The Devoted Friend

by Oscar Wilde

The Devoted Friend: Setting 1 key example

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
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:

Because "The Devoted Friend" consists of two layers of narrative, the story also comprises two discrete settings. The first setting the reader encounters is that of the frame story: a pond in a world where animals talk and think like humans. It isn't possible to determine with certainty whether Wilde envisaged this world as a complete fantasy or simply as the real world with the single adjustment of animals being capable of human communication. However, based on the Water-rat's anecdote about the men who walked by the pond, it does not appear that animals are the sole or dominant inhabitants of this world. Indeed, just as in the real world, animals and humans live side by side. It doesn't necessarily seem as though the humans in this world are aware of the animals' human-like communication, but this is another aspect that Wilde leaves open-ended.