Previous
Satire
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:
The first three Acts of The Winter's Tale are set in the Sicilian court. Meanwhile, Act 4 takes place 16 years later and is a pastoral scene set in a shepherd's cottage in a mythical version of Bohemia, a region in the west of the Czech Republic that was an independent kingdom in Shakespeare's day. Since Sicily is historically a Roman Catholic region, whereas the pastoral connotes harmony with nature and the seasons, the play's combination of settings allows allusions to Christianity, classical mythology, and pagan seasonal festivals to coexist. Moreover, whereas the real-life Bohemia was a landlocked kingdom, Bohemia in The Winter's Tale has a seacoast—a geographical fictionalization that not only allows Shakespeare to incorporate Perdita's abandonment on a Bohemian beach into the narrative but also enhances the play's mystical tone and exploration of the power of faith.
Related Themes:
