The play is set in a rural area, more specifically at an abandoned farmhouse. Being set in a rural landscape, the characters are meant to represent real people. And although this is set in America's heartland, the relatively larger distance between neighbors in rural farming areas implies a sense of loneliness that parallel's Mrs. Wright's loneliness. When Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale discuss Mrs. Wright's personality and relationship with Mr. Wright, Mrs. Hale notes that the house "never seemed a very cheerful place" and she implies that John Wright was not a pleasant man to live with: