SETTING

The setting can be defined as the place where the story happens, the time when it happens and the conditions under which the story is told. The setting of a novel or a short story is crucial to the creation of a complete work as it has a definite impact on the character development and plot. The setting is often found in the exposition of the plot and readily establishes time and place. Frequently it plays an important role in the conflict giving credence to the rising action as a climax or turning point is approached.

Possible elements of the setting:

1. Physical objects (e.g. elements of domestic interiors). Some writers provide a great amount of detail when describing their novels’/short-stories’ settings, and they do so for specific reasons. In Fathers and Sons, Turgenev distinguishes between two kinds of country families by contrasting the elegance and the earthiness of their respective households. The ominousness of Great Expectations by Dickensproceeds as much from the bleak marshes and the Gothic house owned by the character Miss Havisham as from anything the characters say or do.

2. Social and cultural environment. Some writers pay less attention to specific physical objects, but this does not mean they are not concerned with social environment. For instance, in focusing on details such as Mr. Bennet’s income in Pride and Prejudice or Mr. Eliot’s background in Persuasion, Jane Austen creates an atmosphere in which a character’s background and hometown — whether London, the town of Meryton, or somewhere in northern England — becomes central to the story.

3. Geographical location and landscape. Sometimes authors make time and place so essential to the narrative that they become as important as the characters themselves. For example, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne, and Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy are inconceivable without their settings of Stonehenge, colonial New England, and the Yorkshire moors, respectively.

4. Historical period. The novel Jazz by Toni Morrison is set in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. This cultural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s featured innovations in literature, theater, art and music. The setting Morrison creates is integral to the book, whose narrative voice echoes the loose, unpredictable rhythms of the jazz music of the time.

Possible functions of the setting:

1. Setting the story in a particular environment the author creates the necessary atmosphere.

2. Setting the story in a true-to-life environment the author increases the credibility of the characters and events in the story.

3. The setting, e.g. descriptions of nature, may function as means of expressing the emotional state of the character.

4. The setting may also enhance characterization by paralleling the characters’ mood and behavior.

5. The main function of the domestic interior as an element of the setting is individualization of the character, revealing certain features of his or her personality.

6. The setting may serve as contrasting background to the action of the story. Descriptions of peaceful and undisturbed nature may precede stormy violent action in the story, and thus help the author to take the reader by surprise.

7. The setting may function as a main force opposing the character (protagonist), if the story is based on the man-versus-nature conflict.

8. The setting often acquires a symbolic meaning and helps to reveal the central idea(s) of the story.

The setting is usually given in the exposition of the story, but very often the descriptions of the setting may be scattered throughout the whole story.

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J. Joyce	\|	Exercise 1.

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