A frame story is a narrative structure in which an opening story introduces and encloses one or more separate embedded tales, with the inner stories typically receiving the more detailed treatment. The framing narrative carries readers from an outer story into the inner ones, sometimes casting doubt on a narrator, addressing anticipated reader reactions, or using devices such as false documents or dream visions. The technique has ancient roots, appearing in Egyptian papyri, the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and Homer's Odyssey, and became especially prominent in works such as One Thousand and One Nights and Boccaccio's Decameron before spreading into modern literature, film, and comics.
Facts
Place of Origin Notable ExampleOne Thousand and One Nights 1 Defining TraitNarrative structure in which an opening story introduces one or more embedded tales 1 Sources
1. Frame Story (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)Wikipedia article Frame story, lead paragraph
is the literary technique and narrative structure in which an opening narrative introduces either a more emphasized second narrative or a set of shorter tales.
Wikipedia article Frame story, lead section, second paragraph
Notable examples are the 1001 Nights and The Decameron.
Wikipedia article Frame story, Origins section
Some of the earliest frame stories are from ancient Egypt, including one in the Papyrus Westcar, the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, and The Eloquent Peasant.
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