The Driving Force of Setting

A detailed Summary of The Driving Force of Setting

The setting of a work of fiction establishes its historical, geological, and physical location. Where and when the story takes place influences interpretations of the story's events and characters. Setting may be vital to a story, influencing character's behavior, as it does in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" and as in Kate Chopin's "The Storm." In both of these stories, the setting is the most critical motif. It is the driving force upon how the stories are moved along by its influence over the character's actions.

In Kate Chopin's "The Storm," the setting of the first scene symbolically hints that something just isn't right. The air is thick with a humid heat and there are somber clouds rolling in from the west. The air is still, and in the distance there can be heard a sullen, threatening roar. A storm is on the way, and establishes a solid barrier between Calixta and her husband. The somber clouds rolling in from the west represent not only the storm, but also Alcee Laballiere, a friend of Calixta's who is ridding through the area. The sullen, threatening roar is representative of Calixta's marriage and how it is being threatened by her affair that is on the horizon.

The narrator keeps a diary despite that John tells her not to do anything. She describes that it takes a lot out of her because she has to be so sly about it. Being tired all the time, with the fact that she wants to get out and get some fresh air, and also knowing that she cannot begins to have a negative effect on her, an effect that John does not foresee. She begins to start noticing the every detail of the room, particularly the wallpaper. The wallpaper is an ugly yellowish hue that has dark and light spots sporadically located all along the wall. It has a crack in it that encompasses the whole room, except there is a break in it where the bed is. The room is in the upper most room of the house, but not quite the attic. The narrator is confined to this room charged with resting and remaining inactive.

In both of these stories, the setting is the driving force that places characters in the right/wrong situations at the right/wrong time. This placement of events and time in such a synchronized way allow for the stories to be played out, and their inevitable endings to immerge. Setting in these two stories is the driving factor that set up the story, and led it to its own end.

The setting in Charlotte Parkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" drives the main character, referred to in the first person, insane. The story starts out with the narrator, and her husband. They are staying in a colonial mansion for the summer. John feels that this is a good place for his wife to get some rest, and once they arrive he tells her that she needs to. He forbids her from going outside

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Approximate Word count = 1079
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English