'Vital Question, or, What is to be Done?' Summary

'What Is To Be Done?' tells the story of Vera Pavlovna, a young woman trapped in a stifling marriage and a society that stifles her aspirations for a life of meaning and purpose. She finds inspiration in the radical ideas of Rakhmetov, a dedicated revolutionary who embodies self-sacrifice and devotion to social change. The novel explores Vera's journey of self-discovery and her struggle to reconcile her personal desires with the demands of social justice. She grapples with questions of love, marriage, and individual fulfillment within the confines of a repressive regime. The novel's central theme revolves around the power of revolutionary ideals and their transformative potential for individual lives and society as a whole. Chernyshevsky uses the characters' personal struggles and triumphs to advocate for a socialist society based on equality, cooperation, and ethical conduct, offering a critique of the existing social order and a vision for a better future.