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 The Red-Headed League
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
“The Red-Headed League” is set in London, England in the late 1800s. At this time in English history, the general public did not entirely respect the police force, as heinous crimes like the Jack the Ripper murders in the 1880s largely went unsolved. This collective frustration with incompetent detectives was perhaps the motivating force behind Conan Doyle’s creation of a fictional private detective gifted with superior rational and observational skills who solved every case that came before him. While Conan Doyle did not write “The Red-Headed League” as an overt work of social critique, his depiction of characters like the inept Detective Jones suggest that he did have some misgivings about the police force.