Setting

Setting provides the background elements essential to any story.  In Hamlet, the setting is vital to the progression of the play. Increasingly through out the play Hamlet’s behavior becomes more insane. As Hamlet’s behavior becomes less tame, so does the behavior of those around him, thus creating a psychotic scene in Denmark. This element of the setting effectively builds up to the climax of the play in which King Claudius is finally slain. While chaotic elements of the setting reflect the mental states of the characters in Hamlet, Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice makes use of the setting to describe how the cultural environment within the novel functions. Pemberly, the magnificent estate is an important aspect of the setting, which attributes to the cultural environment of 19^th century English high society. Furthermore, the characters in the novel further develop the cultural environment. For example, characters such as Mrs. Bennet act foolishly through gossip, which stereo types certain characters in the novel such as Darcy and Bingly. Proof of the cultural environment exists because Elizabeth realizes that her preconceptions about Darcy are actually false after she truly gets to know him.