The Plausibility of Setting in Fiction

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how plausibility in fiction is one of the vital aspects of literature and how there are many ways to make a literary work plausible - one of them being the setting. The paper examines three stories as examples to show how the setting contributes to the plausibility of the works. The paper first looks at how, in Thomas Hardy's "The Three Strangers", the setting, which is an isolated cottage, makes the story believable as it is far from the city and its dwellers are ignorant of the facts of daily city life. The paper then looks at Joseph Conrad's "The Inn of The Two Witches" and explains how the setting contributes to the story's gothic theme, as the setting is an inn again in an isolated area. The paper relates that, although there are supernatural characters in this story, the readers accept their existence easily and naturally because of the setting. Finally, the paper examines how, in Robert Louis Stevenson's "Will O' The Mill", the setting is a mill in a beautiful valley. The paper explains that the central character, Will, arrives at strange decisions, but when these decisions are thought within the setting, they seem plausible.

From the Paper:

"Thomas Hardy sets his story "The Three Strangers" in a rural part of England. The story is about a farmer who holds a party to celebrate his newborn child. There is a heavy rain during the party and three strangers call on his cottage for a shelter. As the unknown guests speak, a curiosity is created because no one knows exactly who they are, where they come from and go to. The first two strangers tell their stories and their host and we, the readers, hope what they tell is true. The third strangers' visit heightens our excitement as he vanishes as soon as he appears in the cottage. At that moment some news arrive that a prisoner who waits his execution the next day has ran away from the prison. The dwellers of the cottage and their guests mistakenly think that the last stranger is the prisoner and goes after him. They catch him and he immediately reveals the fact. The fact is that the third stranger is the prisoner's brother, the prisoner is the first stranger and the second stranger is his executioner. Of course, the real prisoner is not caught."

Sample of Sources Used:

• www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/2499/ - 80k
• www.eliteskills.com/c/5189 - 59k
• www.bibliomania.com/0/5/46/852/19582/1.html - 13k

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