Katherine Mansfield, The Garden Party

Katherine Mansfield
• She was a contemporary of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce and a friend of
D.H. Lawrence and his wife Frieda.
• She was a modernist, an innovator and an experimenter in fiction
• Educated in Queen’s College, London
• Eventful life, she married the Modernist editor John Middleton Murry in
1918

Summary
The wealthy Sheridan family are preparing themselves to host a garden party.
Laura is charged with commanding the workers on the placement of the
marquee. Her "superior" air quickly disintegrates into an admiration for the
workingmen, with whom she feels a personal connection. Laura's mother, Mrs
Sheridan, has ordered masses of lilies, to both their delight. Laura's sisters, Meg
and Jose, and their servant Hans, move furniture around to accommodate the
piano. Jose tests the piano, and then sings a song in case she is asked to do so
again later. After surveying the food in the kitchen, Laura and Jose learn that
their working-class neighbour Mr Scott has died just outside their gate. While
Laura believes the party should be called off, neither Jose nor their mother
agrees. After catching herself in the mirror wearing a new hat, Laura eases her
conscience by deciding to forget the matter until the party is over. When the
evening comes, and the family is sitting underneath the marquee, Mrs Sheridan
tells Laura to bring a basket full of leftovers to the Scotts' house. Laura is led
into the poor neighbours' house by Mrs Scott's sister, sees the pitiable figure of
the widow, and is led to the late husband's corpse. Here, Laura is intrigued by
the peacefulness of the dead man's face, and she finds his face in death just as
beautiful as life as she knows it. Having fled the house, Laura meets her brother
Laurie at the corner of the lane. She finds herself burdened by emotion, saying
"Isn't life-" but unable to finish the sentence. Her brother replies by saying, "Isn't
it, darling?"

Themes
• Social clases
• Death (memento mori)
• Rite of passage (initiation)
• Gender constraints

Characters
Laura
- The artistic one
- She sympathizes with the workmen
- She does not agree with class distinctions. “She felt just like a workgirl”
Laura as the controlling consciousness
“His smile was so easy, so friendly that Laura recovered. What nice eyes he
had, small, but such a dark blue! And now she looked at the others, they were
smiling too. "Cheer up, we won't bite," their smile seemed to say. How very
nice workmen were! And what a beautiful morning! She mustn't mention the
morning; she must be business-like. The marquee.
Red: Stream of consciousness
Blue: Free Indirect speech

This text can be compared to the dead or mrs Dalloway. Symbology of the
garden as the garden of Eden – loss of innocence

1. The allusion to Laura eating bread and butter outdoors is important because
it symbolizes her innocence and naivety at the beginning of the story. It
reflects her sheltered life and the sense of detachment from the harsher
realities of the world, particularly the class distinctions and social inequalities.
This contrasts with the more profound awareness she gains later in the story.
2. Laura changes her mind about the party when she sees herself in the mirror
because the mirror provides a moment of self-realization. As she dons her
party outfit and new hat, she suddenly sees herself as part of the privileged
class to which she belongs. The clothes transform her into a different person,
making her feel detached from the tragedy she has just learned about. It
shows how appearances and societal expectations can easily obscure one's
empathy for others.