Frame Story
Frame Story: A story that contains and presents another story or set of stories within it.
A frame gives the inner tale a teller and an audience, letting the writer control distance and doubt: we hear the story through someone with reasons to shape it.
Frame Story examples
"Scheherazade tells tale after tale to postpone her execution - the frame that holds One Thousand and One Nights together."
— One Thousand and One Nights
"A pilgrimage to Canterbury frames the pilgrims' competing tales."
— The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
"Frankenstein arrives as letters from an Arctic captain, wrapped around Victor's confession, wrapped around the creature's own account."
— Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
"Marlow tells the Congo story to friends on a boat moored in the Thames."
— Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
Spot the Frame Story
Score: 0/0A story that contains and presents another story or set of stories within it.
"Scheherazade tells tale after tale to postpone her execution - the frame that holds One Thousand and One Nights together."
Which work is this from?
Explore every literary device in the poetic devices hub.
Frame Story: common questions
What is frame story in literature?
A story that contains and presents another story or set of stories within it. A frame gives the inner tale a teller and an audience, letting the writer control distance and doubt: we hear the story through someone with reasons to shape it.
What is an example of frame story?
A classic example is "Scheherazade tells tale after tale to postpone her execution - the frame that holds One Thousand and One Nights together." (One Thousand and One Nights).
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