"The Garden Party" is a

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

short story by

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer and critic who was an important figure in the Literary modernism, modernist movement. Her works are celebrated across the world and have been ...

. It was first published (as "The Garden-Party") in three parts in the ''Saturday Westminster Gazette'' on 4 and 11 February 1922, and the ''Weekly Westminster Gazette'' on 18 February 1922. It later appeared in ''The Garden Party and Other Stories''.Katherine Mansfield, ''Selected Stories''

Oxford World's Classics Oxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards and purchased by OUP in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for students and the general public. ...

, explanatory notes Its luxurious setting is based on Mansfield's childhood home at 133 Tinakori Road (originally numbered 75), the second of three houses in Thorndon,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

that her family lived in.

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 take 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?"

Characters in "The Garden Party"

* Laura Sheridan: Mrs. Sheridan's daughter (and the story's

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

) * Mrs. Sheridan: Mr. Sheridan's wife and mother of Laura, Laurie, Meg, and Jose. She is in charge of the household and relinquishes charge of the garden party to Laura. * Laurie Sheridan: Laura's brother * The workers: Who put up a marquee in the garden * Mr. Sheridan: Mrs. Sheridan's husband and father of Laura, Laurie, Meg, and Jose. On the day of the party, he goes to work, but joins the party later that evening. * Meg Sheridan: A second daughter * Jose Sheridan: A third daughter * Kitty Maitland: A friend of Laura and a party guest * Sadie: A female house servant * Hans: A male house servant * The florist: Who delivers lilies ordered by Mrs. Sheridan * Cook: a cook * Mr. Scott: A working-class neighbour who has just died * Em Scott: The deceased's widow * Em's sister

Major themes

Class consciousness. Laura feels a certain sense of kinship with the workers and again with the Scotts. An omniscient narrator also explains that, as children, Laura, Jose, Meg, and Laurie were not allowed to go near the poor neighbours' dwellings, which spoil their vista. Illusion versus reality. Laura is stuck in a world of high-class housing, food, family, and garden parties. She then discovers her neighbour from a lower class has died and she clicks back to reality upon discovering death. Sensitivity and insensitivity. The Sheridans hold their garden party, as planned, complete with a band playing music. Laura questions whether this will be appropriate, discovering the death of their neighbour only a few hours earlier. Death and life. The writer handles the theme of death and life in the short story. Laura's realization that life is simply marvellous shows death of human beings in a positive light. Death and life co-exist, and death seems to Laura merely a sound sleep far away from troubles in human life.

References to other works

* The names Meg, Jose, and Laurie may be related to

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...

's 1868 novel ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

''. * The characters are also used in Mansfield's 1921 short story " Her First Ball". * The events of the story can be interpreted as mirroring the Greek myth of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

.Foster, Thomas C. (2003), ''How to Read Literature Like a Professor'', New York: Harper-Collins Publishers Inc., .

Literary significance

The text is written in the

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

mode, without a set structure, and with many shifts in the narrative. Mansfield was seen as one of the prime innovators of the short story form.

References

External links

*
Full text
* * ''The Garden Party (EFL/ESL Graded Readers)''
Oxford Graded Reader

Matatabi Press

''The Garden Party and Other Stories''
at the British Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Garden Party, The Modernist short stories 1922 short stories Short stories by Katherine Mansfield Works originally published in British newspapers'