The story is set on Chesil Beach in the South West of Great Britain, on the Dorset Coast.

Just from the title the intelligent reader could make hypothesis about the place the story setting. As a matter of fact the proposition "On" suggests that something happened on the beach. The reader could also make some hypothesis about the reason why the narrator choose Chasil Beach so it creates expectatins into the reader.

Just from reading the first chapter an intelligent reader notices that it is divided into three parts.

In the first part the narrator introduces the setting and the protagonists

In the second one he focuses the attencion on protagonist's behaviour.

In the third one he introduces the marriage condition and their problems about the relationship between the two lovers.

Structural elements:

Narrator:

In the first chapter there is an omniscient third person narrator. Mcewan gives us some clues like the use of personal pronoun “they”

Protagonists:

The two main protagonists are Florence and Edward. They are both twenty-two years old. Florence is a violinist, while Edward has a degree in history and is going to work for Florence's father. The narrator introduces them in the first line of the first chapter: They were young, educated, and both virgins. From the introduction  the reader can understand they are similar. Then the reader introduces the differences between the two lovers.They belong to different social classes; A clue is given us by the narrator when he says that Edward had never stayed in a hotel before, but Florence during his travels with her father, was an old hand. Another interesting element is given the reader when the narrator speaks about the wedding: Florence's parents weren't condescending.

The description of the weather also offers a further clue to the novel: “ it was not raining but nor was it quite warm enough” according to Edward's and Florence's feelings.

Characterization:

In the first chapter the description of the two charachters provides a first idea about their feelings.

A first clue is given us by the sentence :and they lived in a time when a conversation about sexual difficulties was plainly impossible. This  anticipates Florence and Edward's communication troubles.

Their difficulties in communicating could be connected to their inexperience, they try to hide behind a strict respect of social conventions: they think that could solve their problems as do all young people: hiding their problems  they think they could solve their problems that apparently seem to be simpler in their naive minds once you get married.

They want to affirm their being adult people so have a lot of expectations their new life.

They will be disappointed by tevents on the contrary.