Setting

Physical setting

The story “The Legacy” by Virginia Woolf is set in London. The time setting is not stated, but given the story’s publishing date, it can be assumed it was set around the same time, in 1940. The story also mentions the action takes place six weeks after Angela’s death: “yet she had been in perfect health when she left the house that morning, six weeks ago; when she stepped off the kerb in Piccadilly and the car had killed her”.

The story names several real locations in London such as “Piccadilly”, “the East End”, “Whitechapel”, or “The Tower of London”. The story also mentions the famous Florian café and the Doge’s Palace in Venice. Overall, the naming of these places helps to offer authenticity to the story and its location. 

Most of the action takes ...