Guide to Literary Terms

Scene - the place where some act or event occurs. Sometimes the term is used for an incident or situation in real life. It is also the division of an act of a play or a unit of dramatic action in which a single point is made or one effect obtained.

The etymology of scene is the same as that of scenario discussed above.

Originally, the term meant the stone or wooden background behind the stage in the ancient Greek or Roman theater; the stage itself was called the proscenium.