Portrait of Agafya Pshenitsyna. Portraits of minor characters. The idea of creating the image of Olga
Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna, nee Mukhoyarova, is a character in Ivan Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov”. The wife of the main character - Ilya Ilyich Oblomov - and the mother of his little son Andryusha.
The woman was the sister of the official-swindler Ivan Mukhoyarov. Before her marriage to Oblomov, Agafya was the widow of another official, which is why she bore the name Pshenitsyn at the time of her meeting with Oblomov.
Characteristics of the heroine
Agafya Matveevna was hardworking and constantly tried to please her lover, and then her husband. She liked to repeat that “there is always work.” She did not allow herself to relax: “And it used to be that everything was boiling in her hands! From morning to evening she flies!”
The heroine sought to create comfort in the house and protect her loved one from unnecessary efforts. And first, my acquaintance and then my husband, Ilya Ilyich, appreciated Pshenitsyna’s hard work: “You are a wonderful housewife!”
However, Agafya was not distinguished by erudition and high intelligence. She barely knew how to read and write: “She only found it difficult because she had to write a lot... she signed crookedly, askew and large...” This can be explained by the fact that the woman did not like to read. Let us remember her negative answer to the question: “Are you reading anything?” In addition, she practically never went to the theater and was not interested in culture.
(Ilya Oblomov meets his future wife Agafya Matveevna)
The simplicity and ingenuousness of this woman is emphasized even by her surname from her first marriage - Pshenitsyna. Ilya Oblomov's wife was trusting. She could sign a letter, completely “not suspecting what it is and why she is signing.”
Despite this, the lady tried to engage in a unique business - selling chickens. Apparently, enterprise still united her with her brother. Although Pshenitsyna, unlike him, worked honestly and got up early in the morning: “she goes to bed and no gun will wake her up before six o’clock.”
Like her second husband, Agafya Matveevna was a homebody and did not like moving. “We were born here, we lived here for a century, we must die here...” she used to say about her estate. Ilya Ilyich previously treated his native Oblomovka in approximately the same way. He could hardly force himself to go even to meet his friend Andrei Stolts.
Moreover, the author noted that Pshenitsyna truly fell in love with Oblomov for the first time. Apparently, she did not experience such feelings for her late first husband and father of her two eldest children: “Without loving, she lived to be thirty years old, and then suddenly it seemed to come over her.”
The image of the heroine in the work
Agafya Matfeevna is a thirty-year-old impoverished aristocrat. I. A. Goncharov describes the heroine as follows: “She was very white and plump in face. She had almost no eyebrows at all... Her eyes were grayish-simple, like her whole facial expression; her hands were white, but hard, with large knots protruding outward blue veins."
Tough, worn-out hands emphasize the character’s love of work. Being plump means that the lady did not care about appearance. A simple Russian woman appeared before us. It was precisely this, caring and economical, not too smart, that attracted Oblomov.
(Agafya Petrovna, Ilya Oblomov and son Andrei, named after Andrei Stolts in the novel)
The image of Agafya Matveevna, it would seem, is absolutely positive. A caring wife, an affectionate mother, an excellent housewife and simply a kind and hardworking woman. However, the writer still emphasizes: her love turned out to be destructive for Ilya Oblomov. To avoid a second stroke (apoplexy), Pshenitsyna’s husband needed to move, get up from his favorite sofa. However, his wife did not allow him to make any efforts. She cared about the absolute comfort of her beloved man. And this was precisely what became the tragic mistake of a loving wife. The apoplexy struck again, and Ilya Ilyich still died.
However, the author still gives hope that Pshenitsyna realized her mistake. After all, it was not without reason that she gave her son to be raised by Ilyinskaya and Stolz. The mother wanted the child to see the example of other people and a different life. She wished that Andryusha, unlike his late father, would learn to leave his comfort zone and go towards his dream.
After all, Oblomov lost his once beloved Olga Ilyinskaya precisely because of his own laziness. And Ilya Ilyich himself realized this. Perhaps this is why his little son Andrei was the namesake of his active friend Stolz... Therefore, Pshenitsyna, entrusting the child to the friends of her late husband, did the right thing. She knew that he would approve of her decision...
OBLOMOV
(Novel. 1859)
Pshenitsyna Agafya Matveevna - the widow of an official, left with two children, sister of Ivan Matveevich Mukhoyarov, godfather of Tarantiev. It is Tarantiev who settles Oblomov, who is forced to look for a new apartment, in P.’s house on the Vyborg side. “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.”
P. is taciturn and is used to living without thinking about anything: “Her face took on a practical and caring expression, even dullness disappeared when she started talking about a subject familiar to her. To every question that did not relate to some positive goal known to her, she answered with a grin and silence.” And her grin was nothing more than a form that covered up ignorance of the subject: not knowing what she should do, accustomed to the fact that “brother” decides everything, only in skillfully running the house did P. achieve perfection. Everything else passed by the undeveloped mind for years and decades.
Almost immediately after Oblomov moves to the Vyborg side, P. begins to arouse a certain interest in Ilya Ilyich, which can be regarded as purely erotic (the round white elbows of the hostess constantly attract Oblomov’s attention). But the answer awaits at the end of the novel, when, shortly before his death, Ilya Ilyich has a dream where his mother, pointing to P., whispers: “Militrisa Kirbityevna.” She names the name of his dream, inspired by Ilya Ilyich’s nanny’s fairy tales in early childhood.
The image of P. never aroused particular interest among critics of the novel: a rude, primitive nature, which they were accustomed to looking at only through the eyes of Stolz, as a terrible woman, symbolizing the depth of Ilya Ilyich’s fall. But it is no coincidence that Goncharov gives this simple woman a name close to the name of his beloved mother - Avdotya Matveevna Goncharova, a merchant widow who for many years lived in the same house with Goncharov’s godfather, the nobleman N. N. Tregubov, who raised her sons and gave them an education.
P. is in constant motion, unlike Oblomov, realizing that “there is always work” and that it is the true content of life, and not at all a punishment, as Oblomov believed. Her constantly flashing elbows attract Oblomov’s attention not only with her beauty, but also with the heroine’s activity, which he is not fully aware of. Outwardly, P. is perceived as a kind of perpetuum mobile, without thought, without a glimmer of feeling, the “brother” calls her nothing more than “cow” or “horse,” seeing in his sister only free labor. “Even if you hit her, even if you hug her, she’s all grinning like a horse at oats,” he says about her to godfather Tarantiev, preparing, on the latter’s advice, to track down P.’s relationship with Oblomov and demand money from Ilya Ilyich “for dishonor.”
Gradually, as Oblomov realizes that he has nowhere else to strive, that it was here, in a house on the Vyborg side, that he found the desired way of life for his native Oblomovka, a serious internal change occurs in the fate of P. herself. In the constant work of organizing and living at home, in the chores of the house, she finds the meaning of her existence. Something unknown to her before began to awaken in P.: anxiety, glimpses of reflection. In other words - love, more and more deep, pure, sincere, unable to express itself in words, but manifested in what P. knows and can do well: in caring for Oblomov’s table and clothes, in prayers for his health, in sitting at night at the bedside of the sick Ilya Ilyich. “Her entire household... received a new, living meaning: the peace and comfort of Ilya Ilyich. Before she saw this as a duty, now it has become her pleasure. She began to live in her own full and varied way... It was as if she suddenly switched to another faith and began to profess it, not discussing what kind of faith it was, what dogmas it contained, but blindly obeying its laws.”
For P. Oblomov is a person from another world: she has never seen such people before. Knowing that ladies and gentlemen lived somewhere, she perceived their life in much the same way as Oblomov listened to the fairy tale about Militris Kirbityevna as a child. The meeting with Oblomov served as an impulse for rebirth, but the culprit of this process “did not understand how deeply this meaning had taken root and what an unexpected victory he had achieved over the mistress’s heart... And P.’s feeling, so normal, natural, disinterested, remained a secret to Oblomov, for those around her and for herself.”
Oblomov “was getting closer to Agafya Matveevna - as if he was moving towards a fire, from which it becomes warmer and warmer, but which cannot be loved.” P. is the only absolutely unselfish and decisive person around Oblomov. Without delving into any complications, she does what is necessary at the moment: she pawns her own pearls and silver, is ready to borrow money from the relatives of her late husband, just so that Oblomov does not feel lacking in anything. When the intrigues of Mukhoyarov and Tarantiev reach their peak, P. resolutely renounces both “brother” and “godfather”.
Having devoted herself to caring for Oblomov, P. lives as fully and variedly as she has never lived before, and her chosen one begins to feel as if in his native Oblomovka: “... he quietly and gradually fit into the simple and wide coffin of the rest of his existence, made with their own hands, like the desert elders who, turning away from life, dig their own grave.”
P. and Oblomov have a son. Understanding the difference between this child and the children from his first husband, P., after the death of Ilya Ilyich, meekly gives him up to be raised by the Stolts. Oblomov's death brings a new color to P.'s existence - she is the widow of a landowner, a master, for which her “brother” and his wife constantly reproach her. And although P.’s lifestyle has not changed in any way (she still serves the Mukhoyarov family), the thought constantly pulsates within her that “her life was lost and shone, that God put his soul into her life and took it out again... Now she knew why she lived and that she had not lived in vain... Rays, a quiet light from the seven years that had flown by in an instant, spilled over her whole life, and she had nothing more to desire, nowhere to go.”
P.’s selflessness is made clear to Stoltz at the end of the novel: she does not need his reports in managing the estate, just as she does not need the income from Oblomovka, which Stoltz put in order. The light of P.'s life faded along with Ilya Ilyich.
Introduction
In the novel “Oblomov,” Goncharov portrayed two contrasting and completely different female images – Olga Ilyinskaya and Agafya Pshenitsyna. And if Olga, from the very publication of the work, attracted critics with her active position, continuous self-development and inner beauty, then Agafya received unjustified condemnation from both contemporaries and the descendants of the writer. However, the image of Pshenitsyna in Oblomov has no less depth than the image of Ilyinskaya, because according to the plot of the novel, it was with her that Ilya Ilyich found his long-awaited, albeit illusory, happiness.
The importance of Agafya in the system of characters in the novel is also indicated by the fact that the prototype of the heroine was Goncharov’s own mother, Avdotya Matveevna, who was just as kind, a believer, and with all her nature aimed at caring for the family. Pshenitsyna attracts with her truly Russian beauty: full elbows, curvaceous forms that could serve as a model for a painter or sculptor for a masterpiece, greyish-simple eyes and a bright blush on her full cheeks. She is like the ideal of a Russian peasant woman, straight out of artists’ paintings.
Peculiarities of the image of Agafya in “Oblomov”
The characterization of Pshenitsyna in the novel “Oblomov,” as well as the other characters, is ambiguous. On the one hand, the author portrays to readers a simple, uneducated woman whose interests are limited to housekeeping, cooking and communication with servants and food sellers. It’s as if she doesn’t have her own opinion, inner core and strong will - for Agafya, the opinion of her brother, and then Oblomov, replaces her own and she begins to live as a different person, completely devoting herself to him. To any question that concerned a sphere of life that was distant to her, the woman answered with a grin or silence - they were the accepted form for her, behind which Pshenitsyna covered up her ignorance and lack of education.
On the other hand, Agafya is portrayed by Goncharov as a kind of bright angel, protecting her lover from any adversity, grief and sorrow. Pshenitsyna is a wonderful housewife, a kind, modest, quiet and deeply religious woman, but not in the Christian, but in the truly Orthodox sense. For Agafya, the main happiness in life is Oblomov’s well-being, for which she continues to live, essentially sacrificing herself to another person, his ideals and ideas about happiness. But it is precisely this sacrifice and dedication of herself to another that is true happiness for the heroine, allowing her feminine nature to reveal itself and find the meaning of her life. It is noteworthy that of all the characters, only Pshenitsyna finds true, not illusory happiness, while neither Stolz with his calculations, nor Olga with her high demands on her lovers, nor the dreamy Oblomov find it or do not live it to the fullest. Goncharov seems to lead the reader to a paradox: smart, educated, successful people in society and career are inferior to a simple believing woman who lives with an all-encompassing feeling of love.
Is Pshenitsyna's love destructive?
The relationship between Oblomov and Pshenitsyna becomes for the hero after the break with Olga a safe haven, finding peace, tranquility and that “Oblomov” happiness that he had dreamed of for many years. Agafya surrounded him with care and love, unquestioningly fulfilling all his wishes and ready to do anything for her husband. Her love was based not on friendship or respect for Oblomov, but on his complete adoration, almost deification. The woman loved him not for something (as was the case in her relationship with Olga, who loved only certain traits in Oblomov, not accepting others), but simply for the fact that she could be close to her husband and feel his gratitude for her care.
According to literary critics, the nature of Pshenitsyna’s love can have different shades of definition depending on how the reader treats Oblomov and what he sees as the meaning of his life. If we consider Ilya Ilyich as a prototype of a true Russian person, that mythical “Emelya” who sits on the stove and waits for a breakthrough that can turn his life around, then, of course, Agafya’s love is a negative phenomenon in the hero’s life. The pacifying, pseudo-happy atmosphere of “Oblomovism” and inaction that reigns in Pshenitsyna’s house becomes the reason for the quick death of the hero, who refuses even to follow the doctor’s recommendations, plunging more and more into the illusory, wonderful world of dreams and half-asleep. However, Oblomov can also be considered as a typical person, an ordinary person, who is actually alien to the aspirations and need to constantly develop, inherent in Stolz and Olga, and is close to the usual family values, routine peace and well-being. In this case, Agafya is the very woman that Oblomov always dreamed of, and her love becomes a healing balm for the hero, exhausted after his relationship with Olga.
Conclusion
Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna in the novel “Oblomov” is the kindest and most Christian-loving character. Despite her simplicity and lack of education, a woman is the bearer of an infinitely tender, all-encompassing feeling that does not require anything in return, which has become the main meaning of her life. At the end of the work, the author does not make final conclusions about the image of Agafya, but it is obvious that for Goncharov she is an attractive and undeniably positive character, introduced into the novel to contrast with Oblomov, Stolz and Olga, who are constantly looking for something within themselves or in the world around them.
Work test
Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna is the widow of an official with two children, later the illegitimate wife of Oblomov. She was Mukhoyarov's sister and Tarantiev's godfather. The latter settled Oblomov, who was forced to look for a home, in Pshenitsyna’s house on the Vyborg side. Outwardly, Agafya Matveevna was not attractive. She was plump in face, pale, with grayish and simple-minded eyes, had almost no eyebrows, and her hands were white, hard and with protruding blue veins. Before Oblomov appeared, she did not think about the meaning of her existence, she was stupid and uneducated. All she knew how to do was run the house. Pshenitsyna was always absorbed in some kind of work and was in constant motion. Largely thanks to her irrepressible activity, she captivated her guest. For her, work was the meaning of life, and everything else had no meaning to her. When they started talking about some subject unknown to her, she responded with a grin and silence.
With the advent of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a lot changed in her life. Glimpses of reflection awoke in her, anxiety about the peace and comfort of the guest, and then love. In fact, Pshenitsyna was the only unselfish person among Oblomov. She sincerely showed concern for him, for his table and clothes, prayed for his health and looked after him when he was sick. This care filled her life with meaning and variety. Having learned that her brother and godfather were planning to catch Ilya Ilyich in a relationship with her and demand money for “dishonor,” she did not hesitate to break all ties with them. Soon Oblomov and Pshenitsyna had a son. After Oblomov’s death, she gave the child to be raised by Stolz, as she understood that he was different from her other children. At the end of the novel, the selflessness of this woman is shown with renewed vigor. She not only refuses reports from Ilya Ilyich’s estate, but also says that she did not live in vain, but for his sake.
The novel "Oblomov", written by the author, presents the reader with versatile characters. The female images in the work are complete opposites. and Agafya Pshenitsyna are antipodes. Literary critics note Olga’s life position, desire for self-improvement and constant development. The inner beauty of the heroine in the work is contrasted with the bourgeois love for the home and family of Agafya Pshenitsyna.
Agafya received negative reviews from the writer’s contemporaries and the public, who subsequently became acquainted with the novel. Pshenitsyna is close to the main character in spirit, but the sympathies of the audience always turned out to be on the side of Ilyinskaya. At the same time, the image of the second character is no less deep and multifaceted. The illusory happiness and love that he sought to find overtook him in his marriage to Agafya.
Biography and plot
Agafya Matveevna Pshenitsyna is the widow of an official and the illegitimate wife of the protagonist. The characterization of a character begins with an external description. She looked no more than 30 years old. The figure was distinguished by its fullness and whiteness of skin. The face did not stand out in anything remarkable: the eyebrows were inconspicuous, the eyes were unattractive, the expression did not reflect emotions. Only the woman’s hands betrayed her penchant for work. Until the appearance of Oblomov, her life was monotonous and devoid of bright events. The housewife had no education, talents or interests. The main value was the house, which she maintained immaculately.
Agafya fanatically managed her household affairs, realizing that there would always be work. Her activity prevented anyone from getting bored and wasting time. The character of the heroine and selfless devotion to ideals awakened love in Oblomov. Having become a lodger, Ilya Ilyich demonstrated how he could influence female nature. Laziness did not become an obstacle to the birth of a new love story. Pshenitsyna was transformed. She not only became thoughtful, but also tried in every possible way to please her lover. Oblomov's clothes were always clean, the table was set in accordance with his wishes, and during moments of Ilya's illness, Agafya Matveevna did not leave the sick bedside.
The author wrote that with the advent of love in Pshenitsyna’s life, the entire household, like an organism, acquired a new meaning of life. The specificity of the image of Agafya Pshenitsyna is that she turns out to be the only decisive and unselfish person among Oblomov’s acquaintances. The heroine is ready to make sacrifices to help out her husband: she pawns jewelry, borrows from the family of her late husband, breaks ties with her brother, who is trying to involve Oblomov in intrigue.
In the union of Pshenitsyna and Oblomov, a son is born. The boy is not like Agafya Matveevna’s other children. He has no place in the family and, realizing this, after Oblomov’s death the child is transferred to foster care.
A woman’s love did not need material reinforcements and did not require changes in Ilya Ilyich’s personality. He was the best man for her. The connection between the characters was built not on fictitious attachments, but on the conscious similarity of characters and worldview.
Goncharov, describing the heroine, presents a dual image. This is a narrow-minded woman without ambitions or interests, whose social circle is servants and merchants. A weak-willed character, ready to live someone else’s life in the absence of his own ideals and ambitions. On the other hand, Pshenitsyna appears as a savior in the situation in which the main character finds himself. This is a quiet housewife trying to hide her illiteracy, a believing home woman who protects Oblomov’s peace. Capable of sacrifice, she gives herself completely, showing natural femininity and finding happiness from the opportunity to be close to her loved one.
Relations with Agafya Matveevna become a healing balm for Oblomov after the vicissitudes of his relationship with Ilyinskaya. He receives the long-awaited peace and harmony. He is idolized and loved despite his nature and habits. The character of Pshenitsyna, depending on the reader’s perception of the main character of the work, evokes different feelings. Oblomov the lazy man provokes the appearance of a negative image of Agafya, who panders to his shortcomings. Oblomov, an ordinary man who is not looking for movement and development, is happy with Agafya. For a simple bourgeois existence, Pshenitsyna turns out to be a suitable passion.
A comparison of Pshenitsyna and Ilyinskaya shows that the first is a character demonstrating Christian love. When wondering why it was not the brave Olga, but the quiet Agafya, who turned out to be closer to Oblomov, it is easy to get the answer:
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".
Tortured by needs, Oblomov’s essence felt comfortable in bliss and adoration. The hero, incapable of fighting, turned out to be inclined to a simple way of existence.
Actresses
The role of Agafya Matveevna in films was performed by diverse artists. In the 1965 film of the same name, the role of Oblomov’s last love was played by Tamara Aleshina. The main role in the actress’s career was the character of the film “Heavenly Slug” - Masha Svetlova. The performer's appearance was conducive to her appointment to the role. Director Alexander Belinsky relied on the dramatic talent of the theater artist, thanks to which the image turned out to be deep and authentic.
Tamara Aleshina as Pshenitsyna In 1966, Italian film director Claudio Fino released a project called OBLOMOV. The role of Agafya Pshenitsyna went to Pina Chei. The actress is known for playing the leading female roles in projects based on classical literature.
In 1972, Soviet directors Oscar Remez and Galina Kholopova began filming the novel. The image of Agafya Pshenitsyna was embodied by Marina Kuznetsova.
The actresses who played the role of Oblomov's named wife were distinguished by pleasant but typical facial features. This matched the description of the heroine in the novel. The subtle nuance of the director’s plan emphasized Goncharov’s idea that for Oblomov, Pshenitsyna was not a simple housewife. She was more of a guardian angel who took responsibility for someone else's life and well-being.
- Agafya Pshenitsyna is not a random character in the novel. Its prototype is the image invented by the author to depict Oblomov’s mother. Avdotya Matveevna, like Agafya, has an Old Russian name and a similar patronymic. A believer and kind woman personified caring for her son and home.
- Despite the desire to interpret Pshenitsyna’s character as negative, it is noteworthy that he is described in the traditions of Russian beauty. A plump woman who takes care of the family hearth is a symbol of the fertility of the Russian land and everything that attracts Oblomov in his native country.
- The system of images in the novel is curious: two men and two women opposed to each other find happiness based on the similarity of characters. Educated intellectuals find each other, guided by ambitions and aspirations. Their happiness seems feigned and incomplete. At the same time, ordinary people find peace and harmony in a family where respect for each other reigns.