framenarrative

A frame narrative, or frame story, is a narrative technique in which a main story provides the context for one or more embedded tales. The outer frame is usually narrated by a character who sets the scene, introduces the inner tales, and sometimes comments on them. The inner narratives may be told by one or several characters within the frame and can vary in tone and style from the frame.

The frame serves several purposes. It can establish setting and mood, present a unifying premise, or provide a forum for diverse voices and genres within a single work. It often allows authors to explore different perspectives, voices, and levels of reliability, and to comment on storytelling itself or on broader social and moral questions through the juxtaposition of framed and embedded narratives.

Prominent examples include The One Thousand and One Nights, where Scheherazade tells stories to a king to delay her execution; The Canterbury Tales, in which a group of pilgrims recount tales during their journey; and The Decameron, in which ten young people tell novellas while sheltering from plague. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, a letters frame from Captain Walton frames Victor Frankenstein’s tale.

Variations of frame narratives range from single outer narrators to multiple nested frames or shifting frames within a work. In modern media, framing devices frequently appear as prologues, epilogues, or voiceover narrations that orient the audience to the embedded material. The term “frame narrative” is often used interchangeably with “frame tale,” though some writers prefer the two-word form.