While she is in Tasmania, she seems to believe that the landscape is consciously attempting to bestow violence upon her, such as the "Ruts" of the carriage in which she, Austin and Garnet traveled, which "frequently threw the passengers together with a violence which seemed almost personal in its intent." By allowing Ellen to encounter this uncomfortable environment, and by giving the reader an insight into her reflection upon the situation's physical attributes, this exposes to the reader deeper meanings the setting may exhibit, with reference to the protagonist Ellen and her progressive self-discoveries.
The historical setting is a very important factor in influencing the values and attitudes that would have been dominant within the societies of the particular time era, living in particular parts of the world. The text is set in the nineteenth century, and it only gives any depth to societies of English and Irish men and women. As this was a time period that was dominated by the English Upper Middle Class, who had recently been found to be more wealthy than royalty of the Upper Class, it was the values of this race and class - which were enforced indefinitely by the Christian Bible and its Ten Commandments - which proved to be dominant. As a result, many of the characters in A Fringe of Leaves display attitudes that suggest that they support these Christian values. Even after Ellen has experienced all that she can, from her marriage to Austin Roxburgh, to her relationship with Jack Chance, and she refers to the bush as being "the known perils, and nakedness" and to the Christian society as being "an alternative of shame disguised", she still does, perhaps inexplicably, long for a return to Christian society and its sense of social and moral structure. "Yes, I am glad, of course for my return to the world." This is reflective of the historical setting in which she was brought up, and the effect it has on her, and all of her society's strong dependence upon the Christian system of values and attitudes.
