https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_gun Chekhov's gun From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Dramatic principle that every element in a story must be necessary Chekhov's gun (Chekhov's rifle, Russian: Chekhovskoe ruzh'io) is a dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed. Elements should not appear to make "false promises" by never coming into play. The statement is recorded in letters by Anton Chekhov several times, with some variation:^[1]^[2]^[3] * "Remove everything that has no relevance to the story. If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."^[3]^[4] * "One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep." Chekhov, letter to Aleksandr Semenovich Lazarev (pseudonym of A. S. Gruzinsky), 1 November 1889.^[5]^[6]^[7] Here the "gun" is a monologue that Chekhov deemed superfluous and unrelated to the rest of the play. * "If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there." From Gurlyand's Reminiscences of A. P. Chekhov, in Teatr i iskusstvo 1904, No. 28, 11 July, p. 521.^[8] Ernest Hemingway mocked the interpretation given by English instructors to the principle. He gives in his essay "The Art of the Short Story" an example of two characters that are introduced and then never again mentioned in his short story "Fifty Grand". Hemingway valued inconsequential details, but conceded that readers will inevitably seek symbolism and significance in these inconsequential details.^[9] See also[edit] * Foreshadowing - a plot device where what is to come is hinted at, to arouse interest or to guard against disappointment * MacGuffin - a plot motivator that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself * Red herring - drawing attention to a certain element to mislead * Shaggy dog story - a long-winded anecdote designed to lure the audience into a false sense of expectation, only to disappoint them with an anticlimactic ending or punchline References[edit] 1. ^ Petr Mikhailovich Bitsilli (1983), Chekhov's art, a stylistic analysis, Ardis, p. x 2. ^ Daniel S. Burt (2008), The Literature 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Novelists, Playwrights, and Poets of All Time, Infobase Publishing 3. ^ ^a ^b Valentine T. Bill (1987), Chekhov: The Silent Voice of Freedom, Philosophical Library 4. ^ S.N. Shchukin [Sergius Shchukin] (1911). "Iz vospominanii ob A.P. Chekhove" [Memoirs]. Russkaia Mysl' [Russian Thought]: 44. 5. ^ "Quotations by Berlin". ox.ac.uk. 6. ^ Chekhov A. P. (1 November 1889), "Chekhov -- Lazarevu (Gruzinskomu) A. S.", Chekhov A. P. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem, AN SSSR. In-t mirovoi lit. 7. ^ Leah Goldberg (1976), Russian Literature in the Nineteenth Century: Essays, Magnes Press, Hebrew University, p. 163 8. ^ In 1889, 24-year-old Ilia Gurliand noted these words down from Chekhov's conversation: "If in Act I you have a pistol hanging on the wall, then it must fire in the last act". Donald Rayfield, Anton Chekhov: A Life, New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997, ISBN 0-8050-5747-1, 203. Ernest. J. Simmons says that Chekhov repeated the point later (which may account for the variations). Ernest J. Simmons, Chekhov: A Biography, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962, ISBN 0-226-75805-2, 190. 9. ^ Adrian c Hunter (1999), Complete with missing parts": modernist short fiction as interrogative text (PDF), pp. 126-127, 201-203, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-09, retrieved 2019-05-29 * v * t * e Anton Chekhov * Bibliography * Platonov (1881) * On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco (1886, 1902) * Swansong (1887) * Ivanov (1887) * The Bear (1888) * A Tragedian in Spite of Himself (1889) * The Wedding (1889) Plays * Tatiana Repina (1889) * The Wood Demon (1889) * A Marriage Proposal (1890) * The Festivities (1891) * The Seagull (1896) * Uncle Vanya (1897) * Three Sisters (1901) * The Cherry Orchard (1904) Novel * The Shooting Party (1884) * The Steppe (1888) * A Dreary Story (1889) * The Duel (1891) * The Story of an Unknown Man (1893) Novellas * Three Years (1895) * My Life (1896) * Peasants (1897) * In the Ravine (1900) * "An Enigmatic Nature" (1883) * "The Death of a Government Clerk" (1883) * "Fat and Thin" (1883) * "The Complaints Book" (1884) * "Surgery" (1884) * "The Chameleon (1884) * "Oysters" (1884) * "A Living Chronology" (1885) * "Small Fry" (1885) * "The Fish" (1885) * "A Horsey Name" (1885) * "The Huntsman" (1885) * "A Malefactor" (1885) * "Sergeant Prishibeyev" (1885) * "Children" (1886) * "Misery" (1886) * "The Requiem" (1886) * "Anyuta" (1886) * "Ivan Matveyich" (1886) * "The Witch" (1886) * "Agafya" (1886) * "Grisha" (1886) * "Easter Eve" (1886) * "A Gentleman Friend" (1886) * "The Privy Councillor" (1886) * "The Chorus Girl" (1886) * "A Misfortune" (1886) * "Mire" (1886) * "Vanka" (1886) * "Shrove Tuesday" (1886) * "Home" (1887) * "Happiness" (1887) * "First Aid" (1887) * "The Runaway" (1887) Short stories * "The Siren" (1887) * "The Cattle-Dealers" (1887) * "Boys" (1887) * "Kashtanka" (1887) * "A Story Without a Title" (1888) * "Sleepy" (1888) * "A Nervous Breakdown" (1889) * "The Bet" (1889) * "Gusev" (1890) * "Peasant Wives" (1891) * "The Grasshopper" (1892) * "Ward No. 6" (1892) * "In Exile" (1892) * "The Black Monk" (1894) * "Rothschild's Violin" (1894) * "The Student" (1894) * "The Teacher of Literature" (1894) * "Anna on the Neck" (1895) * "Whitebrow" (1895) * "Ariadne" (1895) * "The House with the Mezzanine" (1895) * "The Petcheneg" (1897) * "At Home" (1897) * "In the Cart" (1897) * "The Man in the Case" (1898) * "Gooseberries" (1898) * "About Love" (1898) * "Ionych" (1898) * "A Doctor's Visit" (1898) * "On Official Duty" (1899) * "The Darling" (1899) * "The Lady with the Dog" (1899) * "The Bishop" (1902) * "Betrothed" (1903) * Olga Knipper (wife) * Maria Chekhova (sister) * Mikhail Chekhov (brother) * Osip Dymov (character) * Birth house and museum * Chekov Shop, home and museum * Melikhovo, home and museum Related * White Dacha, home and museum * Chekhov Gymnasium and museum * Chekhov Library * Chekhov Monument in Taganrog * Chekhov's gun * Show, don't tell * Fragments * Wild Honey * Category Category * v * t * e Narrative * Antagonist * Antihero * Archenemy * Character arc * Character flaw * Characterization * Deuteragonist * False protagonist * Focal character Character * Foil * Gothic double * Narrator * Protagonist * Stock character * Straight man * Supporting character * Title character * Tragic hero * Tritagonist * Act + Act structure + Three-act structure * Action * Backstory * Chekhov's gun * Cliche * Cliffhanger * Conflict * Deus ex machina * Dialogue * Dramatic structure + Exposition/Protasis + Rising action/Epitasis + Climax/Peripeteia + Falling action/Catastasis + Denouement/Catastrophe * Eucatastrophe * Foreshadowing Plot * Flashback * Flashforward * Frame story * In medias res * Kishotenketsu * MacGuffin * Occam's razor * Pace * Plot device * Plot twist * Poetic justice * Red herring * Reveal * Self-fulfilling prophecy * Shaggy dog story * Story arc * Subplot * Suspense * Trope * Alternate history * Backstory * Crossover * Dreamworld * Dystopia Setting * 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