Literary Analysis Essay on "The Garden Party and Other Stories" by Katherine Mansfield

Introduction

Mansfield was born in 1888 in New Zealand. Her grandfather was the Pinton electorate in the parliament. After they had moved to Thorndon Mansfield began to use her memories as a motivation for the short stories. Her first printed story was used in Wellington Girls High school magazine. In 1898 her family decided to go back to Wellington where he first published his work in the social order magazine New Zealand Graphic and Ladies periodicals. He ultimately became a cellist after receiving lessons from Trowell's father.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

She then decided to write journals of feeling despised in New Zealand and her disillusionment due to repression of the Maori people. Sympathetic characters are always expressed by use of Maori or optimism in her advanced stories How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped. "Is mother right? ... Am I extravagant? Perhaps it was unreasonable. Just for a moment, she had another glimpse of that poor woman and those little children, and the body being carried into the house. But it all seemed blurred, unreal, like a picture in the newspaper. I'll remember it again after the party's over", she decided.

This book is extensively viewed as a founder of the form, Mansfield concentrated on apprehending the psychology and interior lives of characters by free unintended discourse and 'epiphanies' unexpected moments of awareness and insight. Different from traditional narratives, the stories normally originate in the heart of the moment and abruptly end.Mansfield tried for complete accuracy and distillation which entailed writing in a letter that, perfectly, 'there shouldn't be one single word out of place, every word was intact and brought out the best or even one word that can be taken out'.

From her fellow authors including Virginia Woolf to advanced writers such as Alice Munro and Philip Larkin, Mansfield's encouragement and contribution to literary modernism spreads all over the 20th century. Their works are still felt up to date, and many writers again go back to their actions for reference.It took me three days to read finish reading this thin volume of a group of Katherine Mansfield's stories. It was a fascinating book which made me know and know why she is normally called the short story genius. Regardless of the book's insignificance, with short stories which are no more than six pages, this book has more to acquire. Katherine is a very resourceful person and anything she puts downturns to gold.

The two extensive stories 'At the Bay' and the Titular 'The Garden Party' ushers the reader and sets the tone for this collection which is incomparable. Mansfield is skilled in literature, and hence this makes her deal with an extensive diversity of themes that arrays from family relations, love, life and death, together with the approach of age over silent reflections and asides. In this book, the authors have mainly based her theme social, and class issues are the most vital themes in our society. To explore social predicament she chooses characters from outside, to make readers not to feel suspicious and create controversies among themselves.

In this book, there are different short stories created and written well by Mansfield, at the bay, The Garden Party, The Daughters of the Late Colonel, Life of Ma Parker, Marriage a la Mode and An Ideal Family. The first story is 'At the Bay' it majorly talks about the stressed young father who tries to cope up with life. The second story is 'The Garden Party' a girl at a very tender age predicament of carrying a garden party subsequently a humble man get involved in an accident.

The mature spinster daughters finally make up their mind on trying to find their way in the world after losing their dear father who was their breadwinner the story 'The Daughters of the Late Colonel' and a young man planning to propose to a girl whom he loves and she is above his class, in this story 'Mr. And Mrs Dove' there is a wide gap between him and the woman regarding social class. The story 'Life of Ma Parker' is the ricking heart aside of a maid's miserable life, a young wife's fascination turn out to be part of the new middle-class class the story 'Marriage a la Mode' and an elderly father who is expressively rejected by his family after giving surrendering his wealth to them the story 'An Ideal Family'.

A piece of these stories is, richly tensed and Mansfield perfectly manages to skillfully make each character in such a slight amount of space. Every piece of story in this book shares the same theme on how people live set largely in an instant of a character's day. This size is a beautiful outline to Mansfield's work and making you eager to pick up read and quickly put down on papers. Some readers have natured their critical skills by acquiring and reading this book and hence impeccable for thinking after each story.

The readers find it interesting as it has a better introduction to the literature of New Zealand the short to the story collection by Katherine Mansfield. The leading two stories-"At the Bay" and "The Garden Party" is well written and created. These stories are set on the coastal area of New Zealand.

The plenty of nature is styled so passionately, and the collection of characters of the stories is so bright, that we understand these using on her own life. The story at the Bay is majored on the events of one summer day.

After reading it, we learn that Mansfield's intelligent way of writing offers room for several kinds of understandings. Perhaps this was essential for us to get texts printed at that era. We also get to know a woman who is not able to fit in the social standards established by others and later reviled. It is a lesson to us that motherhood can be far from being an affectionate relationship but it is an essential thing expected to be achieved for the reproduction purposes. Mansfield tries to bring forward some taboos of that time, and maybe she is among the first writers to write about these subjects, as a furtherance for the final part of the Victorian era. Most of her stories talks about women are most comfortable of living a life without getting married.

In the garden party class divisions are shown in a more apparent way. It is a story on the afternoon of an upper-class family the rich, whose life is full of roses and lilies together with piano tunes. Nevertheless, the virtuousness and the protection of the family in a secluded part of the society is interrogated by Laura, who is a young girl of the family. She carefully observes her settings then begins to question then break the unseen barriers that distinct her family from the others. She acquires new character by waking up as a member of the society.

We adored the short stories we read the shared among ourselves the observations of several information concerning her works. It is long since Mansfield wrote these but her literature presence is still fresh as other writers emulate her. It is nearly 100 years from the time when Mansfield composed her stories; she appears to have reached something vital on her work.

Mansfield Used the Following Themes

Class consciousness. Laura a character expresses a convinced sense of relationship with the workers together with the Scotts. It explained well that, Laura, Jose, Meg, and Laurie were not permitted to associate with the humble neighbors.

Misconception against reality. Laura a character confined inside nobility, food, family, and garden celebrations. When she discovers her neighbor from a lower class has pass away she immediately clicks back to reality.

Sensitivity and selfishness. The Sheridans held their garden celebration, and then ice it with a group playing music. Laura is disturbed on whether this is right.

Life and Death. Mansfield skillfully explains the theme of life and death in the book. Laura realizes that existence is just marvelous and hence expresses death of people in a positive light. She assumes that life and death were present and death seems to her as just a slumber far away from dilemmas in mortal life.

Some of the Mansfield's original works included was a lightweight story which was presented to the new avant-garde magazine known as Rhythm; unfortunately, this was overruled by the editor in charge John Murry demanded something dimmer. Mansfield did not lose hope she went back to the drawing board and came back a tale of homicide and perceptual illness story The Woman at the store. At that time she was motivated by Fauvism. His later success was later felt when several high schools in New Zealand decided to name her after their houses these houses include Wellington Girls College, North Canterbury College, Rangiora High school among others. Mansfield was also privileged at Karori Normal School in Wellington by creating a stone monument devoted to her with a plaque celebrating both her work and her time in school.

There are also some paintings and an award bearing her name in Samuel Marsden Collegiate School. Her art touched many people especially those who closely monitored and read her works. She became the topic if the BBC in 1973ministries where there was a picture of Katherine Mansfield featuring Vanessa Redgrave. The six-part series together with the adaptation of Mansfield life and other short stories were made.