Setting

Time and physical setting

The fairy tale “The Well of the World’s End” was collected by Joseph Jacobs in 1890 and its author is unknown. Like many other fairy tales, “The Well of the World’s End” does not focus on describing a certain setting in detail, because fairy tales are often meant to have an almost universal appeal.

The setting of the tale is established in the opening paragraph through a phrase typically used in fairy tales: “Once upon a time” (l. 1). We are told that the world in which the events take place is a different world from ours, suggesting they are happening in a magical world or a very long time ago: “Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it in wasn’t my time, nor in your time, nor anyone else’s time” (ll. 1-2). Through this, the narrator indicates that the events of the story are supposed to be generic and to contain a moral message, rather than being connected firmly to the time of the reader.

The events in the short story take place in a kingdom. This is indicated by the fact that, at the end of the tale, the prince marries the protagonist and they both go to live with the king, the prince’s father (ll. 91-93).

It is unclear for how long the stepmother has been marrie...