Emily's death at the beginning of the story through the description of Emily's death-haunted life to the foundering of tradition in the face of modern changes. In every case, death prevails over every attempt to master it. These themes are enhanced through motifs like death and taxes or compassion
The setting is a house where a couple once lived. They are dead now and revisiting as ghosts. They tour the drawing-room (what we would call the living room), the garden with its trees, and their old bedroom.
