[ noun ] scenery hung at back of stage <noun.artifact>
backdrop \back"drop\ n. 1. the scenery hung at back of stage. Also called in Britain {backcloth}.
Syn: background, backcloth [WordNet 1.5]
2. the background, setting, or circumstances of an event; as, the backdrop for the summit meeting. [PJC]
Her backcloth of 18th-century good living shading into 19th century morality is spirited cultural history seen through the prism of a passionate, fragile woman.