What is the significance of the setting in Our Town?

Answer 1

The setting is important because it helps to emphasize many themes already present in the novel. For example, the fact that Victor is going beyond the limits of science by creating the creature is one part of the theme of going beyond limits and their negative effects. The setting goes beyond normal limits since it goes through the arctic, etc. Also, places like the mountains and the island emphasize the theme of isolation from society.

Answer 2

The general setting in 1984 is that of erosion and depletion. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats, the elevator is always not working, pipes burst in every hard frost, roof leaked whenever there was snow, and heating system was usually running at half steam. These shows the depleted setting.

On the contrast, the building of the Ministry of Truth was "an enormous pyramidal structure of glittering white concrete, soaring up.. three hundred metres into the air" which "dwarf the surrounding architecture". This highlights the power of the party.

Answer 3

With the exception of the opening chapters in Monte Carlo, Rebecca takes place at the country estate of Manderley. The fact that Manderley is built by the sea-side is a very important factor in the book of 'Rebecca' because Max de Winters late wife Rebecca drowned in the bay near Manderley so if there was no sea-side, then that would have changed everything. In the introduction of the book, author Sally Beauman explains that the setting of Rebecca was of personal importance to Daphne du Maurier as she was desperately homesick and longing for her home by the sea in Cornwall so she wrote a book about that type of place to 'ease the pain'. Also, Manderleys minutely detailed setting is clearly that of an actual house, Menabilly. Du Maurier and her husband both lived at Menabilly so when she went off to Egypt to write the novel, she wrote about her home. Also, Rebecca was set in the 1930's which was when it was written and first published. The importance of this is the way the characters are described to us as the reader, the way they are dressed, they way they are treated as individuals and how they pass the time. For example page 74 line 20 states 'Someone advanced from the sea of faces, someone tall and gaunt, dressed in deep black, whose prominent cheek bones and great hollow eyes gave her a skulls face, parchment white, set on a skeletons frame.'. When you read this, you immediately believe that she is from many years ago. This is because of time frame it was set in and because of how they were back then. In this book, it is really easy to see the places inside your head through the characters eyes. The detail runs right through the book and gives you every little detail that you need. The setting that Daphne Du Maurier describes, really draw you into the story and really make you feel like you are there in Manderley. She also describes every little thing is such detail. 'No smoke came from the chimney, and the little lattice windows gaped forlorn.' In the beginning, we get a real feel for the way Manderley was set out by many quotes. This description occurs on page 1 line 4 to page 4 (end of chapter1) and without this description the book would be a lot of words on paper. In this section, you can see how important Manderley was to the Narrator and how upset she is when she goes back in her dreams even though she is not sure what it looks like now. As Rebecca is mainly set in one place, it is important to know your way around it in your head otherwise you will get very confused. Daphne Du Maurier builds up the importance to the house, which becomes almost a character in its own right. The mansion's rooms provide clues to Rebecca's character. There seems to be an invisible scar around the house attached to the death of Maxim De Winters first late wife Rebecca. It doesn't help that Mrs Danvers is making the ambiance of the house stiff because of the fact that she liked Rebecca so much. 'Why should she resent me?' 'I thought you knew, I though Maxim would have told you. She simply adored Rebecca.'

Answer 4

The play 'Macbeth' draws upon three basic settings: wild places, castles, and battlefields. The three locales set the tone, and carry out the themes, of the play. For the play deals with the violence and The Temptations to do evil that enter the lives of humans. That violence is carried out and that evil affects even the highest centers of authority and power. So even the monarchy isn't safe from the brutality of the times. In fact, monarchs may be overthrown by violence and evil, and their assailants/murderers may perpetuate themselves and their succession by continuing the cycle of violence and evil.