Talk:Story within a story

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[edit] Merge with Frame tale?

I suggest this text be merged with Frame tale. -- April

  • While the current link from Frame story (to which Frame Tale redirects) could be considered enough, I think there's some merit to this idea, in the sense of bringing the Frame Story text in as a subtype of story within a story. BobGreenwade 16:57, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The Manuscript Found in Saragossa

Could someone please fill in a little more on how this technique is used in this story? BobGreenwade 16:22, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Joseph Conrad's The Heart of darkness

Joseph Conrad's The Heart of darkness is almost entirely a story within a story, with the main character retelling his travels.

That makes it a story within a story, not a story within a story within a story. And, if story X includes story Y, does it count as metafiction if the events of Y are true in the world of story X? Very often in an ordinary story, a character describes to another character events which happened. Anthony Appleyard 17:35, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

I would say that a story must be fictional within the context of the containing story in order to be metafictional. If a character is telling a true (for him) story then it's not metafiction, it's just a recounting of events. Thus, given the above-quoted description The Heart of Darkness would not count even at that level. BobGreenwade 20:19, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Hamlet

I can't see how the Mousetrap can be inside Hamlet... Rich Farmbrough. 23:04, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

If you're thinking of Agatha Christie's Mousetrap, no, it isn't. But the play presented by the player troupe to the King, originally titled The Murder of Gonzago, is rewritten and re-titled (by Hamlet) The Mousetrap. BobGreenwade 18:01, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Star Trek

Could someone please clarify the Star Trek reference in the "Story within a story within a story" section? The first sentence runs on a bit, and the references need to be clarified. BobGreenwade 16:07, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] But a rough echo

What, no mention of Tolkien? The Lord of the Rings is one of the most convoluted stories-within-a-story ever told, inasmuch as Tolkien spun the The Hobbit and LOTR as yarns upon which to hang snippets of his epic poetry about elvish heroes long since gone. It's easy to see why many readers suppose Aragorn's recital of the Tale of Tinuviel to be merely colorful detail or foreshadowing, but Beren's story was written (albeit not published) before Sauron was much more than Melkor's minion. See here and here. The man loved a good frame narrative. Asat 16:58, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wuthering Heights?

Is this considered a story-within-a-story? It would be a good example to quote, if it is. The outer story is told briefly at the beginning and the end, and (iirc) at a few random moments in between. 99% of the text is the inner story. The clever part is the way they link together, imo; the inner story's listener decides whether or not to buy the house, on the basis of the story. Bards 09:32, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Grand Inquisitor

I don't think that the Grand Inquisitor sums up Dostoevsky's own ideas. In fact there is some evidence to the contrary, that he in fact completely disagreed with Ivan's assertions. See Guignon's Introduction to the Grand Inquisitor where he says, "It would be a serious mistake, however, to regard the Grand Inquisitor story as stating Dostoevsky's own view in any way. Dostoevsky made it quite clear that he regarded the passages titled 'Rebellion' and 'The Grand Inquisitor' as 'expressions of atheism,' reflections of the viewpoint of the 'athiest' and 'anarchist' Ivan Karamazov, which he hoped to refute in the following book, 'The Russian Monk.'" Author's emphasis. Igtbtk8 23:54, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

change it then —Preceding unsigned comment added by Drumnbach (talk • contribs) 18:04, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Moulin Rouge?

The movie Moulin Rouge (as directed by Baz Luhrmann) is a movie about a play performed at the Moulin Rouge, in Paris, France. The play within the movie shares a similar plotline as the movie. The play also serves to foreshadow a number of events taking place within the movie (e.g., Zidler, in the audio background saying, "The lovers are discovered" only moments before catching the lead characters necking. The song "Come What May" is chosen by the lead characters to be the song that binds their love and courage together, and is written into the play for that very same purpose.)