Previous
Personification
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 Rappaccini’s Daughter
Setting
Explanation and Analysis—The City of Padua :
“Rappaccini’s Daughter” is set in Padua, Italy during an unidentified era of the past. This city is home to the Padua Botanical Garden, a garden established in 1545 in affiliation with the University of Padua for the cultivation and study of medicinal plants. The oldest existing botanical garden in the world that remains in its original location, it is likely the source of inspiration for Rappaccini’s garden: when Giovanni first lays eyes on the garden beneath his window, he “[judges] it to be one of those gardens which were of earlier date in Padua than elsewhere in Italy or in the world.” This reference to the garden also helps the reader situate the events of the story sometime after the 16th century, when the Botanical Garden was founded.
Related Themes:
