Unit 5  The Garden Party

I. About Katherine Mansfield (1888 – 1923 )
* A prominent modernist writer of short fiction ; a forerunner in the use of stream-of-consciousness
* Born and brought up in colonial New Zealand
* Left for Great Britain when she was 19
* Close friend of D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf
* Focus on moments of disruption
* Best-known stories: "The Garden Party", “Bliss”, "The
   Daughters of the Late Colonel" and “The Fly”
* Died of tuberculosis at the age of 34.

II. The Theme:
 * Class consciousness: luxury and vanity of the upper  class; miserable and pitiable state of the lower class

III. Structure of the story
         Written in the modernist mode, without a set structure; depending on incident rather than plot; “to squeeze significance out of the apparently commonplace, trivial things”

           Her use of image and symbol were sharp, suggestive, and new without seeming forced

IV. Two Styles of Short Story: 

1. Guy de Maupassant’s style: exciting story, compact plot, cool observation, clear moral, and surprise (unusual) ending 

 -- Followers of Maupassant: O. Henry, Somerset Maugham, Edgar Allen Poe

2. Anton Chekhov’s style: fragmentary events or trivial things, casual plot, impressions of life, revelation of inner workings, stream of consciousness 

-- Followers of Chekhov: Katherine Mansfield, Rudyard Kipling, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and others

As a prominent modernist writer of short fiction, Katherine Mansfield evolved a distinctive style. The characters are often presented at a critical moment in trivial circumstances to bring out great significance about life and the world. The conventional mode of narration is replaced by an indirect free style narration, and the interior monologue precisely conveys to the reader their inner essence of the characters. In “The Garden Party” Mansfield use the third-person narration from Laura’s point of view, allowing the reader simultaneous insight into Laura’s thoughts while observing her actions. Due to the frequent use of internal monologue, Mansfield allows for an in-depth observation of Laura’s inner workings. Mansfield focus the core of her plot on a single moment in time, illustrating how a small event, like a garden party, can influence a character’s perspective about life. And Laura’s view of the world is similarly shaken by the death of her neighbor, Mr. Scott, which causes her to revaluate her thoughts on class relations in response to her family’s stance on the subject.

V. Epiphanies Acquired to Achieve Growth

   First, the story shows the social class differences between the rich Sheridan family and the working-class people who live nearby. It highlights how these differences can create feelings of guilt, shame, and discomfort.

Second, the story shows how death affects people. When Mr. Scott dies, it makes people think about how short life can be and how important it is to be kind to others.

Third, the story shows how people's perceptions of the world can be influenced by their social class, experiences, and prejudices. Laura learns to see the world differently when she meets people from different backgrounds.

VI. The Implication of Education 

  -- Society: the foremost source of knowledge and experience

  -- From “Eden”(Garden) to society: the only road to growth

      “Forgive my hat.” she mumbled and ran out the  door... Laurie was  surprised to see her crying. Laura said, “Isn’t life…”but could not finish her    thought. She repeated, “Isn’t life…” again(51).

At the beginning of the story, Laura Sheridan is endearingly naive. Pampered and petted, she is accustomed to the privileges and comforts associated with the upper middle class. For example, Laura's excitement about the garden party is due to her privileged position, and she fails to consider the impact it may have on the working-class people nearby. Her limited perspective prevents her from fully understanding the reality of the situation.

But as Laura comes into contact with people from different social classes, her perception of the world around her changes. Visiting the home of the dead man's family challenges her prejudices and helps her to see the reality of life for people outside of her privileged group.

At the end of the story, before leaving the home of the dead man, she mumbled  “Forgive my hat” and cried “Isn’t life…” (51) when she met her brother. All this indicates that society is the foremost source of knowledge and experience, and that from “Eden”(Garden) to society, Laura has undergone her growth from innocence to experience.

VII. Understanding the Core Teachings of Confucianism

邻有丧，舂不相；里有殡，不巷歌。

                                         （礼记· 曲礼让）

   It is improper to proceed with noisy pounding in times of a neighbor's death; it is rude to sing in the alley during a neighbor's funeral. 

                                                       （Translated by Tang Weigen）

                                              ----From The Book of Rites ( Li )

Rites (Li) is one of the most important concepts in Confucianism. To the Confucians, rites are the proper manners through which one interacts with others. If everyone can observe rites and do what he should do at all times and places according to his identity, conflicts could be avoided, normal order maintained, and harmonious developments achieved.

Confucianism emphasizes rites, but at the same time, it expects a person to practise benevolence (Re). Rites are the external part of benevolence, and benevolence is the inner essence of rites. Confucius said, “ A person with benevolence loves others. ” To achieve social harmony, there should be love and care among people. With benevolence, one could truly, consciously, and voluntarily do things in accordance with rites.

How can one care for others and avoid offending others? Confucius said, “Don’t do onto others what you don’t want others do onto you.” That is, When one thinks about doing something, he should consider it from the perspective of others.

 

I. AboutKatherineMansfield (1888 – 1923 )

*A prominent modernist writer of short fiction; a forerunner in the use of stream-of-consciousness

*Born and brought up in colonial New Zealand

*Left for Great Britain when she was 19

*Close friend of D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf

*Focus on moments of disruption and frequently open

  rather abruptly

*Best-known stories: "The Garden Party", “Bliss”, "The

  Daughters of the Late Colonel" and “The Fly”

*Died of tuberculosis at the age of 34.

I. A

I. AboutKatherineMansfield (1888 – 1923 )

*A prominent modernist writer of short fiction; a forerunner in the use of stream-of-consciousness

*Born and brought up in colonial New Zealand

*Left for Great Britain when she was 19

*Close friend of D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf

*Focus on moments of disruption and frequently open

  rather abruptly

*Best-known stories: "The Garden Party", “Bliss”, "The

  Daughters of the Late Colonel" and “The Fly”

*Died of tuberculosis at the age of 34.

boutKatherineMansfield (1888 – 1923 )

*A prominent modernist writer of short fiction; a forerunner in the use of stream-of-consciousness

*Born and brought up in colonial New Zealand

*Left for Great Britain when she was 19

*Close friend of D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf

*Focus on moments of disruption and frequently open

  rather abruptly

*Best-known stories: "The Garden Party", “Bliss”, "The

  Daughters of the Late Colonel" and “The Fly”

*Died of tuberculosis at the age of 34.