Mansfield, The Garden Party Flashcards
‘This charming…’
‘This charming girl in the mirror’
Thus is a critical moment, Laura almost experiences an epiphany and rebels against her families elitist snobbery, but as Mrs Sheridan places the hat (a symbol of class and the family image) on Laura, she seems to undergo a transformation. She suppresses her inner revel and accepts the materialist tradition of her family.
She looks at herself in the mirror and doesn’t just see a girl named Laura, she sees the person she will become. She sees her class, and privilege, and is drawn to it. In a trans like state, her former anxieties become ‘blurred’
‘Never had she…’
‘Never had she imagined she could look like that’
Thus is a critical moment, Laura almost experiences an epiphany and rebels against her families elitist snobbery, but as Mrs Sheridan places the hat (a symbol of class and the family image) on Laura, she seems to undergo a transformation. She suppresses her inner revel and accepts the materialist tradition of her family.
She looks at herself in the mirror and doesn’t just see a girl named Laura, she sees the person she will become. She sees her class, and privilege, and is drawn to it. In a trans like state, her former anxieties become ‘blurred’
‘It all seemed…’
‘It all seemed blurred, unreal’
Thus is a critical moment, Laura almost experiences an epiphany and rebels against her families elitist snobbery, but as Mrs Sheridan places the hat (a symbol of class and the family image) on Laura, she seems to undergo a transformation. She suppresses her inner revel and accepts the materialist tradition of her family.
She looks at herself in the mirror and doesn’t just see a girl named Laura, she sees the person she will become. She sees her class, and privilege, and is drawn to it. In a trans like state, her former anxieties become ‘blurred’
How does Laura describe the lane leading to the dead boys house?
‘Smoky’ and ‘dark’
What are the trees called, which are native to New Zealand, that become forced out of sight?
Karakas
‘Against the karakas’
What is the florist holding?
‘Pots of pink lilies. No other kind. Nothing but lilies’
‘Isn’t life…’
‘Isn’t life, she stammered, isn’t life -‘
Laura
What is the last line of the story?
‘Isn’t it, darling? Said Laurie’
‘The story is an attack on New Zealand’s myth of nationhood, a classless society which…’
‘The story is an attack on New Zealand’s myth of nationhood, a classless society which dutifully mirrors British snobbery’
‘After all, the weather was ideal’
What can be said of this opening line to the story?
It is an avoidance of the kind of detailed writing Woolf critiqued, without spelling it out, Mansfield has told the read that the family have been discussing the weather
‘I am determined to leave everything to you children this year’
What can be said of this?
Foreshadowing Laura eventual transformation into her elite class
