Question

Highlight words that reveal the setting.

Now Thisbe takes

great care, that none detect her as she makes

her way out from the house amid the dark;

her face is veiled; she finds the tomb; she sits

beneath the tree they'd chosen for their tryst.

—"Pyramus and Thisbe,"
Ovid

Based on the passage, what can the reader conclude about the setting?



How does the setting build suspense?

Answer 1

Words/phrases that reveal the setting
- house
- makes her way out
- amid the dark / dark
- tomb
- beneath the tree
- they'd chosen for their tryst
- veiled

What the reader can conclude about the setting
- It is nighttime and secretive. Thisbe has left a house and gone outdoors to a meeting place (a tree) near a tomb/grave.

How the setting builds suspense
- Darkness and night limit visibility and create uncertainty, so danger feels more likely ("amid the dark").
- The tomb introduces death and foreboding, foreshadowing violence or tragedy.
- The secrecy (she is veiled; "none detect her"; the tryst is clandestine) increases risk of discovery and raises tension.
- Isolation (meeting beneath a single chosen tree) makes the characters vulnerable and heightens the stakes.
- The careful, furtive actions ("takes great care," "makes her way out") slow the scene and focus attention on potential threats, so readers expect something ominous may happen.