Topical Guide 738
Mark Dorset
Allusion: Chekhov’s Pistol (or Gun)
What a Piece of Work I Am, Chapter 46:
Another pause, for punctuation [. . .]. Some business with a cigarette pack: fumbling with it, removing a cigarette, then, apparently, recalling that she had intended to tell a story, catching the thread of her narrative, ignoring the cigarette, letting it hang in her fingers, at the ready when she needed it next.
“So. Maybe it was just Christmas spirit that made me susceptible to suggestion, susceptible to Greg’s proposal. Maybe, in the spirit of Christmas, I wanted to give him something, so I gave him—”
A shrug, a cute grimace, her hands brought up to shoulder level and flung outward, the cigarette dangling.
“—myself.”
At last, like Chekhov’s pistol, the cigarette got its moment. She lit it, took a long drag.
Wikipedia, “Chekhov’s Gun”
Chekhov’s gun (Chekhov’s rifle; Russian: Чеховское ружьё) is a narrative principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed. For example, if a writer features a gun in a story, there must be a reason for it, such as it being fired some time later in the plot. All elements must eventually come into play at some point in the story. [. . .]
The principle is recorded in letters by Anton Chekhov several times, with some variation; it was advice for young playwrights.
In recent years, the term has also taken on the meaning of a plot element that is introduced early in a story, whose significance to the plot does not become clear until later. This meaning is separate from Chekhov’s original intention with the principle, which relates to narrative conservation and necessity, rather than plot significance. […]
Writing in 1999, Donald Rayfield noted that in Chekhovs play The Cherry Orchard, contrary to Chekhov’s own advice, there are two loaded firearms that are not fired. The unfired rifles tie into the play’s theme of lacking or incomplete action.
Sorry, but I can’t resist this:
See also:
Allusion; Quotation TG 140, TG 455, TG 462, TG 502, TG 506, TG 532, TG 559, TG 583, TG 592, TG 626, TG 654, TG 657, TG 714, TG 735, TG 736
Have you missed an episode or two or several?
You can begin reading at the beginning or you can catch up by visiting the archive or consulting the index to the Topical Guide. The Substack serialization of Little Follies begins here; Herb ’n’ Lorna begins here; Reservations Recommended begins here; Where Do You Stop? begins here; What a Piece of Work I Am begins here.
You can listen to the episodes on the Personal History podcast. Begin at the beginning or scroll through the episodes to find what you’ve missed. The Substack podcast reading of Little Follies begins here; Herb ’n’ Lorna begins here; Reservations Recommended begins here; Where Do You Stop? begins here; What a Piece of Work I Am begins here.
You can listen to “My Mother Takes a Tumble” and “Do Clams Bite?” complete and uninterrupted as audiobooks through YouTube.
You can ensure that you never miss a future issue by getting a free subscription. (You can help support the work by choosing a paid subscription instead.)
At Apple Books you can download free eBooks of Little Follies, Herb ’n’ Lorna, Reservations Recommended, and Where Do You Stop?
You’ll find overviews of the entire work in An Introduction to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy (a pdf document), The Origin Story (here on substack), Between the Lines (a video, here on Substack), and at Encyclopedia.com.