Roman I.A. Goncharov's "Oblomov" reveals the problem of social society of those times. In this work, the main characters were unable to deal with their own feelings, depriving themselves of the right to happiness. We will talk about one of these heroines with an unfortunate fate.
The image and characterization of Olga Ilyinskaya with quotes in the novel “Oblomov” will help to fully reveal her complex character and better understand this woman.
It seems difficult to call the young creature a beauty. The girl's appearance is far from ideals and generally accepted standards.
“Olga in the strict sense was not a beauty... But if she were turned into a statue, she would be a statue of grace and harmony.”
Being short, she managed to walk like a queen, with her head held high. There was a sense of character in the girl, of becoming. She didn't pretend to be better. She didn’t flirt, she didn’t ingratiate herself. She was as natural as possible in expressing emotions and feelings. Everything about her was real, without a drop of falsehood or lies.
“In a rare girl you will find such simplicity and natural freedom of look, word, action... no lies, no tinsel, no intent!”
Olga was not raised by her parents, but by her aunt, who replaced her father and mother. The girl remembered her mother from a portrait hanging in the living room. She had no information about her father since he took her away from the estate at the age of five. Having become an orphan, the child was left to his own devices. The baby lacked support, care, and warm words. The aunt had no time for her. She was too immersed in social life, and she did not care about the suffering of her niece.
Despite her eternal busyness, the aunt was able to find time for the education of her growing niece. Olga was not one of those people who was forced to sit down for lessons with a whip. She always strived to gain new knowledge, constantly developing and moving forward in this direction. Books were an outlet, and music served as a source of inspiration. In addition to playing the piano, she sang beautifully. Her voice, despite its soft sound, was strong.
“From this pure, strong girlish voice, the heart beat, the nerves trembled, the eyes sparkled and swam with tears...”
Oddly enough, she loved privacy. Noisy companies, cheerful gatherings with friends are not about Olga. She did not strive to acquire new acquaintances, revealing her soul to strangers. Some thought she was too smart, others, on the contrary, stupid.
“Some considered her to be narrow-minded, since wise maxims did not come out of her tongue...”
Not very talkative, she preferred to live in her shell. In that imaginary little world where it was good and calm. External calm was strikingly different from the internal state of the soul. The girl always knew clearly what she wanted from life and tried to implement her plans.
“If she has any intention, then things will boil over...”
My first love came at the age of 20. The meeting was planned. Stolz brought Oblomov to Olga’s aunt’s house. Hearing Oblomov’s angelic voice, he realized that he was lost. The feeling turned out to be mutual. From that moment on, meetings became regular. The young people became interested in each other and began to think about living together.
Love can change any person. Olga was no exception. It was as if wings had grown behind her back from the overwhelming feelings. Everything in her was seething and seething with the desire to turn the world upside down, changing it, making it better, cleaner. Olga's chosen one was from a different field. Understanding the emotions and ambitions of your beloved is too difficult a task. It was difficult for him to resist this volcano of passions, sweeping away everything in its path. He wanted to see in her a quiet, calm woman who completely devoted herself to home and family. Olga, on the contrary, wanted to shake up Ilya, change his inner world and usual way of life.
“She dreamed of how she would “order him to read the books” that Stolz left, then read newspapers every day and tell her the news, write letters to the village, complete a plan for organizing the estate, get ready to go abroad - in a word, he would not fall asleep with her; she will show him a goal, make him love again everything that he has stopped loving.”
Time passed, nothing changed. Everything remained in its place. Olga knew perfectly well what she was getting into by allowing the relationship to go too far. It was not in her rules to retreat. She continued to hope, sincerely believing that she could remake Oblomov, adapting a man ideal in all respects to her model, but sooner or later any patience comes to an end.
She's tired of fighting. The girl was gnawed by doubts whether she had made a mistake by deciding to connect her life with a weak-willed, weak person incapable of action. Sacrifice yourself all your life for love, why? She already spent too much time marking time, which was unusual for her. The time has come to move on, but apparently alone.
“I thought that I would revive you, that you could still live for me, but you died a very long time ago.”
This phrase became decisive before Olga put an end to her relationship that ended so early with the person she thought she loved.
He was always for her, first of all, a close friend, a mentor. She shared everything that was going on in her soul. Stolz always found time to support, lend a shoulder, making it clear that he was always there, and she could rely on him in any situation. They had common interests. Life positions are similar. They could well become one, which is what Andrei was counting on. Olga decided to lick her emotional wounds after breaking up with Oblomov in Paris. In the city of love, where there is a place for hope and faith in the best. It was here that her meeting with Stolz took place.
Andrey surrounded me with attention and care. She enjoyed the courtship.
“The continuous, intelligent and passionate worship of a man like Stolz”
Restored injured, offended pride. She was grateful to him. Gradually my heart began to thaw. The woman felt that she was ready for a new relationship, that she was ripe for a family.
“She experienced happiness and could not determine where the boundaries were, what it was.”
Having become a wife, for the first time she was able to understand what it means to be loved and to love.
The couple lived in a happy marriage for several years. It seemed to Olga that it was in Stolz:
“Not blindly, but with consciousness, and in him her ideal of male perfection was embodied.”
But everyday life became boring. The woman got bored. The uniform rhythm of gray everyday life was stifling, giving no outlet for the accumulated energy. Olga missed the vigorous activity that she led with Ilya. She tried to attribute her state of mind to fatigue and depression, but the situation did not improve, becoming increasingly tense. Andrei intuitively felt changes in mood, not understanding the true reason for his wife’s depressed state. Did they make a mistake, and the attempt to become happy failed, but why?
Who is to blame for what happens to us at this or that stage of life. Mostly we ourselves. In the modern world, Olga would not get bored and focus on problems. At that time, there were only a few women with a masculine character. They were not understood and not accepted in society. She alone could not have changed anything, and she herself was not ready to change, being selfish at heart. Family life was not for her. She had to accept the situation or let it go.
OBLOMOV
(Novel. 1859)
Ilinskaya Olga Sergeevna - one of the main heroines of the novel, a bright and strong character. A possible prototype of I. is Elizaveta Tolstaya, Goncharov’s only love, although some researchers reject this hypothesis. “Olga in the strict sense was not a beauty, that is, there was no whiteness in her, no bright coloring of her cheeks and lips, and her eyes did not burn with rays of inner fire; there were no corals on the lips, no pearls in the mouth, no miniature hands, like those of a five-year-old child, with fingers in the shape of grapes. But if she were turned into a statue, she would be a statue of grace and harmony.”
Since the time she was orphaned, I. has been living in the house of her aunt Marya Mikhailovna. Goncharov emphasizes the heroine’s rapid spiritual maturation: she “as if she was following the course of life by leaps and bounds. And every hour of the slightest, barely noticeable experience, an incident that flashes like a bird past a man’s nose, is grasped inexplicably quickly by a girl.”
Andrei Ivanovich Stolts introduces I. and Oblomov. How, when and where Stolz and I. met is unknown, but the relationship connecting these characters is distinguished by sincere mutual attraction and trust. “...In a rare girl you will find such simplicity and natural freedom of look, word, action... No affectation, no coquetry, no lies, no tinsel, no intent! But almost only Stolz appreciated her, but she sat through more than one mazurka alone, not hiding her boredom... Some considered her simple, short-sighted, shallow, because neither wise maxims about life, about love, nor quick, unexpected and bold remarks, nor read or overheard judgments about music and literature..."
It is no coincidence that Stolz brings Oblomov to I.’s house: knowing that she has an inquisitive mind and deep feelings, he hopes that with her spiritual needs I. will be able to awaken Oblomov - make him read, watch, learn more and more discriminatingly.
In one of the very first meetings, Oblomov was captivated by her amazing voice - I. sings an aria from Bellini’s opera “Norma,” the famous “Casta diva,” and “this destroyed Oblomov: he was exhausted,” becoming more and more immersed in a new feeling for himself.
I.’s literary predecessor is Tatyana Larina (“Eugene Onegin”). But as a heroine of a different historical time, I. is more confident in herself, her mind requires constant work. This was noted by N.A. Dobrolyubov in the article “What is Oblomovism?”: “Olga, in her development, represents the highest ideal that only a Russian artist can now evoke from present-day Russian life... There is more in her than in Stolz, one can see a hint of a new Russian life; One can expect from her a word that will burn and dispel Oblomovism...”
But this is not given to I. in the novel, just as it is not given to Goncharov’s similar heroine Vera from “The Precipice” to dispel phenomena of a different order. Olga’s character, fused simultaneously from strength and weakness, knowledge about life and the inability to bestow this knowledge on others, will be developed in Russian literature - in the heroines of A.P. Chekhov’s drama - in particular, in Elena Andreevna and Sonya Voinitskaya from “Uncle Vanya”.
The main quality of I., inherent in many female characters of Russian literature of the last century, is not just love for a specific person, but an indispensable desire to change him, raise him to his ideal, re-educate him, instilling in him new concepts, new tastes. Oblomov turns out to be the most suitable object for this: “She dreamed of how she would “order him to read the books” that Stolz left, then read newspapers every day and tell her the news, write letters to the village, complete a plan for organizing the estate, get ready to go abroad, - in a word, he will not fall asleep with her; she will show him his goal, make him love again everything that he has stopped loving, and Stolz will not recognize him when he returns. And she will do all this miracle, so timid, silent, whom no one has listened to until now, who has not yet begun to live!.. She even trembled with proud, joyful trepidation; I considered this a lesson ordained from above.”
Here you can compare her character with the character of Lisa Kalitina from I. S. Turgenev’s novel “The Noble Nest”, with Elena from his “On the Eve”. Re-education becomes the goal, the goal captivates so much that everything else is pushed aside, and the feeling of love gradually submits to the teaching. Teaching, in a sense, enlarges and enriches love. It is from this that the serious change occurs in I. that so amazed Stolz when he met her abroad, where she arrived with her aunt after breaking up with Oblomov.
I. immediately understands that in her relationship with Oblomov she plays the main role, she “instantly weighed her power over him, and she liked this role of a guiding star, a ray of light that she would pour over a stagnant lake and be reflected in it.” Life seems to wake up in I. along with Oblomov’s life. But in her this process occurs much more intensely than in Ilya Ilyich. I. seems to be testing her capabilities as a woman and teacher at the same time. Her extraordinary mind and soul require more and more “complex” food.
It is no coincidence that at some point Obkomov sees Cordelia in her: all of I.’s feelings are permeated by a simple, natural, like a Shakespearean heroine, pride, encouraging her to realize the treasures of her soul as a happy and well-deserved given: “What I once called mine is no longer I’ll give it back, maybe they’ll take it away...” she says to Oblomov.
I.’s feeling for Oblomov is whole and harmonious: she simply loves, while Oblomov is constantly trying to find out the depth of this love, which is why he suffers, believing that I. “loves now, like embroidering on canvas: the pattern comes out quietly, lazily, she is even lazier unfolds it, admires it, then puts it down and forgets.” When Ilya Ilyich tells the heroine that she is smarter than him, I. replies: “No, simpler and bolder,” thereby expressing almost the defining line of their relationship.
I. hardly knows that the feeling she experiences is more reminiscent of a complex experiment than first love. She does not tell Oblomov that all the affairs of her estate have been settled, with only one goal - “...to see to the end how love will make a revolution in his lazy soul, how the oppression will finally fall from him, how he will not resist his loved one happiness..." But, like any experiment on a living soul, this experiment cannot be crowned with success.
I. needs to see his chosen one on a pedestal, above himself, and this, according to the author’s concept, is impossible. Even Stolz, whom I. marries after an unsuccessful romance with Oblomov, only temporarily stands higher than her, and Goncharov emphasizes this. By the end, it becomes clear that I. will outgrow her husband both in the strength of her feelings and in the depth of her thoughts about life.
Realizing how far her ideals diverge from the ideals of Oblomov, who dreams of living according to the ancient way of life of his native Oblomovka, I. is forced to abandon further experiments. “I loved the future Oblomov! - she says to Ilya Ilyich. - You are meek and honest, Ilya; you are gentle... like a dove; you hide your head under your wing - and don’t want anything more; you’re ready to coo under the roof all your life... but I’m not like that: this is not enough for me, I need something else, but I don’t know what!” This “something” will not leave I.: even after surviving a break with Oblomov and happily marrying Stolz, she will not calm down. The moment will come when Stolz will be faced with the need to explain to his wife, mother of two children, the mysterious “something” that haunts her restless soul. “The deep abyss of her soul” does not frighten, but worries Stolz. In I., whom he knew almost as a girl, for whom he felt first friendship and then love, he gradually discovers new and unexpected depths. It is difficult for Stoltz to get used to them, therefore his happiness with I. seems problematic in many ways.
It happens that I. is overcome by fear: “She was afraid to fall into something similar to Oblomov’s apathy. But no matter how hard she tried to get rid of these moments of periodic torpor, the sleep of the soul, no, no, but first a dream of happiness would creep up on her, surround her with the blue night and envelop her in drowsiness, then again there would be a thoughtful stop, as if the rest of life, and then embarrassment, fear , languor, some kind of dull sadness, some vague, foggy questions will be heard in a restless head.”
These turmoil are fully consistent with the author’s final reflection, which makes us think about the heroine’s future: “Olga did not know... the logic of submission to blind fate and did not understand women’s passions and hobbies. Having once recognized the dignity and rights to herself in the chosen person, she believed in him and therefore loved, and if she stopped believing, she stopped loving, as happened with Oblomov... But now she believed in Andrei not blindly, but with consciousness, and in him her ideal of male perfection was embodied... That is why she would not tolerate a decrease in the merits she recognized by even a hair; any false note in his character or mind would produce stunning dissonance. The destroyed building of happiness would have buried her under the rubble, or, if her strength had still survived, she would have searched..."
"is the most vibrant and complex female character. Getting to know her as a young, only developing girl, the reader sees her gradual maturation and revelation as a woman, mother, and independent person. At the same time, a complete description of Olga’s image in the novel “Oblomov” is possible only when working with quotes from the novel that most succinctly convey the appearance and personality of the heroine:
“If she were turned into a statue, she would be a statue of grace and harmony. The size of the head strictly corresponded to a somewhat tall stature; the size of the head corresponded to the oval and size of the face; all this, in turn, was in harmony with the shoulders, and the shoulders with the body...”
When meeting Olga, people always stopped for a moment “before this so strictly and thoughtfully, artistically created creature.”
Olga received a good upbringing and education, understands science and art, reads a lot and is in constant development, learning, achieving new and new goals.
These features of hers were reflected in the girl’s appearance: “The lips are thin and mostly compressed: a sign of a thought constantly directed at something. The same presence of a speaking thought shone in the vigilant, always cheerful, unmissing gaze of dark, gray-blue eyes,” and unevenly spaced thin eyebrows created a small fold on the forehead “in which something seemed to say, as if a thought rested there.” Everything about her spoke of her own dignity, inner strength and beauty: “Olga walked with her head tilted slightly forward, resting so slenderly and nobly on her thin, proud neck; she moved her whole body evenly, walking lightly, almost imperceptibly.”
The image of Olga Ilyinskaya in “Oblomov” appears at the beginning of the novel as a still very young, little-knowing girl, looking at the world around her with wide open eyes and trying to understand it in all its manifestations. The turning point, which became for Olga a transition from childhood shyness and a certain embarrassment (as was the case when communicating with Stolz), was her love for Oblomov. The wonderful, strong, inspiring feeling that flared up between the lovers with lightning speed was doomed to parting, since Olga and Oblomov did not want to accept each other as they really are, cultivating in themselves a feeling for semi-ideal prototypes of real heroes.
For Ilyinskaya, love for Oblomov was not associated with those feminine tenderness, softness, acceptance and care that Oblomov expected from her, but with duty, the need to change the inner world of her lover, to make him a completely different person:
“She dreamed of how she would “order him to read the books” that Stolz left, then read newspapers every day and tell her the news, write letters to the village, complete a plan for organizing the estate, get ready to go abroad - in a word, he would not fall asleep with her; she will show him a goal, make him love again everything that he has stopped loving.”
“And she will do all this miracle, so timid, silent, whom no one has listened to until now, who has not yet begun to live!”
Olga's love for Oblomov was based on the heroine's selfishness and ambitions. Moreover, her feelings for Ilya Ilyich can hardly be called true love - it was a fleeting love, a state of inspiration and ascent before a new peak that she wanted to achieve. For Ilyinskaya, Oblomov’s feelings were not really important; she wanted to make him her ideal, so that she could then be proud of the fruits of her labors and, perhaps, remind him later that he owed everything he had to Olga.
Olga Ilyinskaya is a socialite, she, like Nadenka Lyubetskaya, knows life from its bright side; she is wealthy and is not particularly interested in where her funds come from. Her life, however, is much more meaningful than the life of Nadenka or the wife of Aduev Sr.; she makes music and does it not because of fashion, but because she is able to enjoy the beauty of art; she reads a lot, follows literature and science. Her mind is constantly working; questions and bewilderments arise in it one after another, and Stolz and Oblomov barely have time to read everything necessary to explain the questions that interest her.
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In general, her head prevails over her heart, and in this respect she is very suitable for Stolz; In her love for Oblomov, reason and a sense of pride play the main role. The latter feeling is generally one of its main drivers. On many occasions, she expresses this feeling of pride: she “would have cried and not fallen asleep at night if Oblomov had not praised her singing”; her pride prevents her from asking Oblomov directly about subjects that are not entirely clear to her; when Oblomov, after an involuntary declaration of love, tells her that this is not true, he greatly affects her pride; she is afraid to seem “petty, insignificant” to Stolz, telling him about her former love for Oblomov. She meets with Oblomov and sets about reviving him; she likes the role of the savior, so beloved by women in general. She is carried away by her role and, at the same time, is carried away by Oblomov. This hobby continues as long as the latter shows signs of activity and life, as if he was really going to renounce his laziness and stagnation; Soon, however, Olga becomes convinced that Oblomov is hopeless, that all her efforts cannot be crowned with success, and with bitterness she must admit that she turned out to be insolvent, not strong enough in the matter of reviving him. Here she herself sees that her love was not an immediate heartfelt affection, but rather a rational, head-like love; She loved her creation, the future Oblomov, in Oblomov. This is what she says to him at the moment of parting: “It hurts me so much, it hurts so much... But I don’t repent. I am punished for my pride. I relied too much on my own strength. I thought that I would revive you, that you could still live for me, but you have already died a long time ago. I didn't foresee this mistake. I kept waiting, hoping... I only found out recently that I loved what I wanted in you... what Stolz showed me, what we invented together with him... I loved the future Oblomov.”
After breaking up with Oblomov, she becomes Stolz's wife. The latter is taken up with her “additional education,” which consists in suppressing her youthful impulses and instilling in her a “strict understanding of life.” He finally succeeds, and they seem to be happy; but Olga is still not completely calm, she lacks something, she strives for something uncertain. She cannot drown out this feeling within herself either with entertainment or pleasure; The husband explains this by nerves, a global illness common to all humanity, which splashed on her in one drop. This desire for something uncertain reflected the peculiarity of Olga’s nature, her inability to remain at one level, her desire for further activity and improvement.
The image of Olga is one of the original images in our literature; This is a woman striving for activity, unable to remain a passive member of society.
N. Dyunkin, A. Novikov
Sources:
Updated: 2012-02-09
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/Dmitry Ivanovich Pisarev (1840-1868). Oblomov. Roman I. A. Goncharova /
The third remarkable personality depicted in Mr. Goncharov’s novel is Olga Sergeevna Ilinskaya- represents the type of future woman, how she will subsequently be shaped by those ideas that in our time they are trying to introduce into female education. In this personality, which attracts one with inexpressible charm, but does not amaze with any sharply outstanding virtues, two properties are especially remarkable, casting an original flavor on all her actions, words and movements. These two properties are rare in modern women and therefore especially dear to Olga; they are presented in Mr. Goncharov’s novel with such artistic fidelity that it is difficult not to believe them, it is difficult to accept Olga as an impossible ideal created by the poet’s creative imagination. Naturalness and presence of consciousness is what distinguishes Olga from ordinary women. From these two qualities flow truthfulness in words and deeds, the absence of coquetry, the desire for development, the ability to love simply and seriously, without tricks and tricks, the ability to sacrifice oneself to one’s feelings as much as is allowed not by the laws of etiquette, but by the voice of conscience and reason. The first two characters, which we mentioned above, are presented as already formed, and Mr. Goncharov only explains them to the reader, that is, shows the conditions under the influence of which they were formed; As for Olga’s character, it is formed before the reader’s eyes. The author first portrays her as almost a child, a girl gifted with a natural mind, who enjoyed some independence during her upbringing, but who did not experience any strong feelings, any excitement, unfamiliar with life, not accustomed to observing herself, analyzing the movements of her own soul. During this period of Olga's life, we see in her a rich but untouched nature; she is not spoiled by the world, she does not know how to pretend, but she also did not have time to develop mental strength in herself, did not have time to develop convictions for herself; she acts in obedience to the impulses of a good soul, but acts instinctively; she follows the friendly advice of a developed person, but does not always criticize this advice, is carried away by authority and sometimes mentally refers to her boarding school friends.<...>
Experience and calm reflection could gradually lead Olga out of this period of instinctive drives and actions; innate curiosity could lead her to further development through reading and serious study; but the author chose a different, accelerated path for her. Olga fell in love, her soul was excited, she learned about life, following the movements of her own feelings; the need to understand the state of her own soul forced her to change her mind a lot, and from this series of reflections and psychological observations she developed an independent view of her personality, her relationship with the people around her, the relationship between feeling and duty - in a word, on life in the broadest sense. G. Goncharov, depicting Olga’s character and analyzing her development, showed the educational influence of feelings in full force. He notices its occurrence, follows its development and dwells on each of its modifications in order to depict the influence that it has on the entire way of thinking of both characters. Olga fell in love accidentally, without prior preparation; she did not create an abstract ideal for herself, which many young ladies try to bring the men they know to life, she did not dream of love, although, of course, she knew about the existence of this feeling.
She lived calmly, not trying to artificially arouse love in herself, not trying to see the hero of her future novel in every new face. Love came to her unexpectedly, like any true feeling comes; this feeling imperceptibly crept into her soul and attracted her own attention when it had already received some development. When she noticed him, she began to think about it and compare her words and actions with her inner thoughts. This minute, when she became aware of the movements of her own soul, begins a new period in her development. Every woman experiences this moment, and the revolution that then takes place in her entire being and begins to reveal in her the presence of restrained feeling and concentrated thought, this revolution is especially fully and artistically depicted in Mr. Goncharov’s novel. For a woman like Olga, the feeling could not remain for long at the level of instinctive attraction; the desire to comprehend in her own eyes, to explain to herself everything that she encountered in life, awoke here with special force: a goal for feeling appeared, and a discussion of her beloved personality appeared; This discussion determined the very goal.
Olga realized that she was stronger than the person she loved, and decided to elevate him, breathe energy into him, give him strength to live. A meaningful feeling became a duty in her eyes, and with full conviction she began to sacrifice to this duty some external decency, the violation of which is sincerely and unfairly prosecuted by the suspicious court of the world. Olga grows along with her feelings; Each scene that takes place between her and the person she loves adds a new feature to her character; with each scene, the graceful image of the girl becomes more familiar to the reader, is outlined brighter and stands out more strongly from the general background of the picture.
We have sufficiently defined Olga's character to know that there could be no coquetry in her relationship with her loved one: the desire to lure a man, to make him her admirer, without having any feelings for him, seemed to her unforgivable, unworthy of an honest woman. In her treatment of the man whom she later fell in love with, at first soft, natural grace dominated; no calculated coquetry could have had a stronger effect than this genuine, artlessly simple treatment, but the fact is that on Olga’s part there was no desire to make one or another impression . The femininity and grace that Mr. Goncharov knew how to put into her words and movements constitute an integral part of her nature and therefore have a particularly charming effect on the reader. This femininity, this grace becomes stronger and more charming as the feeling develops in the girl’s chest; playfulness and childish carelessness are replaced in her features by an expression of quiet, thoughtful, almost solemn happiness.
Life opens up before Olga, a world of thoughts and feelings about which she had no idea, and she moves forward, looking trustingly at her companion, but at the same time peering with timid curiosity at the sensations that crowd in her excited soul. The feeling grows; it becomes a need, a necessary condition of life, and yet here too, when the feeling reaches pathos, to the “sleepwalking of love,” in the words of Mr. Goncharov, and here Olga does not lose consciousness of her moral duty and knows how to maintain a calm, reasonable, critical view of life. your responsibilities, the personality of your loved one, your position and your actions in the future. The very strength of feeling gives her a clear view of things and maintains firmness in her. The fact is that feeling in such a pure and sublime nature does not descend to the level of passion, does not darken reason, does not lead to such actions that would later make one blush; such a feeling does not cease to be conscious, although sometimes it is so strong that it presses and threatens to destroy the body. It infuses energy into a girl’s soul, makes her break one or another law of etiquette; but this same feeling does not allow her to forget her real duty, protects her from infatuation, instills in her conscious respect for the purity of her own personality, which contains the guarantees of happiness for two people.
Meanwhile, Olga is experiencing a new phase of development: a sad moment of disappointment comes for her, and the mental suffering she experiences finally develops her character, gives her thoughts maturity, and informs her of life experience. Disappointment is often the fault of the person being disappointed. A person who creates a fantasy world for himself will certainly, sooner or later, collide with real life and hurt himself the more painfully, the higher the height to which his whimsical dream raised him. He who demands the impossible from life must be deceived in his hopes. Olga did not dream of impossible happiness: her hopes for the future were simple, her plans were feasible. She fell in love with an honest, intelligent and developed man, but weak, not used to living; She recognized his good and bad sides and decided to use every effort to warm him with the energy that she felt in herself. She thought that the power of love would revive him, instill in him a desire for activity and give him the opportunity to put to work abilities that had fallen asleep from long inactivity.
Her goal was highly moral; it was inspired by a true feeling. It could be achieved: there was no evidence to doubt its success. Olga mistook an instant flash of feeling on the part of the person she loved for a real awakening of energy; she saw her power over him and hoped to lead him forward on the path of self-improvement. Could she not be carried away by her beautiful goal, could she not see quiet, rational happiness ahead of her? And suddenly she notices that the energy excited for a moment is extinguished, that the struggle she has undertaken is hopeless, that the charming power of sleepy calm is stronger than its life-giving influence. What should she do in such a case? Opinions will likely be divided. Whoever admires the impetuous beauty of an unconscious feeling, without thinking about its consequences, will say: she should have remained faithful to the first movement of her heart and given her life to the one whom she once loved. But whoever sees in a feeling a guarantee of future happiness will look at the matter differently: hopeless love, useless for oneself and for the beloved object, has no meaning in the eyes of such a person; the beauty of such a feeling cannot excuse its lack of understanding.
Olga had to conquer herself, break this feeling while there was still time: she had no right to ruin her life, to make a useless sacrifice. Love becomes illegal when reason does not approve of it; to drown out the voice of reason means to give free rein to passion, to animal instinct. Olga could not do this, and she had to suffer until the deceived feeling in her soul ached. She was saved in this case by the presence of consciousness, which we have already indicated above. The struggle of thought with the remnants of feeling, reinforced by fresh memories of past happiness, tempered Olga’s spiritual strength. In a short time, she experienced and changed her mind as much as she does not happen to change her mind and experience during many years of quiet existence. She was finally prepared for life, and the past feelings she experienced and the suffering she experienced gave her the ability to understand and appreciate the true merits of a person; they gave her the strength to love as she could not love before. Only a remarkable personality could instill in her a feeling, and in this feeling there was no room for disappointment; The time for passion, the time for sleepwalking has passed irrevocably. Love could no longer sneak into the soul, eluding the analysis of the mind for a time. In Olga’s new feeling everything was definite, clear and firm. Olga previously lived with her mind, and her mind subjected everything to its analysis, presented new needs every day, sought satisfaction and food in everything that surrounded her.
Then Olga's development took only one more step forward. There is only a cursory indication of this step in Mr. Goncharov’s novel. The situation to which this new step led is not outlined. The fact is that Olga could not be completely satisfied either by quiet family happiness or by mental and aesthetic pleasures. Pleasures never satisfy a strong, rich nature, unable to fall asleep and lose energy: such a nature requires activity, work with a reasonable goal, and only creativity can to some extent calm this melancholy desire for something higher, unfamiliar - a desire that does not satisfy happy environment of everyday life. Olga reached this state of highest development. How she satisfied the needs that awoke in her, the author does not tell us. But, recognizing in a woman the possibility and legitimacy of these highest aspirations, he obviously expresses his view on her purpose and on what is called in the community the emancipation of women. Olga’s whole life and personality constitute a living protest against a woman’s dependence. This protest, of course, was not the main goal of the author, because true creativity does not impose practical goals on itself; but the more naturally this protest arose, the less prepared it was, the more artistic truth it contained, the stronger its effect on public consciousness.
Here are the three main characters of Oblomov. The remaining groups of personalities that make up the background of the picture and stand in the background are outlined with amazing clarity. It is clear that the author did not neglect the little things for the main plot and, while painting a picture of Russian life, dwelled on every detail with conscientious love. The widow Pshenitsyna, Zakhar, Tarantyev, Mukhoyarov, Anisya - all these are living people, all these are types that each of us has met in our lifetime.<...>
"Oblomov", in all likelihood, will constitute an era in the history of Russian literature; it reflects the life of Russian society in a certain period of its development. The names of Oblomov, Stolz, Olga will become household names. In a word, no matter how you look at Oblomov, whether as a whole or in individual parts, whether in relation to modern life or in terms of its absolute significance in the field of art, one way or another, you will always have to say that it is quite elegant, strictly thought out and a poetically beautiful work.<...>The depiction of a pure, conscious feeling, the determination of its influence on a person’s personality and actions, the reproduction of the dominant disease of our time, Oblomovism, are the main motives of the novel. If we remember that every elegant work has an educational influence, if we remember that a truly elegant work is always moral, because it correctly and simply depicts real life, then we must admit that reading books like Oblomov should constitute a necessary condition for any rational education. Moreover, reading this novel can be especially useful for girls 3. This reading, incomparably better than an abstract treatise on female virtue, will explain to them the life and duties of a woman. One has only to think about Olga’s personality, trace her actions, and, probably, more than one fruitful thought will be added to her head, more than one warm feeling will be planted in her heart. So, we think that every educated Russian woman or girl should read Oblomov, just as she should read all the major works of our literature.
