the garden party

A detailed Summary of the garden party


"The garden party" by Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1888. She went to London in 1908. Here she made friends with other authors, though she remained an outsider in English literary circles.

"The garden party and other stories " was her last work to be released before her death, and also the first one to be recognised among other artists. After her brother's death she started to write about life on New Zealand and "The garden party" is one of the stories from this period.

In "The garden party" we meet Laura, a young woman standing on the edge to adulthood. Through the story we can see the changes that she is going through, when she is seeking to find her place in life.

The story has an omniscient point of view, and it is the main character, Laura, who has her feelings exposed to us through speech, thoughts and actions.

We come into the story during the preparations to the party. There is a very bright atmosphere, and everyone seems exited. The children have been set to arrange everything, and Laura is really proud: "...she loved having to arrange things; she always felt she could do it so much better than


Laura "despised stupid conventions", but when she put on her mask, and looked at her reflection in the mirror, she realised that there was a distinction of class. And she, who belonged to the upper class, shouldn't worry if someone living in one of "those little cottages" died.

In return, Laura refuses to look at herself in the mirror. One might think that she is afraid to see who she really is, or who she was supposed to be. Her appearance, her status and behaviour is only a mask that covers who she really is. She has discovered something new about herself; she has found the Laura who have workmen for mates, and shows compassion when someone dies, no matter who they are.

And in this dark and cheerless place, she feels nervous. Perhaps she will take of her safe and comfortable mask again, and that might be exactly what she does. "Forgive my hat" probably means that she is sorry for not being able to act like herself earlier. Looking at that young man "sleeping so soundly, so deeply..." made her realise something important which she can't quite express. "Isn't life...". She doesn't know what to say, but her brother understands. Maybe that life isn't weary, but quite easy; if you only see the beauty and the importance of it. Like Laura did when she saw the dead man that still looked beautiful and alive.

Now we can see the conflict in her mind. She wants

Some common words found in the essay are:
Wellington Zealand, Sheridan-garden Laura's, Katherine Mansfield, garden party, , garden party stories, katherine mansfield, party stories, mother's voice, bread butter, makes feel,

Approximate Word count = 941
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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