Daria - Setting

Setting

The plots of Daria largely concern juxtaposition between the central character's jaded, sardonic cynicism and the values/preoccupations of her suburban American hometown of Lawndale. In a 2005 interview, series co-creator Glenn Eichler described the otherwise unspecified locale as, "a mid-Atlantic suburb, outside somewhere like Baltimore or Washington DC. They could have lived in Pennsylvania near the Main Line, though."

For comedic and illustrative purposes, the show's depiction of suburban American life was a deliberately exaggerated one. In The New York Times, the protagonist was described as "a blend of Dorothy Parker, Fran Lebowitz, and Janeane Garofalo, wearing Carrie Donovan's glasses. Daria Morgendorffer, 16 and cursed with a functioning brain, has the misfortune to see high school, her family, and her life for exactly what they are and the temerity to comment on it."

Set during Daria's high school years and ending with her graduation and acceptance into college, the principal location used for the show (outside of the Morgendorffer home) is Lawndale High School, a public education institution operating at high dysfunction.

The dynamics among the characters change during season four, when Jane begins a relationship with Tom Sloane, son of one of the town's richest families. Though Daria is hesitant to accept Tom at first, she and Tom find themselves becoming closer, culminating in a kiss in the season finale. The emotional and comedic turmoil among Jane, Tom, and Daria was the centerpiece of the TV movie Is It Fall Yet? and fueled some of the subsequent final season's stories.