Frame Narrative
A story set within another story, where one narrative encloses a second.
A frame narrative uses an outer story to introduce and contain an inner one, often through a character who recounts past events. Writers use the frame to add perspective, control distance, or raise questions about how stories are told and trusted. The frame can color how readers interpret the tale within.
Example
The collective townspeople narrator frames Emily’s life as a story pieced together from rumor and memory, shaping how the inner events reach us.
A Rose for Emily · William Faulkner
See it in action
Analyses on StoryBites that use frame narrative:
The Open WindowSakiHeart of DarknessJoseph ConradThe Legend of Sleepy HollowWashington IrvingThe BetAnton ChekhovGooseberriesAnton ChekhovThe Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras CountyMark TwainThe Boarded WindowAmbrose BierceThe Body SnatcherRobert Louis StevensonFrankensteinMary ShelleyThe Scarlet LetterNathaniel Hawthorne