The novel "Oblomov" is the most striking work of I. A. Goncharov. The author worked on it for more than 10 years. The main storyline of the work “Oblomov” is the story of Ilya Ilyich’s love for Olga Ilyinskaya. About such people it is often said that they are made of different dough. However, it often happens that life confronts completely opposite people. Let’s try to understand what these two characters are and analyze why Oblomov’s and Olga’s relationship is so formed.
Lifestyle Ilya Ilyich
Oblomov’s life will most likely be called inactive. He has little interest, does not go anywhere, does not read books. Hero's favorite pastime is lying in a bathrobe on the couch. He just does not see the point in activity, Oblomov loves to dream.
A friend of his who came to visit him, Andrei Ivanovich Stoltz, is the opposite of the protagonist. He is trying to make a difference in his life. The relationship between Oblomov and Olga began precisely thanks to him.
Acquaintance with Olga
So, Stolz is trying to stir up Oblomov. They travel together, Stolz makes him read, introduces an interesting girl, who turned out to be Olga Ilyinskaya.
This acquaintance awakens strong feelings in the protagonist. He declares the girl in love. Oblomov and Olga, whose relationship, it would seem, could not begin at all, nevertheless began to meet. The girl considers love for Ilya Ilyich his duty. She wants to change him, make him live differently.
Changes in Oblomov’s life
The life of the protagonist has really changed. He begins to be quite active. Ilya Ilyich now rises at seven in the morning, reading. Paints appear on the face, fatigue completely disappears.
Love for Olga makes Oblomov show the best qualities. As Goncharov notes, Ilya Ilyich to some extent "caught up with life."
However, the solution of practical issues still weighs on him. He is not interested in building a house in Oblomovka, driving his way to the village. Moreover, the relationship between Oblomov and Olga gives rise to insecurity in him, in himself. Then he comes to the realization that Olga does not love him. She is demanding, persistent, strict, exacting. The feast of love has become a debt, even a service.
The relationship between Oblomov and Olga ends, he again puts on a bathrobe and leads the same way of life.
Olga Ilyinskaya and Agafya Pshenitsyna
In his novel, Goncharov writes about two women who loved Oblomov. First, Olga Ilyinskaya, active, educated. She sings well, is interested in art, literature and science. Possessing high spiritual qualities, she was able to understand the nobility of Oblomov’s soul. However, Olga sees flaws in the nature of Ilya Ilyich. She does not like his passivity, inactivity, laziness. Rather, she loves her noble mission, due to which the spiritual revival of the protagonist should happen. The girl is not without vanity. She likes the thought that she will be the cause of his “awakening."
It was precisely because there was a lot of desire in this love to remake another that Oblomov and Olga parted. Relations based on the requirements and claims of another person are doomed to failure.
The absolute opposite of Olga was Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna - the second woman who loved Oblomov. Of course, she did not possess the education of Ilyinskaya and did not understand his mind, did not see spiritual wealth. Agafya Matveevna deliciously fed him and simply made the life of Ilya Ilyich comfortable.
Female ideal of Oblomov
The girl’s mismatch with the ideals of Ilya Ilyich is another reason why Olga Ilyinskaya and Oblomov could not be together. The relationship of these heroes was based on a reverence for beauty and an ambitious desire to remake a loved one.
It is no secret that in love we often look for those ideals that were adopted by us in childhood. Demanding Olga encourages Oblomov to act, think, and he seeks harmony and peace that a beloved woman can provide.
Olga Ilyinskaya and Oblomov, whose relationship did not last long, get acquainted, as we recall, through a common acquaintance Andrei Stolz. This girl breaks into his life and for a while tears out of the world of inaction and dreams.
Agafya Matveevna - the landlady of the apartment that Oblomov rented, appears in his life somehow quite normally, almost imperceptibly. The protagonist likes to talk a little with her, he notes her housekeeping, even temper. However, it does not cause any excitement in his soul.
Unlike Olga, Agafya Matveevna is not trying to elevate Oblomov to his ideal, she considers him to be a better breed than herself. As you know, it’s important for a man to be loved as he is, not trying to remake. Agafya Matveevna becomes for Oblomov the personification of female virtue.
The relationship between Oblomov and Olga Ilyinskaya was based on her ideas about happiness. Agafya Matveevna thought only of the comfort and convenience of Ilya Ilyich. Olga constantly forced Oblomov to act, for her sake he had to step over himself. Agafya Matveevna, on the contrary, is trying to rid the protagonist of unnecessary trouble. She even lays her property so that Oblomov does not give up his favorite habits.
The relationship between Oblomov and Olga Ilyinskaya was not possible due to the inconsistency of these two characters. Goncharov brings us to the understanding that it was Agafya Matveevna who embodied the ideal of the woman of the protagonist. He married this kind, hardworking woman. Life with Olga would not bring happiness to him or her, because their goals are completely different.
Life with Agafya Matveevna became for Oblomov the embodiment of family happiness: calm, satiety, comfort. With her, Ilya Ilyich seemed to be back on the happy days of her childhood, filled with the love and care of her mother.