Characteristics of the hero
Olga Sergeevna Ilyinskaya - Oblomov’s beloved, Stolz’s wife, bright and strong character.
“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,” “In a rare girl you will find such simplicity and natural freedom of look, word, action... no lies, no tinsel, no intent !
Stolz introduces O. and Oblomov. Ilya Ilyich is immediately captivated amazing voice girls. Listening to her magnificent “Casta diva”, Oblomov falls more and more in love with O.
The heroine is self-confident, her mind requires constant work. Having fallen in love with Oblomov, she certainly wants to change him, raise him to her ideal, re-educate him. O. draws up a plan to “remake” Oblomov into an active, active person. “And she will do all this miracle... She even shuddered with proud, joyful trepidation; I considered this a lesson ordained from above.” O. understands that in her relationship with Oblomov she belongs main role, "role guiding star" She transformed along with Oblomov’s changes, because these changes are the work of her hands. But the heroine’s mind and soul required further development, and Ilya Ilyich changed very slowly, reluctantly and lazily. O.’s feeling is more reminiscent of the experience of re-educating Oblomov than of sincere first love. She does not inform Oblomov that all the affairs of her estate have been settled only in order to “see to the end how love will make a revolution in his lazy soul...” But, realizing that her life ideals will never agree with Oblomov’s ideals, O. breaks off relations with him: “... you are 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!” O. needs to feel that her chosen one is higher than her. But even Stolz, whom she will marry, does not succeed. “The deep abyss of her soul” does not give O. peace. She is doomed to always strive for development and a richer, spiritually rich life.
/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 expensive in 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 according to impulses kind 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 measure her words and actions against 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 stronger than that the person she loves, and decided to elevate him, breathe energy into him, give him strength for life. 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; every scene that takes place between her and the person she loves adds 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 subsequently fell in love with, at first soft, natural grace dominated; no calculated coquetry could have 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 . Femininity and grace, which 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 meanwhile, 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 moral duty and knows how to maintain a calm, reasonable, critical look at his duties, at the personality of his loved one, at his position and at his 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, informs her life experience. Disappointment is often the fault of the person being disappointed. A man who creates for himself fantasy world, 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 apply abilities to work 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 was she supposed to do? 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 meaning.
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 short time she felt and changed her mind as much as does not happen to change her mind and change her mind 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 led new step, not delineated. 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 separate parts, is it in relation to modern life or in terms of its absolute significance in the field of art, one way or another, it will always have to be said that this is a completely elegant, strictly considered and 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 piece 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 be 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 appear in her head, more than one warm feeling will be engrained 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.
One of women's portraits in the novel there is the character of Olga Sergeevna Ilyinskaya, Stolz’s acquaintance and Oblomov’s beloved. Ilya Ilyich cannot forget this woman for a long time; he painted her portrait in his memory. “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 five year old child, with fingers in the shape of grapes..."Goncharov, I.A. Oblomov. A novel in 4 parts. - M.: Fiction, 1984. - 493 p. - P. 202. Such a woman could not leave the main character indifferent, who had not been seen in public for a long time.
Further, one can trace the view of I.A. Goncharov himself on the image of Olga: “Whoever met her, even absent-minded, stopped for a moment before this so strictly and deliberately, artistically created creature... the nose formed a noticeably convex, graceful line; the lips are thin and mostly compressed... the eyebrows gave a special beauty to the eyes... they were two light brown, fluffy, almost straight stripes that rarely lay symmetrically...” Ibid. - P. 202.
The motif of the statue can be seen here too. Oblomov himself compares Olga to a statue of “grace and harmony.” She “slightly tall was strictly matched by the size of her head, the size of her head was strictly matched by the oval and size of her face; all this, in turn, was in harmony with the shoulders, and the shoulders with the body...” But researchers note that Olga is not a statue. There is another analogy for it - a machine.
As a statue Ilyinskaya is certainly beautiful, but as a machine she is functional. It’s as if Oblomov’s love has wound up the hero, but then the plant ends and the hero himself freezes. The hero’s eyes no longer sparkle and are no longer filled with tears “from the words, from the sounds, from this pure, strong girlish voice,” from which the heart beat so much before.
I.A. Goncharov gives a portrait of the heroine at different moments of her life. Here she sings “Her cheeks and ears were red with excitement; sometimes a play of heart lightning suddenly sparkled on her fresh face, a ray of such mature passion flared up, as if she was experiencing a distant future time of life in her heart, and suddenly this instant ray went out again, again her voice sounded fresh and silvery,” the author describes “the awakening of the heroine’s soul “When she understands Oblomov’s feelings: “... her face was gradually filled with consciousness; a ray of thought and guesswork crept into every feature, and suddenly the whole face was illuminated with consciousness... The sun also sometimes, coming out from behind a cloud, little by little illuminates one bush, another, the roof and suddenly bathes the whole landscape in light...” But a completely different Olga, after a farewell conversation with Oblomov, “she changed in her face: two pink spots disappeared, and her eyes dimmed... she strongly pulled a branch from a tree in passing, tore it off with her lips...”. This shows all the disappointment, excitement and even annoyance of the heroine.
Olga Ilyinskaya also changes throughout her acquaintance with Ilya Oblomov. If at first, before Ilya Ilyich’s confession, she is light-hearted, always cheerful, lively, open and trusting “dependent” on Stolz (he is her teacher), then after the confession and subsequent parting with the main character, she is thoughtful, restrained, persistent, firm, confident, restrained. She is no longer just a flighty girl, but a woman.
The writer identifies in Olga Ilyinskaya two important, in his opinion, personality traits that are so lacking in modern women, and therefore are especially valuable. These are words and movements. They are presented quite convincingly in the novel. This is the talent of I.A. Goncharova.
"is the most striking 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 full characteristics the image of Olga 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, knowledge, 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.”
Love for Oblomov
The image of Olga Ilyinskaya in “Oblomov” appears at the beginning of the novel as still very young, little knowledgeable girl, with wide with open eyes looking at the world around us 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 to Oblomov was connected not with those feminine tenderness, softness, acceptance and care that Oblomov expected from her, but with duty, the need to change inner world beloved, 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 are difficult to name true love- it was a fleeting love, a state of inspiration and rise before the 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 everything he had owed to Olga.
1. Olga Ilyinskaya is a smart, proud, proud girl. She has a passionate and active nature. She tried to awaken Oblomov to life, to useful activity, did a lot to save him from laziness and apathy. Here’s how Goncharov writes about Olga: “Bringing the presence of a young, pretty, intelligent and partly mocking woman into Oblomov’s sleepy life is like bringing a lamp into a gloomy room, from which pink light, several degrees of heat, and the room will be more cheerful.”
Olga meets Oblomov at the age of twenty. Her life is meaningful and full. She loves music and sings beautifully. She wants to know everything, understand everything. Olga has a very wide range of interests. She reads books, newspapers, and follows literary news.
From the first days of meeting Oblomov, Olga actively invades his life. At first she was simply captivated by the idea of saving Oblomov, but while saving, she fell in love with him. For Olga, love, life and a sense of duty are inseparable. She is sure that with her love she will bring Ilya Ilyich back to life and this will make him happy. Dobrolyubov said about Olga Ilyinskaya that she has “an amazing harmony of her heart and will.”
2. In the struggle for Oblomov, her naturalness, truthfulness in words and actions, absence of coquetry and ability to love were revealed. Olga knows how to sacrifice herself; in her actions she is guided not by the laws of etiquette, but by her inner voice - the voice of conscience and love. Oblomov, having fallen in love with Olga, was simply transformed under her influence. He began to get up early and dress carefully: “You can’t see the robe on him.” Together with Olga, he visits theaters, museums, and even climbs a hill after her. This friendship, which later grew into love, influenced not only Oblomov. She also accelerated the spiritual growth of Olga herself. Here’s what D.I. Pisarev said about this: “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.”
Oblomov was shocked by Olga’s wonderful singing. His natural spirituality, the existence of which he had already forgotten, awakened in him. This was the beginning of a great feeling: “No, I feel... not music... but... love! “But if Oblomov wants love not to disturb the peaceful flow of his life, the peace to which he is accustomed, then Olga expects something completely different from love... Olga demanded activity and determination from Oblomov. She was looking for an application for her powers and, having met Oblomov, she was fired up with the dream of resurrecting him, awakening him to life. But this turned out to be an impossible task even for her.
3. Olga constantly thinks not only about her feelings, but also about the influence on Oblomov, about her “mission”: “And she will do all this miracle, so timid, silent, to whom no one has listened until now, who has not yet begun to live “And love becomes a duty for Olga, and therefore can no longer be reckless, spontaneous. Moreover, Olga is not ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of love. “Would you like to know if I would sacrifice my peace of mind for you, if I would go down this path with you?..Never, never for anything!” -
She decisively answers Oblomov.