The superfluous man is the 1840s and 1850s Russian literary concept derived from the *Byronic hero.* It refers to an individual, perhaps talented and capable, who does not fit into social norms. In most cases, this person is born into wealth and privilege. Typical characteristics are *disregard for social values, cynicism, and existential boredom; typical behaviors are gambling, drinking, romantic intrigues, and duels.* He is often unempathetic and carelessly distresses others with his actions.
This term was popularized by *Ivan Turgenev's novella The Diary of a Superfluous Man (1850)* and was thereafter applied to characters from earlier novels. The character type *originates in Alexander Pushkin's verse novel Eugene Onegin* (1825–32). *Mikhail Lermontov's A Hero of Our Time (1840)* depicts another *Superfluous Man – Pechorin – * as its protagonist. He can be seen as a nihilist and fatalist. Later examples include *Alexander Herzen's Beltov in Who is to Blame?* (1845–46), *Ivan Turgenev's Rudin (1856),* and the titular character of *Ivan Goncharov's Oblomov (1859).*
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