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Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Key Examples in Bartleby, the Scrivener
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
“Bartleby, the Scrivener” takes place in New York City in the 1850s. Most of the story is set in a Wall Street law office, which is significant given Wall Street’s growth during the mid-19th century. While the New York Stock Exchange started out small in the 1810s, by the time the story is set it had turned New York into the financial capital of the United States (replacing Philadelphia). In part due to the development of the New York financial sector, working- and middle-class people across the country started leaving rural jobs (like farming and agriculture) behind, moving to New York to find administrative and clerical positions. Though not a popular position today, “scriveners” were in high demand in the 1850s as they wrote and copied legal documents.
Related Themes:
