LITERARY ANALYSIS OF “A CUP OF TEA” BY K.

MANSFIELD

The story of “A Cup of Tea” by modernist writer Katherine Mansfield was

written on15th of March. It tells a story of Rosemary Fell- a beautiful charming
young upper class woman in the 1920’s. The story was first published in the
famous magazine “Storyteller” and later appeared in the Mansfield’s short story
collection “The Dover’s Nest”.“

A cup of tea” is associated with the deplorable conditions of the author’s

birthplace-New Zealand at that time when it used to be a part of a British Empire.
The trends of class distinctions were its peak, a family issue which needed to be
brought forward influenced the author to pen down. In this story there exists class
consciousness, social stratification and materialism as its top point. Stunningly
well-characterized and magnificently portrayed against its plain title, “A cup of
tea” remarkably presents a crystal clear image of class distinction and one’s mad
fondness towards material things.
I. Introduction
In the introduction, there exists brief information about one of Katherine
Mansfield’s most-famous story which is widely-acknowledged to be the finest
work of the author. The story reflects upon the same issue of class distinction and
stratification. Mansfield also tried to reflect upon the noble act of philanthropy and
how wealthy people fancy this act to be the cause of ascension for their moral
values among their social circle. My primary aim of emphasizing modernism
elements like symbolism, realism in this story is to make book-lovers think about a
succession of inner thoughts and help realize the beauty in the writing style that is
really hard to achieve realization of the core without pondering over the symbols.
It is essential to admit that the importance of the story in world literature is
undeniable. Because, the author’s stories opened the door to exciting
new literary realm, so it became the source of inspiration for next writers’
generation.

II. Literature review

The story of “A cup of tea” is about a very rich and well-off woman, who has been
married for two years to a wealthy and devoted man Mr. Philip Fell. She always
spends much money lavishly. After she has shopped at an antique store she is met
by a young poor girl named Miss Smith who begs her for some money for a cup of
tea. Instead, Rosemary brings her back to her own home but its reason is not given
and treats Miss Smith to a taste of her luxurious lifestyle. Rosemary’s husband
Philip initially disapproves his wife’s behavior and tells her so himself. When she
refuses to dismiss Miss Smith, he tries the more successful tactic of playing on
Rosemary’s jealousy. It works well as it is expected. After retrieving some money,
Rosemary sends Miss Smith away immediately, a great contrast to the beginning
of the text. She soon informs her husband with endearment. Rosemary then asks
about the jewelry she wanted to buy at an antique store, and then at her true
concern- is she pretty? Throughout this short story, a reader can see particularly the
theme of class consciousness of that century.
Class consciousness is about what beliefs a person has about their rank in society
and what their class especially consists of. Protagonist-Rosemary in the first
paragraph is described as, though plain in looks, the ideal in regards of
materialistic needs- Rosemary Fell was not described as a beauty. However, she
was smart, young, extremely modern, amazingly well-read in the newest of new
books, and her parties were the most delicious mixture of the really important
people from high social status. The reader is given the idea that she is rather
insecure about herself and that she has had to make up for her traits in her
personality and character due to her lack of natural beauty. This tells us
that Rosemary Fell is a rather shallow person, views her status as an upper class
woman quite highly, and very content being shallow and living a life of
materialism. The next paragraph leads onto the state of her wealthy lifestyle-which
we can safely assume from the first paragraph that she was truly rolling in the
money for someone in the 1920’s.
III. Analysis
While a reader is reading the story, one can notice Rosemary’s greediness to
jewels, luxuriance. She can afford to get exactly anything she wants and as a result
of her wealth, she justifies her actions of being very demanding of people below
her status, and in turn others of a lower class were willing to please her due to her
wealth- “I want those and those and those .No, no lilac. I hate lilac. It has got no
shape. The attendant bowed and put the lilac out of sight, as though this was only
too true; lilac was dreadfully shapeless.”
1 Notably, there is no praise or admiration from the author here towards
Rosemary. In this way, though it makes Rosemary all too vulnerable to others who
might know her weakness, namely her unattractive appearance- in example, the
shopkeeper of the antique store. It was a shop she liked . He beamed at her when
she came in. He clasped his hands; he was so gratified he could hardly speak.
Flattery, of course. All the same, there used to be something in the shop that
Rosemary mainly likes to buy for the fact that the shopkeeper grants her his
undivided attention. The shopkeeper is probably used to dealing with the rich like
Rosemary and knows exactly what to tell them to make them feel special “He
would explain in low, respectful tones, I love my things. I would rather not part
with them than sell them to someone who does not appreciate them.”2 She
understands that all he truly respects her for is her richness but she lets herself be
sucked into that because of the flattery and compliments that she receives openly
owing to her insecurity over her beauty. Her wealth is undoubtedly her makeup
and without it she would not possess the sense of higher authority she has over
other people as well as the adoration she wants from people of a lower class.
Stratification
In the work it can easily be seen the sharp contrast of social class people lifestyle.
Rosemary is extremely rich while Miss Smith is too poor to buy a cup of tea in a
cold weather. Rosemary has everything she wants like house, car, and jewelry even
wealthy husband. However, Miss Smith has neither house or money nor rich
spouse who can be boasted. One of the more powerful examples of class
consciousness can be seen in the event which the two female characters meet in the
street. At that time, Miss Smith- who is no older than Rosemary herself approaches
Rosemary to ask for the price of a cup of tea.
Rosemary has a general disregard for others in the lower rank people to the point
that she does not even see them until spoken to - a young girl, thin, dark, shadowy
where had she come from?- was standing at Rosemary’s elbow...”Madam, may I
speak to you a moment? Speak to me?”
3 It can be conclude from this event Rosemary is
surprised that she is even being addressed by her. This gives the reader evidence
yet again that she sets herself clear social boundaries by class and if they are not on
her level they are not worth even noticing or speaking. Mansfield now provides
some sympathy for a character with the description of the young girl that
approached Rosemary a little battered creature with enormous eyes who clutched
at her coat-collar with reddened hands, and shivered- and it gives an idea of just
how much lower in class when she is compared to Rosemary. In asking for the
little amount of money the author again shows us her favor of this new character
in the quote about Miss Smith’s voice was so soft and mild; it was not in the least
the voice of a beggar. Rosemary in the next couple of lines,
by not only offering her a cup of tea but to bring the poor girl back to her house,
her
underlying first aim is to show how truly shallow and self-serving Miss Smith can
get
and second display high level lifestyle. She goes on to romanticize the act of
helping this
poor girl out- as she had read in a book or seen on stage- and she views it as an
adventure
where at the end of it she could tell all her friends of her great good deed. This is a
great
everyday example of how people in the upper class show generosity towards lower
ones
they consider being their inferior to prove their superiority. Clearly, Rosemary
perhaps
wants to do it so that she betters her image in front of her peers and raise her
reputation
among friends and because she loves the idea of doing something shed only truly
read
about or seen- not because she actually wants to help her out. This can be
especially
seen in the quote: “But I do, cried Rosemary. I want you to. To please me.”
4 There are
no thoughts from Rosemary about how much it would benefit the young girl or
feelings
of pity in particular-in fact she is rather surprised in the first place that some do not
have money to buy something to drink, even a cup of tea! This shows how she
always
interacts with people of a lower class and her ignorance towards them. Besides, the
character of Miss Smith is exactly what anyone of her position and situation would
be
acting like. Driven to beg for money to purchase some food, she is generally
surprised
at the generosity that Rosemary is exhibiting. It is clear she would rather not go
with
Rosemary back to her house but in her state of hunger she really does not have
much
choice to deny and just ask for money. This can be observed in the quote about
hungry
people can be easily led. It is a direct contrast to Rosemary’s demands and her
ability to
get what she wants because of the wealth that she has at the beginning of the text.
IV. Discussion
Feminism. In “A cup of tea” it is observed that when a female is not beautiful
enough, she
tries to hide her appearance with money. She tries to look beautiful to her husband
by her
mind and her heart. Her wish to be a good wife is not approved by her husband and
then
she gets disappointed. As a result she has Miss Smith to leave her house. It can be
gathered
that both female characters as victims. Rosemary is the victim of male- her
husband’s
psyche and Mss Smith is the victim of female psyche.Symbolism is the most
common
feature in the book. From a huge name of the characters to the weather. The word
“rosemary” represents widely grown herbs all over the world. It is evergreen and
its colors
range from white to blue. This means that Protagonist changes her opinion after
Philip’s
attention to the girl like the flower’s color. The flower grows all over the world.
This shows
that that kind of people live everywhere around the world and they can disguise
others with
their changing colors. Rosemary flower symbolize “love and remembrance”. In
this story
her love is devoted to the wealth not people. The word ‘Philip” means warlike and
horseloving. The male character does not want to approve his wife’s choice and
use a tricky way
to get rid of the poor girl by paying compliment on her appearance. Hence,
Rosemary Fell
admits her failure and allows the girl leaving the house. As in her surname she
becomes
“fell”. Her level in her house was decreased by Philip. Miss Smith is a poor girl at
the same
age with Rosemary was penniless like her name “smith”-someone who repairs
things made
of iron.“Social evils” is another element of modernist literature does not treat
simple topics
about social war and poverty. It frankly reflects a clear awareness of societal ills
and shows
how incomprehensibly cruel human can be, especially with regard to racial, sexual
and class
differences. In the story, Rosemary and her husbands’ careless behavior to Miss
Smith is
selfish, disrespect.
V. Conclusion
That being said, this story truly relates to current day society, despite the fact that it
was
written almost one century ago, because the same sort of events are still happening
for
the time being. People in higher, upper class positions still go on to exercise power
over
those in the lower class positions due to wealth or power and this can be especially
seen
in major businesses and companies around the world. For example, more and more
people are becoming slave or they agree to pay unfairly for the production of major
clothing and footwear brands like Nike. It transcends into things as simple as non-
conformity - and as famous as that is, the ones who do not conform to non-
conformity
get the worst treatment and those who do conform to it feel a sense of superiority
over
those who do not. It might be about who has a leadership position or who’s more
popular but it all comes down to that false sense of superiority over having
something
those others may not necessarily have.
INTRODUCTION
A Cup of Tea is a short story written by New Zealand’s prominent short fiction
writer and poet Katherine Mansfield in 1922. This story was written on the 11th of
January back in early 1922, which was first published in the famous Story-
Teller magazine and later appeared in Mansfield’s short story collection The
Dove’s Nest.
This story revolves around the character of a wealthy woman named Rosemary.
She spends her day shopping and spending money lavishly. She met with a poor
woman of her age named Miss. Smith, who asks for the price of a cup of tea.
Rosemary took her home and tried to help her however her intentions are not that
kind. She wants to gain fame from this act of kindness. In the end, she wants to get
rid of Miss. Smith as her husband praises her for being beautiful.
The story is associated with the deplorable conditions of New Zealand at the time
when it used to be a British Colony. The trends of class distinction were at its peak,
a noticeable issue which needed to be brought forward influenced Mansfield to pen
it down.
Beside this story holds class consciousness and materialism as its pivot point.
Stunningly well-characterized and magnificently portrayed against its plain title,
this story remarkably presents a crystal clear image of class distinction and one’s
mad fondness towards materialism.
It’s just the same as “the doll’s house” and “the garden party” as a matter of fact
that these stories also reflect upon the same issue of class distinction. Mansfield
also tried to reflect upon the noble act of philanthropy and how people fancy this
act to be the cause of ascension for their moral values among their social circle.
A CUP OF TEA SUMMARY
Rosemary Fell, a very rich and well off woman, who has been married for two
years to a very rich and devoted man Mr. Philips Fell, spends her day out shopping
at some west corners of London in the finest of shops. She visits an ingratiating
antique dealer’s shop that shows her a beautiful small blue velvet box. Rosemary is
taken by the beauty of the creamy piece of art but decides not to buy it and asks the
shopkeeper to save it for her.
Out she comes from the shop into the rain and as she reaches towards the car a girl
approaches her asking her to pay for the price of a cup of tea. Astonished,
Rosemary asks the girl to come home with her for tea, finding it an opportunity of
adventure and experience, just like she read in books and stories of Dostoevsky.
She wanted to show the girl that rich people do possess mercy. The girl agrees
apart from her great fears to ride with Rosemary in her car.
As they reach the house, Rosemary takes the poor girl to her room and asks her to
sit by the fire. She helps her take off her coat and hat and tries to soothe her. As she
tries to proceed further, the girl cries out that she can’t stand it anymore fearing
that she will faint out of hunger. Rosemary hurriedly orders tea.
The girl is provided with tea and sandwiches while Rosemary lights a cigarette.
Keen to know the story of the girl, Rosemary starts up a conversation with her
which is unintentionally interrupted by her husband. He is surprised to see the
stranger in the room and asks his wife to talk to him privately.
As they enter the library, Philips begins to inquire about the matter. To this
Rosemary replies that she is just helping the poor lady whom she picked up from
the street. Her husband tries to tell her that she can’t have a stranger in the house.
Facing a refusal Philips points out that the lady is remarkably pretty giving a rise to
insecurities of Rosemary.
Rosemary leaves the library and enters the study room from where she picks up
some cash. She returns to her room and hands over the money to the poor girl
making her leave the house.
After the girl leaves the house Rosemary joins Philips back in the library and asks
him if she could buy the velvet box which wasn’t what she wished to ask. After a
pause, she whispers, “Am I pretty?”
THEMES
APPEARANCE VERSUS REALITY
In the whole story, readers may find the appearance in contrast to reality. On the
surface, the person seems different however his intentions are something else. In
this way, Mansfield portrays hypocrisy in New Zealand’s perturbed society.
Rosemary on the surface strikes kind and caring by taking care of Miss. Smith.
However, the reality of her intentions is full of hypocrisy. She helps her not out of
kindness or cares rather for her own interests. She thought by helping so would
give her a chance of upgrading her status and boasting her action.
In a similar manner, Mansfield pinpoints her society in which upper classes were
taking advantage of virtuous acts for their own benefits. They help the poor to gain
praise and material objects.
JEALOUSY AND INSECURITY
Rosemary has made a prototype of jealousy and insecurity. At first, she appears
kind and helps Miss. Smith. But in the end, when her husband, Philip praises Miss.
Smith got jealous and insecure.
In order to get rid of Miss. Smith gives her money. Afterwards, she did some
makeup and tried to attract the attention of her husband by her charming looks.
MATERIALISM
These two things have been discussed explicitly in the text by Mansfield.
Rosemary could be seen chasing material objects throughout the text. Firstly, she
appears to be desiring an enamel box. Afterwards, she helps Miss. Smith just to
gain praise and upgrade her social status. In the whole story, she appears as a mean
character. Readers may find her penchant towards material objects in the story.
Through this Mansfield highlights how true emotions are fading from society and
people are running after material objects.

CLASS DISTINCTION
Class distinction is also explicit in the story. Miss. Smith belongs to the lower
class; she even didn’t have enough money for a cup of tea. For this, she begs
Rosemary. In contrast, Rosemary is a rich woman having every luxury of life. She
appears well dressed while Miss. Smith is in a miserable situation.
This draws a comparison between both classes. On one hand, the wealthy are
enjoying everything in their life. On the other hand, lower classes are exposed to
hunger and disrespect at the hands of the upper classes.
CHARACTERS ANALYSIS
ROSEMARY FELL
A socially poised, rich married woman with a devoted and loving husband, who
has a great lifestyle. She is well-dressed and well off with all the luxuries she
desires for. Her interest is mainly in reading books, always indulged and above all
greatly inspired by the characters and their adventurous lives which she comes
across in the stories.
Her inspirational interest can be judged by the decision she takes when she
interacts with a poor soul called Miss Smith. She took her home with a mere
thought of it being an adventure for her recalling the stories of Dostoevsky. Apart
from this possession and insecurity can be sensed in her character.
PHILIPS FELL
The husband of Rosemary is in fact one of the richest persons of his society. He
loves his wife devotedly and cares for her a lot. He calls Miss Smith pretty much to
his wife’s chagrin, just to make her send Miss Smith away as she refuses to do so
when he asks her in the first place even though making his wife feel insecure about
herself and her beauty.
MISS SMITH
She is a lean and thin poor girl of just the age of Rosemary. She can’t even afford a
single cup of tea and comes to ask Rosemary to pay her the price of a cup of tea.
She is an odd person, frightened and confused. She is shocked when Rosemary
asks her to have a cup of tea with her at her home. In Mr. Philips’ point of view,
Miss Smith is very attractive and pretty.
THE SHOPKEEPER
The owner of a beautiful antique ornaments shop which in fact was one of
Rosemary’s favorite shops. He would always be looking forward to having
Rosemary at his shop and always saving a lovely piece of art for her, just like he
had been saving the eye-catching blue velvet box. He is kind of an ingratiating
character.
LITERARY ANALYSIS
A Cup of Tea is a short story written by New Zealand’s prominent short fiction
writer and poet Katherine Mansfield in 1922. This story was written on the 11th of
January back in early 1922, which was first published in the famous Story-Teller
magazine and later appeared in Mansfield’s short story collection The Dove’s
Nest.
A Cup of Tea recounts the deplorable conditions of New Zealand society under
British colonialism. It exhibits how materialism, hypocrisy, disparity and most
specifically class distinction was prevailing in those times.
Mansfield mirrors the aforementioned issues via the character of Rosemary. Her
actions and mentality depict those issues. At first, readers may see how Rosemary
has a penchant for material gains. This is shown specifically when she desires to
have a prized beautiful little box. It represents the extravagance of Rosemary
instead of spending her money on useful things she desires to have that little box.
Moreover, Mansfield has tactfully depicted appearance versus reality. She shows
not everything is the same as it seems. There are many chances where appearance
narrates something else however the reality is a lot different.
The same occurs in the character of Rosemary particularly when she tries to help
Miss. Smith. Firstly, she takes her home and then serves her. Though her actions
may strike virtuous and kind to the readers however it is not real.
Rosemary took advantage of Miss. Smith helpless condition. Her intentions were
never to help her out. Rather she tries to use her as a medium to propagate her
fame and upgrade social status. She thinks that this act can provide her a chance to
boast in her social circle.
Mansfield used Rosemary for the depiction of upper classes who do the same. New
Zealand back in the 19th century was the same. Upper classes were exploiting
lower classes for their own benefits. Even the kind act of helping was not spared, it
was used as an object to generate praise and material objects.
Moreover, class distinction and the miserable condition of poor are also
highlighted in the story. Mansfield shows how wealth was wrongly distributed in
society. On one hand, Rosemary was a wealthy and well-dressed woman. She gets
what she desires. On the other hand, Miss. Smith is a poor girl with weak features
and not properly dressed. She even begs Rosemary for the price of a cup of tea.
This mirrors the poverty of the lower classes.
Mansfield has thrown light on the prejudice and apathy of upper classes against
lower classes. Rosemary helps Miss. Smith takes off her hat and coat however she
doesn’t show any respect to her belongings and throws them on the floor. This also
indicates how upper classes turn a blind eye towards the poor’s sufferings.
Additionally, Mansfield also highlights jealousy and insecurity of Rosemary. At
first, she is cheerful for helping Miss. Smith though she doesn’t respect her.
However, when her husband praises Miss. Smith’s beauty, she got jealous.
Afterwards she tries to send Miss. Smith ran away from her house by giving her
some money. Rosemary got so insecure that she tried to allure her husband with
her looks.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE
A Cup of Tea connotes the holier-than-thou nature of upper classes how they even
would virtuous acts for their own beneficial purpose. By making themselves
hypocritically pious to upgrade their social status and gain praise from society.
Their true intentions are not assisting them rather manipulating them. Rosemary
did the same while helping Miss. Smith. Her intentions weren’t to help her but to
boast her act of kindness in society.
SETTING
The time frame of this story is set in the 1920s. However, the location shifts twice.
Firstly, it takes place at the small antique shop on Curzon Street. Subsequently, it
shifts to Fell’s house.
SYMBOLISM
Following are the symbols used in the story:
BOX
Box’s price and its ornamentations emphasize extravagance and materialism.
Rosemary when she saw this box get attracted to it. Though she has a desire to buy
it, its price doesn’t allow her. It represents how Rosemary instead of spending on
useful things used to spend on worthless things. Also, it expresses her appeal for
material gains.
CUP OF TEA
Cup of tea symbolizes the sanctimonious upper class and exploitation of the poor
class at the hands of the upper class. This suggests to readers how even the act of
philanthropy is fake and used for its own beneficial purpose. The way Rosemary
did to Miss. Smith by helping her without true care and intimacy. All she thought
was to boast that act in her social circle and gain praise.
HAT
The Hat is a symbol used to exhibit apathy and prejudice of the upper class against
the poor. Rosemary at first tries to help Miss. Smith to doff her hat and coat. But
afterwards she shows her apathy, instead of putting them in an appropriate place,
she leaves them on the floor. This depicts the outlook of the upper class and their
way of treating them.
IMAGERY
Mansfield has used incredible imagery in the story. She tactfully portrays the
weather according to the doleful mood of Rosemary
“a cold bitter taste in the air” as she couldn’t buy an enamel box. Rain is
showering but due to the dark it seems like ashes falling on the ground “spinning
down like ashes”. Also, the lights lit up in the rain “looked sad” and “were
regretting something”.
Similar to this, Mansfield exhibits Rosemary’s hat that resembles a “germanium
petal” in size and green ribbons that seem like leaves “hung from a branch“.
The narrator also pictures the pathetic condition of the poor young girl and her
skinny and weak features. The narrator says she is a “frail creature” having
disheveled hairs, “dark lips” and “light eyes”
In the same way, readers may find Mansfield using color imagery to visualize
Rosemary’s bedroom and its beauty. The narrator says the room was furnished
with glossy furniture along with “gold cushions and the primrose and blue rugs”
LITERARY DEVICES
Mansfield has used the following literary devices in the story:
PERSONIFICATION, METAPHORS, AND SIMILES
Readers may come across several personifications and similes in the story. The
narrator says “Her heart beats like a heavy bell”. This shows how Rosemary feels
insecure and jealous of the poor girl, praised by her husband, Philip for charm
looks. Similarly, Mansfield seems to personify weather with gloomy abstract such
as “cold bitter taste in the air“. This represents her gloomy mood as she couldn’t
buy the little enamel box.
Likewise, Mansfield also personified inanimate things with humanly attributes. For
instance, the narrator says the lights of the houses “looked sad” and
were “regretting something”
Moreover, one can also see how the narrator is using different metaphors for young
girl i-e, “little battered creature”, “poor little thing”, “thin figure”, “new being, a
light, frail creature with tangled hair” and “listless figure”. Mansfield used the
aforementioned metaphors to highlight the miserable condition and outlook of
Rosemary towards poor people.
In the same way, the narrator also shows poor young girl’s features and actions
with the help of metaphors and similes. The narrator says “voice like a sigh, almost
like a sob” to emphasize her sorrows. Similarly, to depict the young girl as being
skinny the narrator says “bird-like shoulders“. Also, Mansfield applies metaphor
to depict the action of shivering a young girl with a child by saying “She seemed
to stagger like a child”.
Further, the narrator used the metaphor of
“a geranium petal” to express the charm of Rosemary’s hat. Also, the narrator
describes the glowing delicacy of the box and metaphorized it “as though it had
been baked in cream”.
OXYMORON
Readers may also find Mansfield using oxymoron at one point in the story.
Oxymoron appears in the dialogue of Philip when he advises Rosemary to take
good care of Miss Smith. He says “Be frightfully nice to her”. On one hand, it
shows the concern of Philip towards the poor girl. On the other hand, it shows the
dialect of Philip.
ALLUSION
Mansfield has alluded to “Dostoevsky” to mirror the hypocrisy behind helping the
poor the way Rosemary did.
HYPERBOLE
Mansfield has exaggeratedly explained the wealth of Rosemary in the story. If
Rosemary wants to go shopping she would prefer Paris unlike common people
who go to Bond Street.
IRONY
Mansfield has allied irony on the philanthropy of upper classes. She rebukes their
intentions to help others which is nothing but to show off and maintain a status in
society. This gives them a point to brag on.
TONE & GENRE
The story is first told in a cheerful and enthusiastic tone. However, in the end, tone
changes into disgruntled and bitter. A Cup of Tea is a short story written in realistic
fiction.