Posts
BA ENGLISH LITERATURE
FIRST YEAR - SEMESTER I
CORE I – INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LITERATURE
5.3 “Garden Party” Katherine Mansfield
About Author:
Mansfield
was born Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp to a wealthy family in Wellington, New
Zealand, on October 14, 1888. She was educated in London, deciding early on
that she wanted to be a writer. She studied music, wrote for the school
newspaper, and read the works of Oscar Wilde and other English writers of the
early twentieth century. In 1911, Mansfield published her first volume of
stories, In a German Pension.
About Story:
“The
Garden Party” first published in 1922 in the influential “Westminster Gazette”
and later as a collection titled The Garden Party and Other Stories in the same
year. It is the story of an upper-class British family who is throwing a party
for friends. The story unfolds at
the estate of a well-to-do upper-class family on Tinakori Road in Wellington,
New Zaeland.
It
with an upper class teenage girl who faces the issue of class distinctions when
she is unexpectedly broken the news of the death of an underprivileged
neighbour who perishes while she is busy with the preparations of a huge party.
Characters:
- Laura Sheridan: Pretty teenager who undergoes a conflict on the day of a garden party.
- Laurie Sheridan: Laura's brother. Laurie could be a nickname for Laurence.
- Meg, Jose: Sisters of Laura and Laurie.
- Mrs. Sheridan: Class-conscious mother of the Sheridan children.
- Mr. Sheridan: Husband of Mrs. Sheridan and father of the Sheridan children.
- Mr. Scott: Cart driver killed in an accident. His family lives in a settlement of commoners down the road from the Sheridan home.
- Em: Grieving widow of the cart driver.
- Woman in Black: Sister of Em.
- Kitty Maintland: Friend of Laura.
- Florist: Person who delivers lilies to the Sheridan home before the garden party.
- Man From Godber's: Man from a bakery who delivers pastries to the Sheridan home. While making the delivery, he reports the death of Mr. Scott and describes how he was killed.
- Cook: The cook in the Sheridan home.
- Sadie, Hans: Servants.
- Four Workmen: Men who set up the marquee for the garden party.
- Gardener: Worker who arose at dawn to cut the grass on the Sheridan estate.
Summary:
The
Sheridan family is arranging a Garden Party in a beautiful sunny day. The
protagonist of the story is Laura who cherishes lofty principles of compassion
and care. Laura’s family includes her mother, Mrs Sheridan, her sister, Jose,
her father, Mr Sheridan and her brother, Laurie.
Laura
is engaged in arranging the garden party which will be given in the afternoon.
Laura welcomes the workmen who arrive to build up the marquee, her initial
scepticism in view of their lower social class is expelled by fascination and
attraction of their way of life. In the course of the preparations they are unexpectedly
interrupted by the deliverer who delightfully presents the news of a riding
accident which caused the death of a young man from the indigent neighbourhood.
Deeply shocked by this incident Laura sets her mind on cancelling the party and
tries to convince her sister Jose and her mother of her intention, but they
refuse to agree with this idea.
Mrs
Sheridan even seems to be amused about the commiseration of her daughter.
Trying to divert Laura’s attention from the uncomfortable thoughts Mrs Sheridan
gives her a beautiful hat to avoid a discussion. Angrily Laura leaves to her
own room where she looks at herself in the mirror wearing the new hat, whose
beauty sparks off a softening and bending to her mother’s words and a driving
away of her concern about the occurrence. When Laurie returns from the office
Laura’s desire to find a confederate in him by telling him about the incident,
is subdued by him complimenting her on her fabulous hat. Meanwhile the first
guests arrive and the perfect afternoon takes its course,- the garden party is
a marvelous success. Later in the evening after all the invitees have left, the
family comes together in the marquee and reflects on the day. It is then that
Mr Sheridan mentions the accident mistakenly thinking it will be news to the
family. Mrs Sheridan does not feel fine talking about all this again and gets
nervous and awkward as a result. Preventing reproach she suggests to arrange a
basket filled with uneaten rests from the party for the widow.
Laura
is not in line with this idea but reluctantly accomplishes her mothers
directions and sets off to the wretched place. Walking through the dark streets
she notices the skeptical gazes of the poor that follow her till she arrives at
the widow’s lodge. A small woman who later turns out to be the widow’s sister
opens the door and invites Laura to take a look at the corpse. She is under the
impression that he looks marvelous and far away from everything, in spite of
this idea she cannot control herself, thus starts to cry and flees from the
cabin to get out of the situation. Meeting Laurie who has been sent by their
mom she attempts to voice her feelings about her unfamiliar experience and the
awareness she gained about life but is not able to express her thoughts.
Despite this her brother understands what she is trying to say.
Characters Analysis:
LAURA :
Laura Sheridan the young protagonist of
the story is a teenage girl growing up in an affluent family in an upper class
neighborhood, who appears to be a dynamic character in the course of the story.
she is a very creative, agile person who loves organizing things and is self
conscious and aware of her skills, at least in her habitual surroundings. Laura
seems to be different from all the other members of her family except for her
brother Laurie who she gets along with very well. She has contempt for
conventions which shows in her fascination about the workmen and the working
class lifestyle as such. Moreover her character is very emotional, - her mood
varies from high excitement to indignant depression within seconds. Getting
lost in thoughts and dreams once in a while she also has a naively romantic
side. Throughout the plot of the story she experiences an inner conflict
between her upbringing in the upper class world and the snobbish views of her
mother on the one hand and her own originating attitude and experiences on the
other hand. Although her attempts to escape from her mother’s perspective fail due
to her habitual compliancy, Laura reinforces the development of her own opinion
perceivably.
MRS SHERIDAN:
She lives with her
husband and her six children in a homestead in a wealthy neighborhood. Her
personality can be described as superficial which shows in her manner to care
for clothes and exterior features only. Instead of being warm hearted and
concerned about others, she is only worried about herself and her own property
and prestige.Mrs Sheridan appreciates luxury greatly and enjoys abundance, thus
she cannot imagine living in a state of need and even demonstrates this dull
attitude in a snobby and superiority-showing manner. As a result of her
preconceived opinion about the workers, she does not allow her children to have
contact with them. Another characteristic is her way of refusing to admit her
faults and of always placing blame on others. This is in line with her endeavor
to evade discussions by changing the subject or simply taking advantage of her
authority. Additionally, her capriciousness and hypocrisy shows in overacted
affection for her children on the one hand and arbitrarily ordering them around
on the other hand.
JOSE:
The “butterfly” sister who delights
in bossing around, she is an emotionally detached woman who follows the
footsteps of her mother in maintaining class inequity. Her advice to Laura
against the cancellation of the garden party adheres to the social strictures
dictating the actions of the people. She is comparatively more invested in
ensuring the standards of the lifestyle that suits her class and hence differs
from Laura. Her claim regarding the lack of expectations of the cottage dwellers
from them highlights the acceptance of fate and the internalization of the
rich-poor binary in the disadvantaged lot to which Mr. Scott belonged.
LAURIE:
The Sheridan heir and the young man
in the house, he comes across as a practical and intellectual man who prefers
to maintain his distance with emotions unlike his sister Laura. The similarity
in their names is deliberate to allow him as a foil to Laura in their actions
as well as thoughts. While much is not seen of him in the story, his affirmation
of Laura’s inarticulateness about life and reality puts them on the same page.
MEG:
She is the third Sheridan sister who
is also a passive character and thus does not participate much in the house
activities.
MR. SCOTT:
He is a carter
who dies tragically when his horse throws him off after shying away from a
traction engine. He resides in one of the little cottages below the Sheridan
house and is succeeded by five kids and a wife. His death allows Laura to
contemplate on life’s uncertainty as well as unfairness in the prevalent social
distinctions. As one of the representatives of the working section of society,
his character exemplifies the economic crisis men of his class endure when
alive and the lack of sympathy from rich masses when dead. They occupy an
insignificant position in the lives of the wealthy, emphasizing the rigid
disparity.
SADIE & HANS:
They are the domestic helps of the
house who help out in the preparations of the garden party and are bossed
around by Jose who relishes adopting an authoritative position in the
house.
************************************************************
Follow our YouTube Channel to get more English Literature Summaries with explanation videos. Click this link and Subscribe: Saipedia
0 comments:
Post a Comment
If you need summary for any topic. Just send it in comment.
Don't Forgot to follow me in Our Youtube Channel : Saipedia