Setting in "Remains of the Day" and "Her First Ball"

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Question: Why is setting so important in literature?

In literature we consider setting to be an extremely important factor as it connects time and place. By altering any of these two aspects, a determined culture can change completely because it is impossible to divorce a culture from the geographical place or time. Literary characters are directly affected by the time and the place in which they live, as setting implies the limits that society sets on a character, or/and the limits that the character sets on itself. The settings in “The Remains of the Day” presents two different periods in the life of Stevens, the main character. The novel is based in 1950’s England, at Darlington Hall and in the places Stevens visits during his trip, with continuous flashbacks set in the 1930’s in Darlington Hall. From this novel, we can present a detailed analysis of how setting is important as it is clear for the reader that the behaviour of the characters have been affected by the time and place in which they live. Also the events and the story depend on the settings which provide the reader a cultural context of the period in which the novel is based.

The main place of the novel is Darlington Hall, which is described as pleasing and as a great spectacle, always surprising the visitors during the 1930’s. It is always organized and clean, showing the obsessive and perfectionist nature of Stevens. This place where the story develops is linked with the personality of Stevens as we can compare how this big but lonely place usually receives fake visitors with how Stevens has always been a great and admiring butler, but a lonely person who is constantly lying about himself and trying to hide the truth that he does not have other thing to live for than Darlington Hall. Stevens is always thinking about his duties because his life is surrounded by a working environment as he lives where he works. This might have affected his personality, especially because his father also spent his life as a butler. Stevens is always thinking about responsibility, professionalism and loyalty, but not about the nature of humans, feelings, expressions, love, etc. He gets lost after he goes out from Darlington Hall by car, showing that the only thing he knows well is the place where he works. We can say that he doesn’t even know himself. He is not sure about himself and his feelings and that is why he goes on a trip, to find a meaning in his life. So we can say that the setting of time and place is what affected him to be an extremely impersonal character with extremely shallow feelings.

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Apart from place, time plays a vital role in the novel. We know that the present part of the novel is based in the 1950’s, when England has already lost its power after World War II. During this period the Suez Crisis occurred and war was fought between Britain and their allies against the Egyptians. At the start of the war, Britain had a large amount of troops, which gave them the image of being powerful. However, at the end of the war, the British lost to the Egyptians, and the English realized that their empire was loosing power. In ...

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