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Olivia Winkley
Hist 341A Jenks
Final Exam Essay 1
12/11/15
Oblomov
When the novel
Oblomov was written by Ivan Goncharov in 1858, everyone in Imperial
Russia knew that serfdom was going to end. In our Foundations of Russia course we watched the movie based off
Oblomov
, which was directed by Nikita Mikhalkov in 1979. This book tried to address what was going to happen to the people of Russia when serfdom was going to end. The challenge that Russia faced at the time was adapting to modern European life.
Oblomov raised the question of whether the old elite could adapt to the rest of the world or if it would fail to implement a successful reform.
During the mid nineteenth century, the implications of Russia losing the Crimean War were that Russia lacks mobility and technology. The loss of the war was a great shock to the system. It also was a window for the rest of the European powers to look and see how Russia’s influence was losing traction. At the time the disillusioned Tsar, Nicholas I, believed that
“Russia’s greatness was founded on its Military forces”.1 After losing the Crimean War, it became obvious to Russia, and the rest of the world, that in order for Russia to keep growing and maintaining power, reform had to occur.
After Nicholas I came Alexander II’s reign. Alexander II looked for change in Russia, and his first plan was to liberate the serfs. Peasants in Russia have always been the majority of the population. Getting rid of serfdom was seen as a call for revolution from above. There were many unanswered questions in the preliminary years of Alexander II’s reign, and
Oblomov
was

David G. Rowley,
Exploring Russia’s Past: Narrative, Sources, Images: Volume I to 1865
(Upper
Saddle, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2006) 222.
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one response to what was on many of the educated elite’s minds during the mid nineteenth century. In Goncharov’s novel, the main character Oblomov represents the old elite, or rather the part of Russia that can not adapt to any possible reform. He is a very lazy middle class noble with serfs serving on his country estate and having Zakhar, his own personal serf, reside with him in St. Petersberg. There was shame in Oblomov for living a slothful life, yet he did not see any use in changing his ways. The elite in Russia had access to an education, and the scaffolds for the liberation of serfs came from the educated in Russia, but Oblomov is not a part of this intellectual elite. Oblomov’s serf, Zakhar, represents how the peasants will adapt to their liberation. Zakhar steals from Oblomov, as many serfs did, which is a form of resistance to serfdom. Zakhar benefits from his relationship with Oblomov because he has a roof over his head, and easy access to food. With the freedom of serfs, it is unknown what would happen to this class of people who are not educated, and only have the skills to serve their master.
In
Oblomov
, Oblomov has a friend who is of both Russian and German descent named
Stolz. As Oblomov’s friend, Stolz represents modern Europe, and the part of Russia that might be able to adapt. He is entrepreneurial and independent, which is what the educated in mid nineteenth century Russia had hoped the elite class would transform into. The mentality of Stolz is that independence should be savored, and slothful behavior diminishes the quality of life
Oblomov could live. He assumes the role of whipping Oblomov into a healthier mental and physical state.

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Serfdom is not the main reason Russia was failing during the 1800s. As we look back,
“Russia lagged behind Europe in terms of prosperity since the Mongol era”. 2 “Russia’s cold climate, relatively poor soil, and low population density”3 were also important factors of Russia’s lack of innovation. In the 1800s, reform was necessary to increase Russia’s chances at maintain its status as an important military power in the world. Other things like education, equality of its citizens, and liberalized politics were also important to maintain this power though.
Women in mid nineteenth century Russia did not have the same status as men, and can easily be thought of as not having much more freedom than peasants. The fervor of possible reform was buzzing in Imperial Russia, and one of the ideas that people in Russia began thinking about is the role of women in society. In Goncharov’s novel, Olga is an educated Russian aristocratic woman. Her role was to bring Oblomov back to life, and she represents the ideological motherland of Russia bringing the rest of Russia into the modern world. In the novel,
Olga brings emotional drama into Oblomov’s life when he falls in love with her. He sees her as strong, beautiful, and kind. Stolz introduced the two characters with the hope of Olga having influence over Oblomov’s way of life and possibly curing him of his Oblovschina (laziness). In the novel Olga is successful for a period of time at motivating Oblomov to educate himself, sleep less, and to be engaged in his affairs. Olga can mirror this idea that improving society for the motherland, or for its own good, was on the minds of the educated in mid nineteenth century
Russia.
The end of serfdom brought a period of reform to Russia that attempted to modernize society and increase the wealth of their land. It was obvious that the ideals of Catherine the Great

2
3

Ibid: 229. Ibid:
229.

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regarding the Enlightenment had missed Russian society, but there was hope that Russia could gain mobility in joining the rest of Europe.