The woman who ruined Oblomov’s happiness, or the righteous woman who returned the hero to the right direction? The image of Agafya Pshenitsyna, despite her minor character, is quite controversial and causes a lot of controversy. In Goncharov’s novel, she appears unexpectedly, as if out of nowhere, and spends the last moments of his life with Oblomov. Charming, economical, strong woman, far from social life, gave the main character that coziness and comfort that were so idealized by the hero. But was Agafya Pshenitsyna exactly what Ilya Oblomov needed?
Poor noblewoman, a widow, accustomed to work. Agafya Matveevna knew how to do almost any job. She could surround anyone with care and give her warmth: “...How kind you are!” Oblomov said, approaching her...” This woman literally charmed Oblomov, who was wandering in search of happiness. Everyone around told the hero that he needed to act, go somewhere, fight for something, but in fact he himself did not want this, because he was an “extra” person, simply born at the wrong time.
Since childhood, Ilya Ilyich kept in his memory that imperishable image of his Oblomovka, which was an ordinary village where existence was faceless, but it was precisely this way of life that became desirable for the hero. Pshenitsyna only became the embodiment of that dream, because she completely provided Oblomov with peace of mind. The fragile Agafya Matveevna gave the hero the opportunity to remain idle while she continued to work, retaining all the responsibilities of the household, but no longer in the status of a widow, but of a married woman.
Initially, the heroine’s rather pretty face and her simple character attracted others; most people assessed her as a “glorious woman” - in a low style, but in a kind way. With all my positive qualities Agafya Matveevna was not endowed with a lively mind; often simple things made her “stupidly think.” In general, in terms of mentality and demeanor, Pshenitsyna was closer to ordinary people than to the nobles. She was far from philosophical questions and social life. Hard work, poverty and unfavorable conditions taught me to perfectly perform static tasks, but completely discouraged the craving for high things.
With all the power of her character, Agafya Matveevna was a shy and timid woman; perhaps these qualities were instilled precisely because of a misunderstanding of certain things. She has a narrow outlook, but she knows true devotion to her husband and her work. Otherwise, if Agafya Matveevna had other qualities, Oblomov would not have married her. Despite his love for Olga, he felt a painful confusion that demanded changes from the hero himself. Oblomov did not want them, because his fate was written - the hero had to get stuck in the swamp of everyday life and inaction.
The image of Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna can even be called ideologically central, because it is with the help of it that the destructiveness of Oblomov’s ideal is revealed. This woman was able to provide Ilya Ilyich comfort and peace so that he could finally leave the place where he was not destined to be.
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- Theme and idea of the comedy Minor Fornvizina essay
The comedy “The Minor” raises the issue of education. Using the example of the Prostakov family, we see rude, uneducated and vulgar nobles who consider themselves right and the best in everything. They are only interested in money and making a quick buck,
Almost every one of us can say that his mother is the best. After all, it is mother who is the closest and dearest person to us. My mother always inspires my admiration.
N.V. Gogol is a great Russian writer who left behind a very large number magnificent works, which constitute the golden fund of our literature. In most of his works, he ridicules
Every person has his own hobby. Someone sings, someone plays musical instrument, and some people like to do things with their own hands. But I am a very versatile person and I like different things.
The street of my childhood will remain in my memory for the rest of my life. It was there, on the benches, under the trees and in the sandbox, that the most carefree, most intimate and defenseless part of my life passed. It’s about the street where I spent my childhood,
The long school holidays are in full swing. The exams are over, there are no homework assignments, and now you can have a good rest. I really love summer because it’s warm, sunny and you can relax in nature.
Oblomov beamed as he walked home. His blood was boiling, his eyes were shining. It seemed to him that even his hair was on fire. So he entered his room - and suddenly the radiance disappeared and his eyes, in unpleasant amazement, stopped motionless in one place: Tarantiev was sitting in his chair.
Tarantiev began to ask Oblomov why he had never visited his new apartment, reminded him of the contract signed for a whole year and demanded eight hundred rubles - six months in advance. Oblomov announced that he was neither going to settle on the Vyborg side nor pay, and hastened to send Tarantiev out.
When Tarantyev left, Oblomov thought and felt that “the bright, cloudless holiday of love had passed away, that love was becoming a duty... and began to fade, to lose its rainbow colors.” “The poem will pass, and a strict story will begin: the ward, then a trip to Oblomovka, building a house, hearings in court.” And he decided to go to Olga and tell her aunt about the engagement. But Olga demanded that he not say a word to anyone until he certified in the chamber a power of attorney to manage the estate, so that Oblomov’s village neighbor could sort out his economic affairs, build a house, find an apartment, write to Stolz...
“What is this? - Oblomov thought sadly. - No long whispers, no mysterious persuasion to merge both lives into one! Everything is somehow different, different. How strange this Olga is! She does not stop in one place, does not think sweetly over a poetic moment, as if she had no dreams at all, no need to drown in thought! Now go to the ward, to the apartment - exactly Andrey! It’s as if they all conspired to hurry up and live!”
The next day he reluctantly went to the ward, but before that he decided to stop by a friend to ask how best to file the case. The conversation lasted until three hours, it was already too late to go to the ward, and tomorrow was Saturday, and the matter had to be postponed until Monday.
Oblomov went to Vyborg side, to the house of the widow of the collegiate secretary Pshenitsyna, godfather Tarantiev.
She was about thirty. She was very white and full in the face, so that the blush, it seemed, could not break through her cheeks. She had almost no eyebrows at all, but in their place there were two slightly swollen, shiny stripes, with sparse blond hair. The eyes are grayish-simple, like the whole facial expression; the hands are white, but hard, with large knots of blue veins protruding outward.
The dress fit her tightly: it is clear that she did not resort to any art, not even an extra skirt, to increase the volume of her hips and reduce her waist.
Because of this, even her closed bust, when she was without a headscarf, could serve a painter or sculptor as a model of a strong, healthy breast, without violating her modesty. Her dress, in relation to the elegant shawl and ceremonial cap, seemed old and shabby...
She entered timidly and stopped, looking shyly at Oblomov.
He stood up and bowed.
Do I have the pleasure of seeing Mrs. Pshenitsyna? - he asked.
Yes, sir,” she answered. - Maybe you need to talk to your brother? - she asked hesitantly. - They are on duty, they don’t come before five o’clock.
No, I wanted to see you,” Oblomov began...
“She has a simple but pleasant face,” Oblomov condescendingly decided, “it must be kind woman!»
Oblomov told Pshenitsyna that he was going to look for an apartment in another part of the city, and was not going to live with her. She listened to him and said that all matters were decided by her brother, who served in the office and was not present now. Oblomov learned from Pshenitsyna that she lives alone, with two children from her late husband and a sick grandmother. Mikhei Andreich Tarantiev often stops by, sometimes staying for a month. The housewife rarely leaves the house, rarely goes to visit, and is more and more involved in housework, selling chickens and chicks. Oblomov did not wait for his brother to arrive and asked him to tell him that he did not need the apartment and he asked to transfer it to another tenant, and he himself would also look for a tenant. Oblomov said goodbye and hurried home. On the way, he thought that he needed to look at another apartment, but for this he had to go back, and he decided to postpone this matter until next time.
August was coming to an end, the rains began to fall, and the dachas were emptying. Oblomov rarely went to the city; one day the Ilyinskys also left the dacha. He decided to live on the Vyborg side until he found an apartment. He spent the evenings with Olga, but these were no longer summer evenings in the park and grove, he could no longer see Olga so often, and “this whole summer blooming poem of love seemed to stop, went lazier, as if there was not enough content in it.” . They spoke less often and were more often silent. Oblomov promised Olga to soon move to a new apartment and make it feel like home. He increasingly felt awkward, especially when he and Olga met acquaintances. He insisted on telling his aunt about their relationship, but Olga was adamant. But things didn't move. In order not to give reasons for conversation, they made dates at the theater, in the Summer Garden.
The next day Oblomov got up and put on his wild frock coat that he wore at the dacha. He said goodbye to the robe a long time ago and ordered it to be hidden in the closet.
Zakhar, as usual, swaying the tray, awkwardly approached the table with coffee and pretzels...
What nice coffee! Who cooks this? - asked Oblomov.
“The hostess herself,” said Zakhar, “it’s been her for the sixth day.” “You,” he says, “put in a lot of chicory and don’t cook it enough.” Give it to me!”
“Nice,” Oblomov repeated, pouring another cup. - Thank her...
At noon Zakhar came to ask if he would like to try their pie: the hostess told me to offer it.
Today is Sunday, they are baking a pie!
Well, I think the pie is good! - Oblomov said casually. - With onions and carrots...
The pie is no worse than our Oblomov’s,” Zakhar noted, “with chicken and fresh mushrooms.”
Oh, this must be good: bring it! Who bakes for them? Is this a dirty woman?
Where should she go? - Zakhar said with contempt. - If she’s not the hostess, she won’t even know how to make dough. The hostess does everything in the kitchen herself. She and Anisya baked the pie together.
Five minutes later, a bare hand, barely covered by the shawl he had already seen, stuck out from a side room towards Oblomov, with a plate on which a huge piece of pie was smoking, emitting hot steam.
“I humbly thank you,” Oblomov responded affectionately, accepting the pie, and, looking through the door, gazed at his high chest and bare shoulders. The door closed hastily.
I don't drink; “I humbly thank you,” Oblomov said even more affectionately. - Which one do you have?
Ours, homemade: we insist on currant leaves ourselves,” said the voice.
I've never drunk beer on a currant leaf, let me try it!
A bare hand stuck out again with a plate and a glass of vodka. Oblomov drank: he really liked it.
“Very grateful,” he said, trying to look into the door, but the door slammed...
The hostess’s brother, Ivan Matveyevich, was a man of about forty, “with a straight crest on his forehead and two similar crests on his temples carelessly thrown into the wind,” he seemed ashamed of his hands and when he spoke, he tried to hide them behind his back or in his bosom. From a conversation with him, it turned out that Ilya Ilyich, without reading it, signed the contract that Tarantyev slipped him, which provided for a substantial penalty in the event that Oblomov wanted to move out of the apartment earlier deadline. Ilya Ilyich promised to find another tenant, but, after counting the money he had left, he was stunned. He began to remember where he spent it, but, not remembering anything, decided to go to Olga for lunch.
Oblomov told Olga that he had spoken with the owner’s brother and that he would try to transfer the apartment this week. When she left with her aunt to visit before lunch, he went to look at the apartments that were rented nearby. The sums that were asked for them seemed enormous to Oblomov. Having added to them the money that he had to give to the widow Pshenitsyna, he got scared and ran to Olga.
There was a society there. Olga was animated, spoke, sang and created a sensation.
Only Oblomov listened absentmindedly, and she spoke and sang for him, so that he would not sit with his nose drooping, his eyelids drooping, so that everything would speak and sing incessantly within himself.
Come to the theater tomorrow, we have a box,” she said.
“In the evening, through the mud, such a distance!” - Oblomov thought, but, looking into her eyes, he responded to her smile with a smile of agreement.
Subscribe to the chair,” she added, “the Mayevskys will arrive that week; ma tante invited them to our box.
And she looked into his eyes to know how happy he would be.
"God! - he thought in horror. “And I only have three hundred rubles of money.”
Here, ask the baron; He knows everyone there and will send for chairs tomorrow.
And she smiled again, and he smiled looking at her, and with a smile asked the baron; he, also with a smile, undertook to send for a ticket.
Now in the chair, and then, when you finish your business,” Olga added, “you will rightfully take your place in our box.”
And she finally smiled, the way she smiled when she was completely happy.
Wow, what happiness he suddenly felt when Olga slightly lifted the curtain of the seductive distance, covered with smiles like flowers!
In Olga's company, Oblomov forgot about money, and only remembered it when he saw Ivan Matveyevich. Matters with the power of attorney have been delayed, the search new apartment was postponed, Oblomov calmed down and continued to live on the Vyborg side. “It would be possible to live here,” he thought, “but it’s far from everything, but in their house they have strict order and the economy is going well.” In the morning, “the coffee is still just as delicious, the cream is thick, the buns are rich and crumbly.” After breakfast, Oblomov smoked cigars and listened to the mother hen clucking, the chickens squeaking, the canaries and siskins chattering, and all this reminded him of his native Oblomovka. Sitting on the sofa, he read books, sometimes the owner’s daughter, Masha, came to see him.
The hostess herself was always busy with work: she was cooking something, ironing, pushing. Oblomov sometimes dropped in with a book to talk to the hostess. In good weather, he put on his cap, walked around the neighborhood and returned home, where “the table was already set, and the food was so tasty, served clean.” “Quiet, good in this direction, just boring!” - he said, leaving for the opera. One day, returning to the Vyborg side from the theater, he could not get through for a long time, was very cold and angry. And the next day he announced that he would soon move out of here. But days passed, and he still did not move out.
He was bored without Olga and her singing, and when she was nearby, he looked into her eyes and listened to her singing. But as time went on towards winter, their meetings became less and less frequent. The Ilyinskys often had many guests, and they rarely had time alone, all that was left was to exchange tired glances. Arriving home, he lay down on the sofa, but did not sleep, but dreamed of Olga, painted in his imagination pictures of a peaceful family life, “where Olga would shine and everything would shine around her.”
One day, when Ilya Ilyich was lying on the sofa, Zakhar came in and asked if the master had found an apartment and when the wedding would take place.
What kind of wedding? - Oblomov suddenly stood up and asked.
We know which one: yours! - Zakhar answered positively, as if the matter had been decided long ago. - You're getting married, aren't you?
I'm getting married! On whom? - Oblomov asked in horror, devouring Zakhar with amazed eyes.
On Ilyinskaya there is a profit... - Zakhar had not yet finished speaking, and Oblomov was almost on his nose...
Tssss!.. - Oblomov hissed at him, raising his finger up and threatening Zakhar. - Not a word more!
Am I making this up? - Zakhar said.
Not a word! - Oblomov repeated, looking at him menacingly, and showed him the door...
The “poetic moment” that Oblomov thought about so often suddenly lost all its charm for him. What the courtyards knew about his relationship with Olga horrified him. An hour later, he called Zakhar to convince him that he was not going to get married. Having asked Zakhar where the rumors about him and Mrs. Ilyinskaya came from, he began to explain to him what a wedding is: a person ceases to be called by his own name, but is called “groom”; every day you need to go to the bride and look cheerful - not eat, not drink, but “live by the wind and bouquets”; running around, bustle, money costs... But there is no money and no home... Having ordered Zakhar to stop spreading ridiculous rumors, he ordered to call Anisya, continued the questioning, and learned from her that the Ilyinskys were poor, this week they even pawned silver.
Happiness, happiness! - he said caustically afterwards. - How fragile you are, how unreliable! Blanket, wreath, love, love! Where's the money? and what to live with? And you must be bought, love, a pure, lawful good.
From that moment on, Oblomov’s dreams and calm left him. He slept poorly, ate little, looked at everything absent-mindedly and gloomily.
He wanted to frighten Zakhar and was more frightened than him when he delved into the practical side of the question of the wedding and saw that this, of course, was poetic, but at the same time also a practical, official step towards a significant and serious reality and to a number of strict responsibilities...
I remembered everything, and the thrill of happiness at that time, Olga’s hand, her passionate kiss... and froze: “It’s faded, it’s gone!” - was heard inside him.
What now?..
Oblomov decided to postpone his date with Olga. He didn’t want to tell her about the conversations going on around them, but he couldn’t pretend either: she unmistakably determined all his innermost moods and desires. He calmed down and wrote a second letter to the village to his neighbor, his attorney, asking him to hurry with his answer. A day later a letter arrived from Olga, in which she wrote that she was waiting for him tomorrow in the Summer Garden. “Again anxiety arose from the bottom of his soul, again he began to rush about with anxiety,” not knowing how to talk to Olga and what to tell her. Then he reassured himself that Olga would not come alone, but with an aunt or an acquaintance, and prepared to be talkative and amiable.
As soon as he entered the long alley, he saw a woman under a veil get up from one of the benches and walk towards him...
How did you get here, how? - he asked, confused.
Leave; What's the matter, what's the question? It's boring! I wanted to see you and came - that’s all!..
At these moments her face breathed with such childish trust in fate, fortunately, in him... She was very sweet.
Oh, how glad I am! I'm so glad! - she repeated, smiling and looking at him.
I thought I wouldn't see you today. Yesterday I suddenly felt so sad - I don’t know why, and I wrote. Are you happy?
She looked into his face.
Why are you so frowning today? Are you silent? Aren't you happy? I thought you’d go crazy with joy, but he’s definitely asleep. Wake up, sir, Olga is with you!
She, reproachfully, slightly pushed him away from her...
Let's go to the Neva, take a boat ride...
What you? God be with you! It’s so cold, and I’m only in a cotton overcoat...
I'm also wearing a cotton dress. What a need. Let's go, let's go.
She ran and dragged him too. He resisted and grumbled. However, I had to get on the boat and go...
Listen, Olga,” he finally spoke solemnly, “for fear of arousing annoyance in you and incurring reproaches, I must, however, decisively say that we have gone far.” It's my duty, my responsibility to tell you this.
What can I say? - she asked impatiently.
What we are doing is very bad, that we are seeing each other in secret.
“You said this back at the dacha,” she said thoughtfully.
Yes, but then I got carried away: I pushed away with one hand and held on with the other. You were trusting, and I... seemed... to deceive you. The feeling was still new then...
But we are the bride and groom! - she objected.
Yes, yes, dear Olga,” he said, shaking both her hands, “and the stricter we need to be, the more careful at every step.” I want to proudly lead you arm in arm along this very alley, publicly, and not secretly, so that glances bow before you with respect, and do not rush at you boldly and slyly, so that no suspicion is born in anyone’s head that you, proud a girl could headlong, forgetting shame and upbringing, get carried away and break her duty...
“It’s true,” she said, shuddering. “Listen,” she added decisively, “let’s say everything ma tante, and may she bless us tomorrow...
Oblomov turned pale.
What you? - she asked.
Wait, Olga: why be in such a hurry?.. - he hastily added...
His lips were trembling.
Saying goodbye, Olga invited Oblomov to come for lunch tomorrow. But he promised to come the day after tomorrow, on Friday or Saturday, making the excuse that he was waiting for a letter from the village.
Returning home, Oblomov fell into a deep sleep. Remembering the next day that he needed to go to Olga, he shuddered. He imagined how people would look at him, see him off with friendly glances... but he had no money or even a house in the village. And he decided not to see Olga until he received good news from the village. He did not shave, did not dress, lazily leafed through newspapers, and worked with the master's children. Agafya Matveevna was still busy with the housework, preparing delicious dinners, darning his stockings, taking his robe out of the closet to wash and mend it. A few days later, he received a letter from Olga, in which she asked why he did not come, wrote that she cried the whole evening and did not sleep all night. "God! Why does she love me? Why do I love her? Why did we meet? This is all Andrei: he instilled love, like smallpox, into both of us. And what kind of life is this, all the excitement and anxiety!..” exclaimed Oblomov. He wrote to Olga that he caught a cold in the Summer Garden and had to stay at home for two days, but had almost recovered and hoped to come soon. She wrote him a reply, praising him for his caution and advising him to be careful. He was delighted at Olga’s offer to take care and stayed at home for a few more days, drinking coffee and eating hot pies.
Soon another legitimate excuse not to go to Olga appeared: the Neva was freezing, the bridges were removed. So the days passed, Ilya Ilyich was bored, read the books sent with Olga, walked along the street, dropped in to visit the hostess.
A week has passed. Every day Oblomov wondered whether bridges had been built across the Neva, and when he found out that they had not, he calmed down. I began to read books less often, but more often I studied with the landlady’s children and talked with her. One day Zakhar reported that bridges had been built across the Neva, and the thought that tomorrow he would have to go to Olga, endure the curious glances of those around him and explain to his aunt, made Oblomov’s heart skip a beat. He again decided to postpone the trip, to wait a few more days for a letter from the village.
All this time, Olga asked the maid every morning whether the bridges had been built, and when she found out that they had been built, she began to eagerly prepare for Oblomov’s arrival, and asked her aunt to go with her tomorrow to the church that Ilya Ilyich showed her to pray for him and for them. Love. On Sunday, Olga arranged dinner the way Oblomov liked, combed her hair the way he liked, and put on white dress. The baron who was taking care of Olga’s estate informed her that the work was almost completed, and next month she would be able to move to the village, to her estate. Olga was delighted, but decided not to tell Oblomov about it. She wanted to follow 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 close happiness, will receive a favorable answer from the village and, shining, will come running, fly and lay him at her feet, how they both will rush to their aunt’s, and then... she will suddenly tell him that she also has a village.” But Oblomov did not come again. At first she was angry, but then she thought that he was sick and could not write, and decided to go to him herself.
On Monday morning, the hostess told Ilya Ilyich that a young lady had come to see him. He quickly got dressed, sent Anisya and Zakhar off on business, rushed to the gate and “carried Olga to the porch almost in his arms.” Olga immediately realized that he was not sick and asked him to answer why he had not come to them all this time. Oblomov replied that he was afraid of rumors and conversations.
She took the book from the table and looked at the unfolded page: the page was dusty.
You didn't read! - she said.
No, he answered.
She looked at the crumpled, embroidered pillows, at the disorder, at the dusty windows, at the writing table, sorted through several dust-covered papers, stirred the pen in the dry inkwell and looked at it in amazement.
What were you doing? - she repeated. -You didn’t read or write?
“There wasn’t enough time,” he began, hesitatingly, “you get up in the morning, they clean the rooms, they get in the way, then they start talking about dinner, then the owner’s children come, ask for the task to be completed, and then there’s dinner.” After lunch... when to read?
“You slept after lunch,” she said so positively that after a moment’s hesitation he quietly answered:
Why?
So as not to notice time: you were not with me, Olga, and life is boring, unbearable without you.
He stopped, and she looked at him sternly.
Ilya! - she spoke seriously. - Do you remember, in the park, when you said that life had ignited in you, assured that I was the goal of your life, your ideal, took my hand and said that it was yours - do you remember how I gave you consent?
How can this be forgotten? Didn't this change my whole life? Can't you see how happy I am?
No, I don't see; “You deceived me,” she said coldly, “you are sinking again...
His eyes sparkled, as they did in the park. Again pride and willpower shone through them.
I am now ready to go where you tell me, to do what you want. I feel like I'm alive when you look at me, talk, sing...
Olga listened to these outpourings of passion with stern thoughtfulness.
Listen, Ilya,” she said, “I believe your love and my power over you. Why do you frighten me with your indecision, bringing me to doubt? I am your goal, you say, and you walk towards it so timidly, slowly; and you still have a long way to go; you must become taller than me. I expect this from you! I saw happy people“How they love,” she added with a sigh, “everything is in full swing with them, and their peace is not like yours; they don't lower their heads; their eyes are open; They hardly sleep, they act! And you... no, it doesn’t seem like love, that I was your goal... She shook her head doubtfully.
You, you!.. - he said, kissing her hands again and worrying at her feet. - You are the only one! My God, what happiness! - he repeated as if in delirium. - And you think - it’s possible to deceive you, fall asleep after such an awakening, and not become a hero! You will see, you and Andrey,” he continued, looking around with inspired eyes, “to what heights the love of a woman like you raises a person!” Look, look at me: am I not resurrected, am I not living at this moment? Let's get out of here! Out! Out! I can't stay here for a minute; I'm stuffy, disgusting! - he said, looking around with genuine disgust. - Let me live today with this feeling... Oh, if only the same fire burned me as it burns me now - tomorrow, and always! Otherwise, if you are not there, I go out, I fall! Now I have come to life, resurrected. It seems to me that I... Olga, Olga! - You are the most beautiful thing in the world, you are the first woman, you... you...
He pressed his face to her hand and froze. Words no longer came from the tongue. He pressed his hand to his heart to calm his excitement, fixed his passionate, moist gaze on Olga and became motionless.
“Gentle, gentle, gentle!” - Olga mentally repeated, but with a sigh, not as she did in the park, and plunged into deep thought.
I have to go! - waking up, she said affectionately...
She gave him her hand and without trepidation, calmly, in the proud consciousness of her innocence, crossed the yard, with the desperate jumping on the chain and the barking of the dog, got into the carriage and left.
Heads were looking out of the windows on the master's side; from around the corner, behind the fence, Anisya's head peeked out of the ditch...
When the creaking of the carriage died down, Oblomov’s anxiety passed, his eyes were wet with happiness, cheerfulness and warmth spread throughout his body. And again he wanted to act: to go to Stolz, with Olga to the village, to read new book, working in the office... “What a full day! How easy it is to breathe in this life, in Olga’s sphere, in the rays of her virginal splendor..., vigorous strength... and sound mind! He walks as if he were flying; it’s like someone is carrying him around the room.” He looked around, and everything in the room seemed disgusting to him. When the hostess looked into the room and invited him to look at the canvas that they had brought to sell, he dryly thanked her and said that he was very busy. Then he delved into the memories of the summer and enjoyed turning over all the details in his mind. He was not himself: he sang, spoke affectionately to Anisya, joked, played with the owner’s daughter.
Oblomov spent the next day in the same mood. They were with Olga at the opera, sang, then drank tea at Olga’s aunt, had a heart-to-heart conversation, and Ilya Ilyich felt like a member of this pleasant family and decided to end his lonely life: now “he has light and warmth - how good it is to live with this ! That night he hardly slept, reading the books Olga sent him.
Oblomov spent the next day with Olga again, and when he returned home, he found a letter from the village on his desk. A neighbor, his attorney, wrote that he did not want to take over the management of Ilya Ilyich’s neglected estate, and strongly advised him to come to the village himself. Attached to the letter was a note detailing all the business details. And again everything “surrounded Oblomov in the form of ghosts.” It was as if he had found himself in the forest at night, among these ghosts, and could not bring himself to look at them. He hoped that the letter would definitely say how much income he would receive, that the house was in good condition and could be lived in until a new one was built, that the attorney would send him money. In a word, everything will be as good, clear and simple as in a relationship with Olga. The thought that the wedding would again have to be postponed indefinitely made him despondent. He groaned and was about to lie down, but then got up and decided to turn to the owner’s brother for help.
Ivan Matveyevich listened carefully to Oblomov, read the letter from the village and also advised Oblomov to go to the estate himself. “I’m completely out of the habit of driving... Besides, it’s very boring in the village alone...” said Oblomov. Having asked a few more questions regarding the state of affairs in Oblomovka, Ivan Matveevich advised that his colleague, Isai Fomich Zaterty, a businesslike and knowledgeable person, and transfer the power of attorney to him. That's what they settled on: bring him here, give him money for life and business, and at the end of the business, give him a reward. Ivan Matveevich promised to introduce Oblomov to his colleague at lunch tomorrow.
In contrast, I.A. Goncharov, with a portrait of Olga Ilyinskaya, puts on a “everyday” portrait of Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna, the wife of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov. Unlike full image Olga, which includes not only the appearance of the heroine, but also her character traits, here the author shows some of Pshenitsyna’s appearance, her clothes, the writer is silent about her character, manners and habits.
This is how Oblomov sees this woman: “She was about thirty years old. She was very white and full in the face, so that the blush, it seemed, could not break through her cheeks. She had almost no eyebrows at all, but in their place there were two slightly swollen, shiny stripes, with sparse blond hair. The eyes are grayish-simple, like the whole facial expression; the hands are white, but hard, with large knots of blue veins protruding outward. The dress fit her tightly: it is clear that she did not resort to any art, not even an extra skirt, to increase the volume of her hips and reduce her waist. Because of this, even her closed bust, when she was without a headscarf, could serve a painter or sculptor as a model of a strong, healthy breast, without violating her modesty. Her dress, in relation to the elegant shawl and ceremonial cap, seemed old and shabby.” Goncharov, I.A. Oblomov. A novel in 4 parts. - M.: Fiction, 1984. - 493 p. - P. 304
The heroine made a positive impression on Ilya Oblomov, although she had a “simple but pleasant face” and the hero thought that she was probably a nice woman. The heroine’s hands betrayed her love for work and housekeeping. And as the writer notes, housework did not burden Pshenitsyn in any way; this was her calling.
Agafya Matveevna completely immersed herself in the main character. She is ready to do a lot for the sake of love for Oblomov, although she seems shy and meek to him. Her feeling of falling in love can only be noticed by her excessive absent-mindedness: then her “roast will burn, the fish in her ear will be overcooked, she will not put greens in the soup...”.
If we compare the portraits of the heroine at the beginning of I.I.’s arrival. Oblomov and the portrait after a long time life together with it, you can notice significant differences. At the beginning, she is full of health, plump, rosy, round-cheeked. But here is a portrait a few years later. “She has changed terribly, not to her advantage” Goncharov, I.A. Oblomov. A novel in 4 parts. - M.: Fiction, 1984. - 493 p. - P. 427 - notes I.A. Goncharov - “She lost weight. There are no round, white, non-reddening and non-blanchable cheeks; Her sparse eyebrows are not shiny, her eyes are sunken.
She is dressed in an old cotton dress; her hands are either tanned or roughened from work, from fire or from water, or from both... there is deep despondency in her face.” Right there. - P. 427
What happened to the heroine? And all because Ilya Ilyich has not eaten all her cooking for several years now. This is how reverently Agafya Matveevna treated Oblomov. And as soon as the protagonist’s affairs improved with the payment of the debt, the heroine again returned to her former position: “she gained weight; the chest and shoulders shone with the same contentment and fullness, meekness and only economic care shone in the eyes.” Right there. - P. 473
But Pshenitsyna’s face showed much more. It “expressed the same happiness, complete, satisfied and without desires.”
In the portrait of Agafya Pshenitsyna I.A. Goncharov embodied the image of a typical Russian woman who is ready to completely devote herself to household chores and please the typical Oblomovs in every possible way.
The difference between Olga Ilyinskaya and Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna is masterfully depicted by Goncharov, starting with portrait characteristics: “She was about thirty. She was very white and plump in face, so that the blush, it seemed, could not break through her cheeks... Her eyes were grayish-simple, like the whole expression of her face; hands are white, but hard...” The author did not give this detailed description Olga’s appearance, as if wanting to emphasize that the main thing about her was not her external qualities.
In the appearance of Agafya Matveevna, the author (and therefore his hero) notes “strong, healthy breasts,” full white arms with round elbows, and a lush figure covered in a dress. “She has a simple but pleasant face,” Oblomov decided condescendingly, “she must be a kind woman!” And indeed, Agafya Matveevna was a kind, warm-hearted, decent woman, she cared so much about Ilya Ilyich that she was ready to sacrifice a lot for him. For example, I took my jewelry to the pawnshop so that the master would not need anything. To Stolz’s question about the promissory note (a fraudulent forgery of her brother and Tarantiev, which Agafya did not know about), she innocently replied that the master did not owe her anything, although she had been feeding him at her own expense for a long time.
However spiritual qualities The author does not put this heroine in first place, and the narrative is dominated by everyday and physiological details that are important for the main character. These are seductive shoulders, full arms with round elbows, which Oblomov admired “with the same pleasure with which he looked at a hot cheesecake in the morning.” This woman brought peace and tranquility into his soul, and he felt grateful to her for the amazing atmosphere of comfort, so reminiscent of Oblomov’s familiar and sweet life.
Agafya Matveevna was a hardworking housewife, and she was ready every minute to serve the person she loved with all her heart. It is impossible to imagine her resting, and Oblomov liked her tirelessness. He was also very pleased that they did not demand anything from him, did not bother him with anything, but they cared about him tirelessly. Love and sacrifice are always nearby in the lives of ordinary Russian women, and Agafya Pshenitsyna is one of them. She is neither a noblewoman nor a peasant (“official”), and earns her living by renting out rooms to guests, doing a lot of work miscellaneous work for tenants and for your family. She has philistine views on relations between men and women, but when she realized that she fell in love with Oblomov, she was ready to make any sacrifice for his sake, caring for him became the meaning of her life.
In many ways, her faithful assistant Anisya, Zakhara’s wife, with whom the hostess became very friendly, is similar to Agafya Matveevna. They are both very hardworking, they treat work not as an exhausting, heavy duty, but as a familiar and necessary condition of life, which was the complete opposite of the views on work in Oblomovka. Anisya was “an agile woman, about forty-seven years old, with a caring smile... and tenacious, never-tiring hands.” Lazy and grumpy Zakhar, who sometimes spoke threateningly and angrily to his wife, had to admit that “Anisya is smarter than him!” And therefore, all the misunderstandings with the master were resolved by Anisya, who spoke to Oblomov in such a way, chattering nonstop, that he calmed down in bewilderment.
The author notes the mutual sympathy of Agafya Matveevna and Anisya. “If there are sympathies of souls, if kindred hearts sense each other from afar...”, then such an example is the friendship of these women, which also testifies to the kindness and sincerity of Agafya Matveevna. And how can she not appreciate her assistant, if with her appearance everything in the house began to sparkle with cleanliness and everything was in order! So Anisya became a “great helper” in the master’s orders, and Agafya Matveevna found “a place in her heart” for Anisya, who also realized that from now on she, together with the mistress, would participate in the whole life of the house. “The two women understood each other and became inseparable”: they shared secrets in everything that had been introduced into people’s everyday life by observant minds and centuries of experience.
Like all ordinary women, Anisya is not only inquisitive, but also curious, she is interested in the master’s life, but she will not engage in gossip and is ready at any time to defend the honor of the owner if anyone dares to say too much.
When Ilya Ilyich married Agafya Matveevna, Anisya finally established her position in Pshenitsyna’s house, and “the mutual attraction of Anisya and the mistress turned into an inextricable connection, into one existence.” “Agafya Matveevna grew up, Anisya spread her arms like an eagle’s wings, and life began to boil and flow like a river.” If this is what is needed for the family, then Anisya won’t even go to bed, as long as everything is decent, as the master wants. And the kitchen became “the palladium of the activities of the great housewife and her worthy assistant,” under whose watchful eye the entire house was located, where her “nimble, all-sweeping hand” was in charge.
The images of women, near whom Oblomov’s quiet life takes place, were not introduced by chance by the author. The reader sees how love has a beneficial effect on the souls of those who are able to love selflessly, who are not afraid of work, and inspired women are ready for much. Their work seems to excite them, and their eyes shine brighter. The images of Agafya Matveevna and Anisya help to see even more clearly the bright opposite against their background, the master Ilya Ilyich, and the destructive impact that laziness and lordship brought up from childhood had on Oblomov. Even Olga’s love did not inspire him to “deeds”; he suffered from the need to make efforts every day, when he had long been tired of just leaving the house. Oblomov did not want and was unable to work on himself, to change himself and his usual way of life. And in Pshenitsyna’s house, a lot reminded him of his childhood in Oblomovka, when you can admire other people’s work, remaining in peace, while feeling care and love.
Agafya Matveevna idolizes the man who changed everything in her destiny, considers him a special, noble and pampered nobleman who bestowed his attention on her. Together with love, the soul of this simple woman blossomed; Agafya Matveevna grew spiritually, causing surprise with her transformation among those who knew her before. Now she is able to defend her right to a happy life. family life, and the brother and his family are forced to move out, and Agafya Matveevna lives in peace and harmony with the person most dear to her. She accepted everything in him (Olga could not do this even at the request of Ilya Ilyich: “accept me as I am”).
Agafya was not irritated by Oblomov’s inactivity, drowsiness, laziness, and she recognized his quiet, calm disposition and his way of life as an ideal. This woman believed that “God put a soul into her life” when Ilya Ilyich appeared in her house. Having married him, she began to understand herself in a new way, since “now she already knew why she lived.” And even after Oblomov’s death, remaining eternally inconsolable, Agafya Matveevna understood that “rays, a quiet light from the seven years that flew by in an instant, spilled over her entire life.”
Agafya Matveevna loved her son Andryusha no less than his father, but wisely decided that Stolz and Olga would do much more to raise him than she did. And at the end of the novel, the author reports her rapprochement with Olga Ilyinskaya, but not only because of their common concern for Andryusha. It turns out that they were “connected by a common sympathy, one memory of the soul of the deceased, pure as crystal.”
So, at first, infinitely distant and different women become closer thanks to the ability to love strongly and selflessly, although fate and life have led them in different paths.