English Dictionary

Chekhov's gun

/t͡ʃɛ.kʰɔfs ɡʌn/

name

(literature) A dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.

Chekhov's gun is a dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.

意味（1）

(literature) A dramatic principle that states that every element in a story must be necessary, and irrelevant elements should be removed.

意味（2）

An element that is introduced early in the story whose significance to the plot does not become clear until later.

The episode of the sun-god's island is the Odyssey's equivalent of Chekhov's gun, announced in the poem's earliest lines as the occasion of the companions' downfall and anticipated ever since.