Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Frame stories

A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories. The frame story leads readers from a first story into one or more other stories within it.

5 episodes

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  1. Frankenstein

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mary Shelley's story of Victor Frankenstein and the creature he makes from cadavers and then rejects - only for the monster to take his revenge

    16 May 2019

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    Featuring: Karen O'Brien, Michael Rossington, Jane Thomas

     
  2. Heart of Darkness

    Melvyn Bragg discusses Joseph Conrad's Novel, Heart of Darkness, a critique of colonialism at the turn of the century

    15 February 2007

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    Featuring: Susan Jones, Robert Hampson, Laurence Davies

     
  3. The Arabian Nights

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Arabian Nights - an ever shifting sea of stories across Asia and Europe.

    18 October 2007

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    Featuring: Robert Graham Irwin, Marina Warner, Gerard van Gelder

     
  4. The Ramayana

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ancient Sanskrit epic, one of the greatest works of world literature, which is still seen as a sacred and influential text by Hindus today.

    9 March 2023

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    Featuring: Jessica Frazier, Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, Naomi Appleton

     
  5. Wuthering Heights

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Emily Bronte's story of Heathcliff and Cathy, of love, hatred, revenge and self-destruction across two generations in a remote moorland home.

    28 September 2017

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    Featuring: Karen O'Brien, John Bowen, Alexandra Lewis