escape, when the desired moment has come and he stands alone with her, so Rostov now, having achieved that , what he wanted more than anything in the world, did not know how to approach the sovereign, and thousands of reasons presented themselves to him why this was inconvenient, indecent and impossible.
"How! I seem to be glad to take advantage of the fact that he is alone and despondent. An unknown face may seem unpleasant and difficult to him at this moment of sadness; Then what can I tell him now, when just looking at him my heart skips a beat and my mouth goes dry?” Not one of those countless speeches that he, addressing the sovereign, composed in his imagination, came to his mind now. Those speeches were for the most part held under completely different conditions, they were spoken for the most part at the moment of victories and triumphs and mainly on his deathbed from his wounds, while the sovereign thanked him for his heroic deeds, and he, dying, expressed his love confirmed in practice my.
“Then why should I ask the sovereign about his orders to the right flank, when it is already 4 o’clock in the evening and the battle is lost? No, I definitely shouldn’t approach him. Shouldn't disturb his reverie. It’s better to die a thousand times than to receive a bad look from him, a bad opinion,” Rostov decided and with sadness and despair in his heart he drove away, constantly looking back at the sovereign, who was still standing in the same position of indecisiveness.
While Rostov was making these considerations and sadly driving away from the sovereign, Captain von Toll accidentally drove into the same place and, seeing the sovereign, drove straight up to him, offered him his services and helped him cross the ditch on foot. The Emperor, wanting to rest and feeling unwell, sat down under an apple tree, and Tol stopped next to him. From afar, Rostov saw with envy and remorse how von Tol spoke to the sovereign for a long time and with fervor, and how the sovereign, apparently crying, closed his eyes with his hand and shook hands with Tol.
“And I could be in his place?” Rostov thought to himself and, barely holding back tears of regret for the fate of the sovereign, in complete despair he drove on, not knowing where and why he was going now.
His despair was the greater because he felt that his own weakness was the cause of his grief.
He could... not only could, but he had to drive up to the sovereign. And this was the only opportunity to show the sovereign his devotion. And he didn’t use it... “What have I done?” he thought. And he turned his horse and galloped back to the place where he had seen the emperor; but there was no one behind the ditch anymore. Only carts and carriages were driving. From one furman, Rostov learned that the Kutuzov headquarters was located nearby in the village where the convoys were going. Rostov went after them.
The guard Kutuzov walked ahead of him, leading horses in blankets. Behind the bereytor there was a cart, and behind the cart walked an old servant, in a cap, a sheepskin coat and with bowed legs.
- Titus, oh Titus! - said the bereitor.
- What? - the old man answered absentmindedly.
- Titus! Go threshing.
- Eh, fool, ugh! – the old man said, spitting angrily. Some time passed in silent movement, and the same joke was repeated again.
At five o'clock in the evening the battle was lost at all points. More than a hundred guns were already in the hands of the French.
Przhebyshevsky and his corps laid down their weapons. Other columns, having lost about half of the people, retreated in frustrated, mixed crowds.
The remnants of the troops of Lanzheron and Dokhturov, mingled, crowded around the ponds on the dams and banks near the village of Augesta.
At 6 o'clock, only at the Augesta dam, the hot cannonade of some Frenchmen could still be heard, who had built numerous batteries on the descent of the Pratsen Heights and were hitting our retreating troops.
In the rearguard, Dokhturov and others, gathering battalions, fired back at the French cavalry that was pursuing ours. It was starting to get dark. On the narrow dam of Augest, on which for so many years the old miller sat peacefully in a cap with fishing rods, while his grandson, having rolled up his shirt sleeves, was sorting out silver quivering fish in a watering can; on this dam, along which for so many years the Moravians drove peacefully on their twin carts loaded with wheat, in shaggy hats and blue jackets and, dusted with flour, with white carts leaving along the same dam - on this narrow dam now between wagons and cannons, under the horses and between the wheels crowded people disfigured by the fear of death, crushing each other, dying, walking over the dying and killing each other only so that, after walking a few steps, to be sure. also killed.
Every ten seconds, pumping up the air, a cannonball splashed or a grenade exploded in the middle of this dense crowd, killing and sprinkling blood on those who stood close. Dolokhov, wounded in the arm, on foot with a dozen soldiers of his company (he was already an officer) and his regimental commander, on horseback, represented the remnants of the entire regiment. Drawn by the crowd, they pressed into the entrance to the dam and, pressed on all sides, stopped because a horse in front fell under a cannon, and the crowd was pulling it out. One cannonball killed someone behind them, the other hit in front and splashed Dolokhov’s blood. The crowd moved desperately, shrank, moved a few steps and stopped again.
Walk these hundred steps, and you will probably be saved; stand for another two minutes, and everyone probably thought he was dead. Dolokhov, standing in the middle of the crowd, rushed to the edge of the dam, knocking down two soldiers, and fled onto the slippery ice that covered the pond.

Oblomov. Illustration by Konstantin Tikhomirov from the magazine “Pictorial Review of the Countries of the World.” 1883 goncharov.spb.ru

1. The mystery of the thunderstorm

“Thunderstorms are not terrible, but only beneficial there: they occur constantly at the same set time, almost never forgetting Ilya’s day, as if in order to support a well-known legend among the people. And the number and force of blows seem to be the same every year, just as if a certain amount of electricity was released from the treasury for the entire region for a year.”

At first glance, this fragment seems almost random. The only thing that attracts attention is the mention of Elijah’s Day: “a well-known legend among the people” is the belief that you cannot work on Elijah’s Day, lest you be killed by thunder. Let us remember that the main character of the novel is called Ilya Ilyich - and he does not want to work not only on his angel day, but never at all. However, the thunderstorm in this passage is explained not only with the help of the popular belief about Elijah the Prophet as the patron of thunder - that is, through the eyes of a person who believes in the “well-known legend.” The thunderstorm is presented simultaneously and rationally. The point of view of a resident of Oblomovka, who believes in the “well-known legend,” is, as it were, compared with the point of view of the rationalist Stolz: this hero has not yet appeared on the pages of the novel, but his voice, skeptical about popular superstitions, is already heard. This dual point of view will continue to define the narrative.

2. The mystery of the word “moon”

The narrator likes Oblomovka, but he doesn’t see anything poetic in her:

“God knows whether a poet or a dreamer would be satisfied with the nature of a peaceful corner. These gentlemen, as you know, love to look at the moon and listen to the clicking of nightingales.<…>And in this region no one knew what kind of moon it was - everyone called it the month. She somehow good-naturedly looked at the villages and fields with all her eyes and looked very much like a cleaned copper basin.”

The poetic image of the moon is absent in Oblomov’s consciousness, and it is not by chance that we are told about this. The novel repeatedly mentions the aria "Casta diva" from Bellini's opera Norma. First, Oblomov dreams of how his future wife will perform it, and then Olga Ilyinskaya will perform this cavatina, after which Oblomov confesses his love to her. The name of the aria is translated into Russian as “The Most Pure Goddess,” but it is not dedicated to the Mother of God, as is sometimes claimed, but to the goddess of the moon. Oblomov himself remembers this:

“...how this woman’s heart is crying out! What sadness lies in these sounds!.. And no one knows anything around... She is alone... The secret weighs on her; she entrusts it to the moon..."

So, Oblomov’s love for Olga is associated with the romantic image of the moon - which, however, was not known in patriarchal Oblomovka. It is not surprising that the story of their relationship ends sadly.

3. The secret of Oblomov’s love for Olga

After parting with Olga, Oblomov falls into a daze:

“Snow, snow, snow! - he repeated senselessly, looking at the snow that covered the fence, fence and ridges in the garden in a thick layer. - I fell asleep! “Then he whispered desperately, went to bed and fell asleep in a leaden, joyless sleep.”

Why couldn’t the hero talk about anything other than snow? Because Olomov’s love for Olga develops in accordance with the seasons. The heroes meet in May, and a lilac branch becomes a symbol of their love - Oblomov directly compares his feelings with it several times. The relationship reaches its peak intensity in the summer, and in the fall Oblomov, depressed by numerous everyday difficulties, strives to avoid meetings with Olga, pretends to be sick, and so on.

When they part, it snows: the annual natural cycle is completed, and nothing can be done about it. Thus, in his love, the hero again finds himself a product of his native village - a place where the “annual circle” repeats itself “correctly and calmly.”

4. The mystery of coffee and cigars

Having daydreamed, Oblomov describes what he thinks is an ideal life to his only friend Stolz.

“Before lunch, it’s nice to look into the kitchen, open the pan, smell it, watch how the pies are rolled, the cream is whipped. Then lie down on the couch; the wife reads something new out loud; we stop and argue... But guests are coming, for example you and your wife.<…>After lunch, mocha, havana on the terrace..."

What does the mention of mocha coffee and Cuban cigars mean? To understand this, let’s pay attention to Stolz’s reaction: he listens attentively to his friend, but from the very beginning he is sure that even in his dreams Oblomov cannot come up with anything better than Oblomov: “You draw me the same thing that happened to our grandfathers and fathers.” Stolz is clearly wrong. The traditional, “Oblomov” way of life cannot satisfy the main character, and his dream cannot even be described in “Oblomov’s” words: coffee, cigars, terraces - all these are traces of studying at the university, books read. Oblomov, no matter how lazy he may be, is an educated Petersburger and has gone far from Oblomovka.

5. Mysteries of the Eastern War

Oblomov reads the newspapers and finds out “...why the British are sending ships with troops to the East...”.

What kind of military operations in the East do you mean? Most likely, the Anglo-Chinese “opium wars”, the consequences of which Goncharov personally observed during his stay in China and described in “The Frigate “Pallada””. However, this is not even the point. The sending of English troops to the East is mentioned at least four times in different places in the novel, and yet its action lasts several years. It turns out that not only the main character is stuck, as it were, in frozen time, where nothing happens, but also world news (and the heroes of the novel love to discuss news) are the same all the time. Newspapers, seemingly obliged to follow the latest news, report on seemingly endlessly repeating events. Oblomov is not alone - the whole world cannot move from this point.

6. The secret of the college secretary

This is how the narrator introduces Oblomov to us:

“Oblomov, a nobleman by birth, a collegiate secretary by rank, has been living in St. Petersburg for twelve years without a break.”

A collegiate secretary is a rank of class X, that is, not the lowest. How could Oblomov receive such a rank? But this is really not very clear, even to the commentators of the Complete Works of Goncharov, who discovered this riddle. It can be assumed that Oblomov graduated from the university as a candidate, that is, with particular success, and received this rank immediately after graduation (only Oblomov did not study particularly diligently). If Oblomov was not a candidate, he should have the rank of XII class - provincial secretary. But we know that the hero “served somehow for two years,” which means he could not have time to serve two ranks. Moreover, in the drafts of the novel Oblomov is directly named as the provincial secretary. In general, there is no plausible explanation for Oblomov’s rank. It remains to be assumed that some other principle is at work here. It was the X class that Oblomov’s common-law wife, the widow Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna, had (wives and widows of officials were considered in the same rank as their husbands). Perhaps this coincidence is an ironic hint at the peculiar “kinship of souls” of Oblomov and Agafya Matveevna.

7. Stolz's mystery

Stolz suggests that Oblomov should not “perish in silence” while sitting still, but run somewhere and get down to business:

"Where? Yes, even with your men to the Volga: there is more movement there, there are some interests, goals, work. I would go to Siberia, to Sitkha.”

And what kind of business does Stolz himself do? The novel constantly talks about some kind of hectic activity that Stolz is conducting, but without any specifics: it is not clear whether the reader should guess for himself what Stolz is doing, or there is simply no solution. On the one hand, it is quite possible that this detail emphasizes Stolz’s versatility: he can do literally anything, so it is not very important what exactly his activity is. On the other hand, as literary critic Lyudmila Geiro noted, the references scattered throughout the text of the novel to places where Stolz often visited coincide with the list of areas where gold was mined, bought and sold. If this is so, then Stolz is a gold miner. It is interesting that Sitkha, where Stolz wants to go, is located in Alaska, but this does not say anything about his connections with gold mining: at the time of writing the novel, the existence of reserves of the precious metal in Alaska was not yet known.

Any person with any pretense of literacy is familiar with the names of Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevsky and can certainly cite as examples the names of some of the most famous works of these authors. But who wrote "Oblomov"? Who was this writer? And why did his hero acquire such symbolic popularity?

Childhood and teenage years of the future writer

Ivan Alekseevich Goncharov (the one who wrote "Oblomov") was born in Simbirsk, now known as Ulyanovsk, in 1812. He was the son of a rich merchant. But Ivan Alekseevich’s dad died seven years after the boy was born, young Ivan was raised by his godfather, Nikolai Tregubov, a liberal-minded aristocrat. He opened wider cultural horizons and a refined lifestyle for Goncharov. Ivan Goncharov initially studied at a commercial school in 1822, his studies continued for eight years. As the writer later recalled, these were the most unhappy years of his life. Ivan hated the poor quality of education and harsh discipline methods. His only consolation at that time was self-education.

Obtaining higher education and debut publications

And then at Moscow University, in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and lively debate, Goncharov's spirit flourished. During his studies, Ivan Alekseevich met some of the leading minds of his era, but did not join any of the student circles that were full of faith in the ideals of the philosophy of German romanticism.

Goncharov remained indifferent to the ideas of political and social change that were gaining popularity at that time. His main occupation is reading and translating. In 1832, two chapters from the work of Eugene Sue were published, which were translated by Ivan Alekseevich. This became his debut publication.

Completion of studies and beginning of adult life

After graduating in 1834, Goncharov served for almost thirty years as a government official. He first returned home to enter the office of the Simbirsk governor, and a year later he moved to St. Petersburg and began working as a translator at the Ministry of Finance.

Unlike literary rivals such as Turgenev or Tolstoy, Ivan Goncharov was forced to earn his own living, and not just rely on writing. Ivan Alekseevich, of course, became a member of the literary circle founded in the Maykovs’ house, and even wrote poetry. But soon he stopped dabbling in poetry altogether. Many of Goncharov's poems were included in the novel "Ordinary History" as works by Aduev. A sure sign that the author has stopped taking them seriously.

The writing career of the one who wrote "Oblomov". Photo of the author of the work

Goncharov's first prose began to appear in "Snowdrop". This is a satirical story "Dashing Sickness", in which he ridiculed romantic sentimentalism. Then came secular drama with a touch of comedy, and the most significant work of that time was an essay entitled “Ivan Savvich Podzhabrin.” This is how the literary career of the one who wrote “Oblomov” began.

Despite the fact that Ivan Alekseevich began writing a long time ago, his first serious work was “Ordinary History.” She talks about the clash between the disintegrating Russian nobility and the new trading classes. The most influential critic of the time, Vissarion Belinsky, characterized the novel as an attack on outdated romanticism.

The most popular work, or the second novel by Ivan Alekseevich

In what year was “Oblomov” written? Ivan Alekseevich Goncharov began his second novel in the late 1840s, but the process was slow for many reasons. In one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five he accepted the position of censor and traveled to England, Africa and Japan as secretary to Admiral Putyatin.

Only in 1849 was a short story or essay entitled “Oblomov’s Dream. An Episode from an Unfinished Novel” published, which was subsequently included as “Oblomov’s Dream” in the finished work of Ivan Alekseevich.

And the novel “Oblomov” first appeared in the magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski” in 1859. It is dedicated to the protagonist's midlife crisis. A distinctive feature of Ilya Ilyich is his lazy attitude towards life. The author portrayed his character with sympathy, although he was the personification of the nobility.

The main questions in the work of Ivan Alekseevich

What primarily interests the common reader? This is, first of all, what the work is about, and not just who wrote it. "Oblomov" is a novel that describes the fate of the landowner Ilya Ilyich, and on the basis of this plot, the author in his work examines many important issues that Russian society faces in the nineteenth century. This is the uselessness of many landowners and nobles in society, the complex relationships between members of different classes of society, such as Oblomov and his servant Zakhar.

The main character is a young and generous nobleman, but he seems generally unable to make important decisions or initiate any significant actions. Throughout the entire work, he rarely leaves his room or bed. Moreover, during the first fifty or so pages, Ilya Ilyich very famously manages not to leave her at all.

The meaning of a famous work

Ivan Alekseevich Goncharov (the one who wrote the novel “Oblomov”) probably did not imagine that his work would become so popular that it would leave a significant imprint on Russian culture. Moreover, Goncharov's work will add new words to the Russian vocabulary. The main character's name will often be used to describe someone who exhibits traits of a lazy and apathetic personality, similar to the character in the novel.

The work aroused unanimous recognition not only among readers, but also among critics. There were those who wrote: Oblomov is the last person in the line of “superfluous people” after Onegin, Pechorin and Rudin in the disintegrating feudal Russia. Nikolai Dobrolyubov noted that the novel brought to the fore and subjected to careful analysis very important problems of that era. A special type of laziness that leads to self-destruction of the individual.

The last years of the life of the famous writer and critic

These are the global problems that the one who wrote “Oblomov” was able to touch upon in his work. Nevertheless, Ivan Alekseevich was not a prolific writer. He published only three of his novels. Ten years after the publication of the novel “Oblomov”, another work called “The Cliff” was published, which also had significant success among readers.

Goncharov is planning a fourth novel, but his dreams did not materialize. Instead, he becomes a critic and writes numerous theater and literary reviews. Towards the end of his life, Ivan Alekseevich wrote unusual memoirs in which he accused his literary rivals of plagiarizing his works. He died in St. Petersburg on September 24, 1891 from pneumonia.

This is how the life of the wonderful writer and critic Ivan Alekseevich Goncharov passed - the one who wrote the novel "Oblomov". His photo is now known to every schoolchild. And the works are not only popular, but also loved among a wide range of readers.

I have finally comprehended the poetry of laziness, and this is the only poetry to which I will be faithful until the grave.
I.A. Goncharov

“Oblomov” is Goncharov’s most famous and significant work, the first psychological monograph in Russian literature. Work on the novel lasted more than 10 years. In 1849, Sovremennik published a chapter from the future novel - "Oblomov's Dream". The first part was written in 1850. Only in 1857 did the writer return to work on Oblomov, while in Marienbad, where the remaining three parts of the novel were written within seven weeks. IN 1859 year there was a novel published in Otechestvennye zapiski, making a strong impression on his contemporaries. Russian publicist P.A. Kropotkin wrote at the beginning of the 20th century: “The impression that this novel made in Russia defies description.” The word “Oblomovism” immediately entered the active lexicon, since, according to the critic D.I. Pisarev, “tangibly characterizes one of the significant vices of our Russian life.”

With his novel Goncharov closed the theme of the “superfluous man” in Russian literature , showing in the image of Oblomov a hero in whom the “superfluous person” complex was brought to the point of paradox and absurdity: if the former “superfluous people” spiritually felt themselves to have fallen out of modernity, then Oblomov physically falls out of real life, having managed to ideologically justify his passivity and apathy. It is no coincidence that the first four chapters present Oblomov’s visitors who seem to lead an active lifestyle. However, this is an illusion, and their existence is no less useless and aimless than the existence of Oblomov himself. Sudbinsky is an official to the core. Volkov is a rake, living between balls and the theater with pretty actresses. Penkin is a parody of contemporary writers to Goncharov. Tarantiev is an extortionist and a brute. Alekseev is so faceless that even Zakhar does not respect him. The life aspirations of these heroes cannot captivate Oblomov and are not worth getting off the couch.

Still from the film “A Few Days in the Life of Oblomov” (1979, directed by Nikita Mikhalkov). In the role of Oblomov - Oleg Tabakov

Oblomov's fate is shown as a series of failures and disappointments. Any attempt by Oblomov to enter into an active relationship with life ends in failure. His trouble is that he lives in a changed time and cannot, like his parents, grow old calmly in the serene Oblomovka. Following the tradition of Pushkin, Lermontov, Herzen, Turgenev, the writer takes the hero through test of love, forcing Oblomov to make a temporary ascent and experience a new fall - already final.

Dreamy and romantic Olga Ilyinskaya, captivated by Oblomov’s spiritual grace, sets out to pull him out of his robe and revive him to an active life. But hope turns out to be illusory, and Oblomov himself understands this before Olga. The epilogue of the love drama is the marriage to Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna, with whom Oblomov not only found the desired peace, but also “quietly and gradually settled into the simple and wide coffin of his existence...”.

In the novel, Oblomov is contrasted with Andrei Ivanovich Stolts - “a model of energy, knowledge, labor,” according to Goncharov. Stolz is calculating and successful, but at the same time sincerely wants to help his childhood friend. The author also tests the impeccably active Stolz with love. His largely unexpected marriage to Olga Ilyinskaya leads to the fact that the heroine, like Lizaveta Adueva from “An Ordinary History,” begins to experience melancholy.

Already the first researchers of the novel came to the conclusion that in Oblomov the author showed a typical, fundamental feature of the Russian national character. Indeed, Oblomov has a lot predecessors in Russian literature: Mitrofan from Fonvizin’s comedy “The Minor”, ​​Lentulus from Krylov’s comedy “Lazy”, Pushkin’s Dmitry Larin, Gogol’s old world landowners, Gogol's Manilov. The drama and peculiarity of Oblomov’s fate was explained by the change of eras, the changed order of things. It is no coincidence that in the finale of the novel the hero’s literal loss of time is conveyed through a comparison: “... he died without pain, without suffering, as if a watch had stopped and had forgotten to wind.”