Setting:
Setting
is the location of a play. It is the time and place when and where the action
of the play takes place. It is the background against which the work of art is
projected. Setting is very important in a play because it helps us to
appreciate the background of the play. Also in productions it helps the
designers to design appropriate locale, atmosphere, and costume for the play.
We can identify the setting through the names of characters.
Types of Setting:
(a) Geographical/Physical/Occupational:
This is the actual geographical location of the story and whatever surrounds
the place where the story is located. It also includes the manner of daily
living of the people. This helps in locating the story; for example, it helps
We to know if the action of the play takes place in an urban centre or a
village, or a bush, or a market place and so on. We can identify the physical
setting easily in some plays because the playwright mentions some known
landmarks like the names of towns or other important places in the town. In the
play, Hamlet, the physical setting is easy .to identify because of the fact
that tm of the major characters in the play are addressed as the “Prince of
Denmark” and the “King of Denmark”. Physical setting also includes the manner
of daily living of the people.
(b) Temporal/Historical Setting:
This is the period in which a story takes place. This includes the date, the
season, and the general atmosphere in the local like war, fuel scarcity,
democratic or military rule. This, like the physical setting, could be reduced
from the dialogue or from the stage direction. It could be stated in some
commentaries, especially the ones on the background of the play.
(c) General Environmental Setting:
The social, moral, emotional, mental and religious backgrounds of the story.
This is highlighted through dialogue, stage direction and the character’s
interpersonal relationships.
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