Oblomov is a young, generous nobleman who seems incapable of making important decisions or undertaking any significant actions.

[2] In 1849 he wrote "Episode from an Unfinished Novel: Oblomov's Dream", a short story that was published in the literary journal Sovremennik.

The character that would become Oblomov originally appeared in 1838 in the Maikovs' handwritten magazine written by Goncharov, as one of the protagonists in "Likhaia bolest".

When Pallas finally ended its journey in August 1854 in Russia's far east, Goncharov spent another half a year getting acquainted with Siberia and slowly making his way back to St. Petersburg.

He spent the following year revising and rewriting the novel until finally, on January 14, 1859, Oblomov was published serially in Otechestvennye zapiski.

He receives a letter from the manager of his country estate, Oblomovka, explaining that the financial situation is deteriorating and that he must visit to make some major decisions.

He is never required to work or perform household duties, and his parents constantly pull him from school for vacations and trips or for trivial reasons.

In contrast, his friend Andrey Stoltz, born to a German father and a Russian mother, is raised in a strict, disciplined environment, and he is dedicated and hard-working.

However, his apathy and fear of moving forward are too great, and she calls off their engagement when it is clear that he will keep delaying their wedding and avoiding putting his affairs in order.

Oblomov is swindled repeatedly by his "friends" Taranteyev and Ivan Matveyevich, his landlady's brother, and Stoltz has to undo the damage each time.

When Taranteyev's behavior at last reaches insufferable lows, Oblomov confronts him, slaps him, and finally kicks him out of the house.

Each novel was based heavily on autobiographical material, focusing on different epochs of life – specifically, infancy and childhood as influenced by the mother; then the "awakening of adolescence"; and finally adulthood as associated with St. Petersburg, government work, and marriage.

[2] The main characters of all three books share multiple important similarities: their fathers have either been absent or largely insignificant in their upbringings, they rely heavily on their mothers even past childhood, and they travel to St. Petersburg during their university years.

Goncharov himself lost his father at the age of seven, and worked in St. Petersburg as a translator after graduating from Moscow State University.

[2] Oblomov spends much of his adult life attempting to remain within his childhood, a time that he remembers for its peacefulness and the safety provided by his mother.

His memory of childhood in Oblomovka is dominated by its cyclical time, with "births, celebrations, feasts...new faces take the places of the old, baby boys grow into marriageable young men who duly marry and reproduce themselves.

[6] This instilling of contentment through repetition renders Oblomov ill-equipped for the expectations placed on his adulthood in a rapidly changing society.

[7] He attempts to take on jobs and responsibilities for Oblomovka, but upon realizing the tasks these require, he becomes easily defeated and retreats into metaphorical and literal sleep.

His own childhood is marked heavily by his father's insistence on treating him as an adult and teaching him the importance of accomplishment, which carries into his adulthood.

Stoltz, unlike Oblomov, sees his life as a straight line and is therefore driven by the desire to continually move forward.

She simply says "our hero favors very short-term pleasures over long-term ones"; "he is self-conscious in a way that no farcical character or Rabelaisian grotesque would be", and, "to Oblomov, to be absorbed in any task is to lose something of oneself; a person can maintain his full dignity only in repose".

[9] A character named "Oblomov" in art patron Peggy Guggenheim's memoir Out of This Century was identified by poet Stephen Spender as Samuel Beckett, her one-time lover.

As a member of the old nobility, Oblomov's inertia and fear of change represent old socioeconomic ideals that become out of place throughout the 19th century.

Rather than interpreting characters as either warnings or ideals of society, Druzhinin praised the portrayal of Stoltz and Olga as psychological and artistic foils to Oblomov.

To this end, Milligan rehearsed for seven weeks with director Frank Dunlop and castmates Joan Greenwood, Bill Owen, and Valentine Dyall.

Another night he wore a false arm that fell out of his sleeve when co-star Ian Flintoff, playing Oblomov's doctor, shook Milligan's hand.

Shortly after the play began, a group of four latecomers attempted to slink to their seats directly in front of the royal family.

This culminated in Milligan giving a high-kick, lobbing one of his bedroom slippers at Sellers, nearly missing Prince Phillip's head.

Once back in bed with co-star Joan Greenwood, Milligan spent the rest of the performance mocking the Queen for bringing her son to such a racy play.

In 2005 BBC Radio 4 made a two-part English language dramatisation, heralding the lead character as "a tragic-comic hero for a couch potato generation".