Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to provide a detailed account of pre-service teachers' viewpoints on the use of tableaux as pedagogy to analyse short stories in secondary schools based on their exposure to the use of tableaux and their active participation in the process of tableau creation. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a qualitative approach and a phenomenological design as it provides a detailed account of PGCE English Methodology pre-service teachers' views on the use of tableaux to teach a short story. The data collection method used was written narratives based on the participants' detailed accounts of their learning during the process of tableau creation and their viewpoints on the use of such an approach in the teaching of literature within secondary school contexts. The "rich, thick data" extracted from the written narratives were analysed thematically. Findings: The findings indicated that although pre-service teachers were initially skeptical towards the use of tableaux as a strategy to teach a short story, as they grew in their understanding of the practices involved their insights into the themes, motifs and characters' emotional, personal and psychological states of being were enhanced. Originality/value: Research in the use of tableaux as a strategy for pre-service teachers to critically analyse and engage with short stories is a novel approach to teaching and limited research has been conducted in the field.