James Joyce, Kate Chopin, and Edgar Allan Poe give many examples of an author using setting to reveal things about characters as well as foreshadow events. In James Joyce’s Araby, setting is used to foreshadow events in the story, while in Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour setting is used to show the aspects of the main character. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado is a great example of how setting shows the emotions and attitudes of the main character as well as foreshadowing events.
Joyce uses a consistent setting that foreshadowed events. A good example of this is when the narrator describes the places around his home, saying, “…dark dripping gardens… dark odorous stables… hid in the shadow…” (246). Throughout the beginning of the story, Joyce uses this dark setting to hint that the ending will involve a form of darkness. “… fearing that the bazaar would be closed, I passed in quickly through a turnstile, handing a shilling to a weary-looking man… Nearly all the stalls were closed and the greater part of the hall was in darkness” (248). The story starts in the dark and ends in the dark. Another example of this is the very last sentence of the story, “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” (249).
In Chopin’s story it is clearly seen how setting is used to describe the main character, Josephine Mallard. “There stood facing the open window, a comfortable roomy armchair…” (337). This alluding to the fact that Josephine feels she has space and is free. “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life.” (337). Since happiness and joy are associated with spring, readers can see that Josephine has a certain happiness or Joy despite the circumstances she is in. This is alluded to in more detail when Chopin writes, “There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds…” (338). There was a storm that had just passed. The death of Josephine’s husband and the sorrow she was in can be viewed as the storm. Now the clouds are dispersing letting the blue sky show, which can suggest Josephine is happy.
Edgar Allen Poe uses setting really well in The Cask of Amontillado. “It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season…” (525). This one description shows the attitudes and emotions of the main character,
Montresor, as well as foreshadowing events. To start, carnivals can be crazy and weird. They are also viewed as “dark events” or as the quote says “supreme madness”. This sets the mood of the story to be weird and dark. It also alludes to the fact that the way
Montresor kills Fortunato is crazy and dark. While at the same time this suggests that
Montresor is very crazy and mad. Another obvious one is when they- walk down into the crypt. This instantly hints at a death to come.
Hey Michael, In “The Cask of Amontillado”, the Amontillado is actually a wine and the killer is Montresor and his victim is Fortunato. Although, one could probably make a good argument that the Amontillado is the actual main character. After all it is ultimately what causes Fortunato’s death and the story is built around it. Yet through the use of setting we are able to understand the attitudes and emotions of a character. With that in mind is it possible that Fortunato’s death was caused more by his own vanity? He was after all far wiser than Luchesi in the connoisseurship of fine wine. In “The Story of an Hour” do you think that the character description as well as the setting could be alluding to her feelings of repression? I agree with how you describe her feelings of freedom and the hints of spring and the coming storm on the horizon. In “Araby” interesting how you are alluding to a sense of darkness, I picked up on that as well although I saw more hints at religious confliction within the young man as the cause of the darkness you speak of. Or is there a different kind of darkness you are referring to. Very interesting angle.
ReplyDeleteI also considered Joyce, Chopin and Poe's use of setting to effectively foreshadow events and support the viewpoints of the main characters. I feel as though "The Story of an Hour" makes a statement about patriarchal society. I agree that the text and the imagery associated with the sky supports the idea that Josephine felt free after her husband's supposed death. However, I feel that her whole life, and not just the death of her husband, can be viewed as the storm that is passing. I agree that Poe used morbid colors, places, and objects in his setting to emphasize Montresor's character and actions. However, I don't agree that a carnival would automatically allude to crazy or weird feelings, at least in today's society. I thought that it was ironic that Poe chose a carnival, which is supposed to be a festive time, for something so morbid to take place. Overall, I do agree that the words he uses to describe the carnival set a dark mood, but only because the words "madness" and "carnival" contradict each other, or are ironic.
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Hey guys. I thought Poe's story was filled with morbid setting that fitted the narrator's actions. The narrator, Montresor, wanted to take revenge on Fortunato. So I thought when the town is engaged at the carnival provided a perfect opportunity for Montresor to take revenge, including Fortunato was intoxicated. Yes, these setting and actions of these character do foreshadow the story, especially Poe's. It isn't difficult to see that what Fortunato's fate will be. As for Araby, it's an ironic story. An infatuated boy who lives in a dark, slum town. Not the greatest setting for a suppose love. However, I do admire Joyce's ending of the story. The narrator sees his vanity which made him angry and realize he needs to open his eyes to reality. That women he obsessed over smacked the dream world out of his brain of how she treated him.
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