The Good Soldier is set in the early years of the 20th century in Europe and England, focusing on the Edwardian era's clash with burgeoning 20th-century social norms and a creeping sense of rapid, unstoppable globalization and change. The tranquil English countryside, especially as Ford depicts it in descriptions of the Ashburnhams' estate, Branshaw House, seems vulnerable in the face of this galloping, industrializing environment.
Branshaw House, in its traditionalism and serenity, feels full of the Edwardian values of restraint and propriety as Ford imagines them. In contrast, the scenes set in European locales like Nauheim—a fashionable spa town in Germany where much of the novel unfolds—represent the “New World's” freedoms and luxuries. The spa town, a gathering place for the European and expat American elite, becomes a backdrop for the characters' social maneuverings. It’s a liminal space outside the rigid confines of England, so there’s a little more social mobility than there would be at Branshaw. However, the basic rules of propriety and morals still apply even if they aren’t as strictly enforced. There's a sense that bad behavior abroad always eventually follows one home.
The novel features various restrictive indoor settings, such as drawing rooms, train carriages, and hotel bedrooms. These tight spaces mirror the emotional and societal constraints of the characters. For instance, the drawing room at the Ashburnhams' residence, where lots of the novel’s action is set, is a site of deep pain and tension vigilantly masked by Leonora's need to maintain propriety. Branshaw is so tied to a sense of place and of Englishness that it seems frozen in history. By contrast, the enclosed spaces of train compartments and hotel rooms become sites for intimate and secretive conversations, and romantic transgressions there have different effects than they do in the Ashburnhams’ home.
Ford also subtly incorporates the backdrop of a Europe on the brink of World War I, adding a sense of impending change and uncertainty. While the war itself is not directly addressed, its looming presence hangs over the entire novel. The interpersonal interactions in the novel mirror the tragedies of the war on a smaller scale. John's story encompasses death, loss, and feelings of restriction and danger, and it signals an unfriendly, violent world on the brink of extreme violence and change.
