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 the novel, Stevens has become an employee of an American man and he is making many small errors. For Stevens, time was always better during the days in which Lord Darlington lived. Stevens is constantly reminding the reader that before World War II, Darlington Hall was in its best days, while now it doesn’t have a good staff. This represents the loss of power of the British aristocracy and also the wasted life of Stevens. Here we have an excellent contrast of the setting itself that shows the relationship of how Stevens considered his place of work to be great when Lord Darlington lived and now that he is gone the staff is inefficient. This is a metaphor that shows how time and “setting” has weakened the British Empire.
Setting in the novel allows the reader to compare and understand the actions of Miss Kenton and Stevens. Miss Kenton is a woman who is very dedicated to her work, but she does not have the obsessive thinking of Stevens. We can say that Miss Kenton knows more about life than Stevens as she has changed her placed of work and routines. Inside Darlington Hall, Kenton’s parlour is used by Kenton and Stevens as a place to talk, drink tea and relax, while Stevens’ room is dark and always looks the same. Miss Kenton tries to change this by bringing flowers but Stevens prefers the serious and repetitive environment because he is used to it. The reader realises that Kenton is much more expressive than Stevens, but she stills waiting for a response from him, which she will never receive because Stevens never expresses his feelings. This is extremely related to the influence of setting because it shows a clear contrast between these two characters that is reflected in their personal places.
At the end of the novel, there is an important contrast between the setting and the character. The pier in which Stevens rests is a contrast between its happy atmosphere (people laughing, lights) and the loneliness and sadness of Stevens. Stevens is out of place in that pier as many other times in his life. Here the setting works extremely well because even the weather in the setting (rain) helps to reflect Stevens’ feelings. This final weather also contrasts with the sunny days before his meeting with Miss Kenton. During those days Stevens seemed to be happy and enjoying the trip, especially because he was constantly remembering the best days of Darlington Hall. At the end, when Stevens is thinking about his present life, which is basically the remains of what the best days of Darlington Hall left, it is raining. Stevens’ last thoughts about dignity and greatness change now that the setting has changed. At the start, when Stevens looks at the simple but beautiful landscape of the West Country, he thinks that greatness lies on the restraint and the lack of drama and spectacle, something that makes the reader compare this thought with his repressed personality. This also proves that setting affects the characters’ thoughts and feelings.
Like in “The Remains of the Day”, Katherine Mansfield’s short story “Her First Ball” presents a relationship between the settings and literary issues such as characters’ characteristics, story, events, etc. There is a perfect use of settings to compare different situations. We can also see a contrast between the characters in “Her First Ball” when we discover the city characters attitudes and Leila’s country attitude as we see how the setting where they were raised is extremely different. The city characters were already corrupted, superficial and plastic. This is shown to us on the way to the ball where they all take everything lightly even though they were all nervous, just to look cool they tried acting indifferent. On the other side Leila was extremely excited about everything and didn’t want to hide any of her feelings. However because of the setting, she was at the dance and later on she gets corrupted and becomes like all of the other city people because she felt she did not fit in so she became like them. This shows the influence that settings have in characters and the change in moods and attitudes that settings can cause in them.
This analysis leaves us with the conclusion that settings play a fundamental function in literature, especially in the cases that we have studied, being “The Remains of the Day” and “Her First Ball” two clear examples of how place and time affect the characters and the events. Settings can also provide contrasts and symbolisms to support an idea. Stories in literature depend on settings as a different season or age or a different place could change completely the way on which the characters think and
act. We have analysed how Stevens’ repressed personality has been directly affected by the working environment and the years in which he lived, and how characters in “Her First Ball” act depending on the settings in which they are.