atmosphere
What is Atmosphere? Definition, Usage, and Literary Examples
Atmosphere Definition
Atmosphere (AT-muh-sfeer) is the feeling or sense evoked by an environment or setting. Writers develop a story’s atmosphere with description and narration, using literary devices and techniques like setting, imagery, diction, and figurative language.
How Atmosphere Is Developed
Establishing atmosphere depends primarily on two things: the situation and what emotional reaction it should provoke within the reader. Setting and plot are key, as these elements inform what kind of imagery and description will best set the stage. Writers then have to consider what kind of emotional response they want to elicit. Joy? Anger? Fear? Sadness? When they know how they want readers to react, writers can use a variety of elements to encourage the intended response.
Some genres are distinctly atmospheric. Readers associate them with certain feelings, and many continually read within these genres to chase those feelings.
- Dystopian fiction often features a dark atmosphere tinged with pessimism or bleakness, as does The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
- Fairy tales and fantasy are regularly imbued with a sense of wonder, hope, and whimsy, such as in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.
- The horror fiction produced by writers like H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King would lose its potency without the genre’s iconic unsettling atmosphere.
Note that some stories maintain a consistent atmosphere throughout the narrative, but others transition between different atmospheres to support the plot or emphasize changes in setting.
The Elements of Atmosphere
Writers use many elements and techniques to develop the atmosphere in a given environment: setting, imagery, diction, point of view, foreshadowing, figurative language, and theme.
Setting
The setting is where a story or scene takes place. Because setting informs a scene’s background—including everything from location and time of day to lighting and weather—it’s a crucial component of building atmosphere. Additionally, because of collective cultural experiences, some settings come encoded with distinct atmospheres, which writers can subvert or use to their advantage. Readers will associate a neighborhood park with fun and relaxation, while a graveyard is associated with a creepy and gloomy atmosphere.
Imagery
Imagery is built with descriptions that cater to the reader’s five senses. Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch all inform a story’s atmosphere, as they help us visualize settings, characters, moods, and other attributes. The smell of the sea might contribute to a sense of adventure, while the sight of fog on a cloudy night can suggest unease.
Diction
Diction refers to the vocabulary writers use to construct a sentence. Word choice has immense influence on imagery, tone, and mood. Because a single word or phrase is often all it takes to influence how the reader perceives the scene, diction is a critical element of atmosphere.
Point of View
Narration, voice, and point of view are big contributors in establishing how a story feels. An unreliable narrator can create suspense, a facetious narrator charge a story with a comedic or lighthearted air, and a childlike or innocent narrator can add a sense of wonder and enchantment. A first-person viewpoint can create a sense of intimacy, while a limited point of view can stoke tragedy or dread, particularly when combined with dramatic irony.
Foreshadowing
This is a great technique to signal that the atmosphere is trending toward a tonal shift. Ominous foreshadowing that hints at a character’s death, for example, can infuse the atmosphere with a sense of threat or foreboding.
Figurative Language
Devices like metaphor, simile, and allusion pack a highly illustrative and evocative punch with relatively few words, making them an effective means of establishing atmosphere. Because figures of speech often build upon common associations, they can be a quick and powerful way to spark a specific feeling within a broad audience.
Theme
A narrative’s theme or purpose can also inform the atmosphere. An inspiring fantasy novel about good vs. evil will likely complement any sense of whimsy or imagination with an aura of hope. Likewise, a tragic tale about the futility of defying fate will feel more powerful when supported by a somber atmosphere.
Atmosphere and Other Literary Devices
Atmosphere vs. Mood
Atmosphere and mood are often used interchangeably when discussing literature. However, atmosphere generally characterizes external situations, such as setting or environment. Mood refers to more subjective, internal feelings, such as a character’s emotional reaction to that environment.
Think about a location like Times Square. The atmosphere there is frenetic, given the bright lights, various storefronts, and never-ending streams of pedestrians and taxis. However, the mood of a scene set in Times Square will depend on the character’s reaction to or perception of the situation. One character may find this bustling energy exhilarating, but another may find it overwhelming. Depending on the depiction, the reader may sense an enthusiastic or an anxious mood, respectively.
Atmosphere vs. Ambiance
Atmosphere and ambiance are largely synonymous, with both describing the distinctive feel or character of an environment. However, readers are likely to associate these words with different connotations.
Ambiance is more closely connected with positive or neutral feelings; you’re more likely to read about a relaxed ambiance than a tense ambiance. Atmosphere is often associated with dark moods and feelings, like suspense, tension, and horror, although it describes positive feelings equally well; “relaxed atmosphere” sounds perfectly normal, for example.
Atmosphere vs. Tone
Tone describes attitude, while atmosphere describes feeling. Writers achieve specific tones—such as positive, neutral, or dark—through deliberate use of diction, syntax, and context. Tone is another literary technique that establishes atmosphere. For example, the witty, often wry tone of the narration in Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens supports the book’s humorous and lighthearted atmosphere. A dark tone, like in Frankenstein, can suggest terror, desolation, tension, or suspense.
Atmosphere in Other Media
Other forms of media develop atmosphere much like books do, but they have the added benefit of visuals and audio. Visual imagery that depicts details like weather, setting, and time of day can immediately establish atmosphere without a word of dialogue or exposition.
You know a Tim Burton film when you see it. His movies tend to evoke a similar atmosphere—one that’s tense, unsettling, and melancholy. Burton achieves this consistent atmospheric aesthetic through a variety of techniques, including visual distortion, sharp color contrasts, muted color palettes, shadows, and gothic iconography.
Baz Luhrmann is another director who uses his striking visual aesthetic to achieve a certain atmosphere. In his film Moulin Rouge, Luhrmann utilizes lavish set design, rich costumes, and comedic cuts to create an atmosphere of wonder, romance, and seduction—which makes the film’s heart-wrenching ending all the more tragic by contrast.
Music is another powerful contributor to atmosphere. Songs and soundtracks composed in the major key suggest happiness; in contrast, composers often use the minor key to signal a dark atmosphere. A great demonstration of this is the Dies irae, one of the most replicated melodies in all of music, appearing in the works of composers ranging from Johannes Brahms to Ennio Morricone to Stephen Sondheim. The melody’s somber tone strongly suggests sadness or tragedy, an association that’s compounded each new time it’s quoted in media.
Atmosphere even has utility in more grounded media, like speeches. Clear, strong diction and short, sharp sentences can impress a sense of urgency or aspiration. A strong, warm, convicted tone of voice can inspire hope and optimism. Additionally, a somber tone of voice and slow delivery can contribute to a more solemn, perhaps even funereal, atmosphere.
The Functions of Atmosphere
Writers use atmosphere to elicit an emotional response from the reader. A well-developed atmosphere also enhances a narrative with deeper, richer detail. This paints a more complete picture of the setting or situation and keeps the reader engaged with the text. Some readers enjoy certain genres for their specific atmosphere, like fans of psychological and suspense thrillers who love the tension, danger, and high stakes common in those novels.
Examples of Atmosphere in Literature
1. Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is one novel that cannot be extricated from its setting without compromising the atmosphere. The book takes place on the wind-swept English moors, and Brontë’s rich descriptions of that landscape infuse this tragic tale with a sense of heavy foreboding from the start:
Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff’s dwelling. “Wuthering” being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they must have up there at all times, indeed; one may guess the power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs one way, as if craving alms of the sun.
The vivid imagery combines with haunting diction—tumult, gaunt, craving—to fill the reader with apprehension and foreshadow certain tragedy.
2. Cornelia Funke, Inkheart
Inkheart is the first entry of a children’s fantasy trilogy by Funke. The series follows Meggie, a young girl who’s thrust into fantastical adventures after discovering her father has the magical ability to make fiction reality by reading out loud. This excerpt comes from Chapter 1, when readers are first introduced to Meggie:
Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain. Many years later, Meggie only had to close her eyes and she could still hear it, like tiny fingers tapping on the windowpane.
Personification and simile bring the rain life, establishing the novel’s air of curiosity, adventure, and enchantment. The rain is not sad or foreboding, as young readers might expect, but rather inviting, even enticing, with its whispers and tiny tapping fingers beckoning Meggie and the reader to dive into adventure.
3. Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart”
“The Tell-Tale Heart” is a horror short story written in the first person. The narrator desperately attempts to convince the audience of his sanity even while describing a murder he committed, believing his methodical execution of the crime proves his mental stability.
Poe establishes the tense, suspenseful atmosphere—which becomes increasingly frightening as the story unfolds—with a few techniques. The story begins in medias res—in the middle of the action—which has a destabilizing effect. The query and irregular syntax in the first paragraph further demonstrate the narrator’s unsettled and frenzied thoughts:
True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?
That the protagonist is an unreliable narrator also heightens the tension and casts further doubt on his sanity. As the narrator continues to speak, his syntax becomes increasingly fragmented, with incomplete clauses and short declarative sentences, which reflect the narrator’s mental deterioration and the beating rhythm of the tell-tale heart.
Further Resources on Atmosphere
This Write Practice article explores how atmosphere enhances any story, using examples from various genres like fantasy, historical fiction, romance, and more.
A suspenseful atmosphere is crucial to many plots, not just those found in horror or mystery fiction. This TED-Ed talk discusses writing techniques that create narrative suspense.