Oblomov (1859), by Ivan Goncharov, portrays Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a young Russian nobleman paralyzed by inertia. Spending his days in a St. Petersburg apartment, too indolent to rise from bed or manage his declining estate, Oblomov embodies aristocratic apathy. His energetic friend Stolz attempts to revive him, introducing Olga, a spirited woman with whom Oblomov falls in love. Yet his inability to act dooms the romance. Oblomov retreats into the care of his widowed landlady Agafya, living passively until his early death. The novel coined "Oblomovism"—a term for dreamy inaction—satirizing the Russian gentry while creating literature's most lovable idler.
