... sets the frame of the story on three reference points: the place - the old house - the time - the evening or the night when stories are told - and the cultural setting - the reference to ghost stories. "The Prologue" works as a magic mirror or as a magnifying glass for the further reading. There are some details whose function is to subvert the reader's perception of the text. For example in the first paragraph, we find the image of the house: "the case ... , which implies the distance between the happening and the telling. The governess has to remember in order to put the story down on ...

• Word Count: 2120
• Approx Pages: 8