ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -As its name suggests, a frame story is a narrative that frames or surrounds another story or set of stories. It usually appears at the beginning and end of that larger story and provides important context and key information for how to read it.

Detailed explanation-2: -A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories.

Detailed explanation-3: -An example of this would be Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, where the story is told from the perspective of Robert Walton as the information was relayed to him by Doctor Frankenstein.

Detailed explanation-4: -A classic example is the film The Princess Bride. It begins with a grandfather reading a story to his grandson (the frame). Throughout the story-within-the-story, Westley, the protagonist, repeats the phrase “As you wish” to Princess Buttercup, the woman he loves.

Detailed explanation-5: -Frames bookend a story with a definitive opening scene (that introduces readers to pertinent characters, settings, and themes) and a closing scene (that brings the story to a resonant full circle by mirroring or returning to the opening scene).