set the scene meaning: definition, quotations

set the scene

verb

To prepare for something by providing a background, a description, etc.

For example, in teaching the banquet scene in Macbeth, I set the scene by setting up several banquet tables2004, Paul Skrebels, Sieta van der Hoeven, For All Time?: Critical Issues in Teaching Shakespeare, page 43:
This chapter has also set the scene by reviewing the operational structure of benchmarking, as well as outlining the research materials central to this study.2010, David Strang, Learning by Example: Imitation and Innovation at a Global Bank: