What Is to Be Done?

novel by Chernyshevsky

Also known as: “Chto delat”

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June 17, 2026

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What Is to Be Done? is a didactic novel written by N.G. Chernyshevsky in 1863 while he was imprisoned and later exiled to Siberia. The novel significantly influenced the young Russian intelligentsia. It explored themes of purified egoism and predictable laws of economic change, leading to accusations of stirring class hatred.1

The novel was parodied by Fyodor Dostoevsky in his novella Notes from the Underground. What Is to Be Done? is also associated with 19th-century Russian nihilism, a philosophy that questioned traditional morality and social order, advocating for utilitarianism and scientific rationalism. Chernyshevsky, however, sought to find positive aspects within nihilist philosophy, viewing it as a stage in the struggle for individual freedom.23

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Russian literature
The intelligentsia
…utopian novel Chto delat (1863; What Is to Be Done?). Although appallingly bad from a literary point of view, this novel, which also features a fake suicide, was probably the most widely read work of the 19th century.
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…utopian novel Chto delat (1863; What Is to Be Done?). Although appallingly bad from a literary point of view, this novel, which also features a fake suicide, was probably the most widely read work of the 19th century.
Read More

nihilism
In his novel What Is to Be Done? (1863), Chernyshevsky endeavoured to detect positive aspects in the nihilist philosophy. Similarly, in his Memoirs, Prince Peter Kropotkin, the leading Russian anarchist, defined nihilism as the symbol of struggle against all forms of tyranny, hypocrisy, and artificiality and for individual…
Read More
In his novel What Is to Be Done? (1863), Chernyshevsky endeavoured to detect positive aspects in the nihilist philosophy. Similarly, in his Memoirs, Prince Peter Kropotkin, the leading Russian anarchist, defined nihilism as the symbol of struggle against all forms of tyranny, hypocrisy, and artificiality and for individual…
Read More