Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden Party”: A Strong Protest Against the Class Consciousness and the Class Distinction

“The Garden Party” is an interesting short story by Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) from her short story collection "The Garden Party and Other Stories". The major theme of the story is the Class consciousness and class distinction. In the story depicts how the class conscious the well-to-do family overlooks the poor endangered neighbour. 

The central character of the story is Laura Sheridan,the youngest member of rich Sheridan family, the daughter of Mrs. Sheridanand Mr. Sheridan. The whole story moves around her telling her inner psychological conflict. She is very soft minded and very sympathetic to the lower class people unlike the other members of the family. 

Laura, a budding rose, has carefully been protected from the reality of the world.She has never experienced poverty, hardship, labour, let alone death. When Laura and Laurie were small children, they were confined to a "desert island"(the Sheridan estate).  As the narrator comments:

“They were like trees you imagined growing on a desert island, proud, solitary, lifting their leaves and fruits to the sun in a kind of silent splendour. Must they be hidden by a marquee?”

The Sheridan children, of course, are somewhat isolated on their parents’ estate, protected from the outside world. Therefore, the trees would be the children, the desert island the Sheridan estate, and the marquee the overprotection of the parents. 

The parents ofLaura are always conscious of their class. They refused to allow their children to visit the “disgusting and sordid” as the narrator says:

“When the Sheridans were little they were forbidden to set foot there because of the revolting language and of what they might catch.”

The whole Sheridan family are divided into two groups centering the accidental death of poor neighbour,Schot, who left his wife and five children behind. This death shakes Laura violently, so she wishes to stop the garden party and to help the newly widowed woman. Lauragoes to her sister Joseand proposes to stop the garden party. Buther sister gets surprised and says:

“Stop the garden party? My dear Laura don’t be so absurd. Of course we can’t do anything of the kind. Nobody expects us to. Don’t be so extravagant.”

Laura could understand that the sound of the band party will increase the grief of her neighbor so she very logically argues:

"But we can't possibly have a garden-party with a man dead just outside the front gate…And just think of what the band would sound like to that poor woman."

Her sister becomes very annoyed with her and ignores her argument saying:

"You won't bring a drunken workman back to life by being sentimental,"

 Her mother Mrs. Sheridan’s reaction is also same as her sister. She considers Laura as a foolish. She can never think of stopping The Garden Party. She believes it will be degrading to her self-image and the rest of the family. She refuses to take Laura seriously.

“But my dear child, use your common sense. It only by an accident we’ve heard of it.

 We find a strong mark of class distinction, when Mrs. Sheridan suggests that they should send the left-overto the dead man’s family. Laura thinks that is not a good idea but does as her mother wishes. It is, in fact, a mockery to the poorer section of the society. Whether she sincerely wants to help or simply wishes to get rid of the leftovers or assuage a feeling of guilt about the Scott's–is arguable.

At the end of the story, visiting the house of the dead man, Laura learns the great lesson regarding the life and thus becomes mature. She is exposed to a side of life which she never encountered before. She comes to a sudden realization that, life and death may indeed co-exist and their common existence in one world may be beautiful. Death is not necessarily associated with ugliness. She learns, rather it is a natural process which she likes to sound and peaceful sleep.

When she sees the body of Mr. Scott, who has made the ultimate transition, she begins to understand the meaning of life and death in a world in which all human beings share a common humanity and class distinctions are nonexistent.

The  story ends with Laura’s visit to the poor dead man’s and with her experience that paves the way for her understanding what the really means. Laura learns that a common cart driver can be noble in death and that she and the “dark people,” though living worlds apart, share a common humanity unbounded class distinction. When twilight comes, the shadows fall on both worlds, and the night makes all men equal.

Last of we can conclude our  discussion saying that, The Garden Party  does not focus on only particular incident rather it shows the impact of a young man’s death on a young girl Laura. The stories focus and central dramatic impulse – is a yang girl’s secret struggle to grow up As Don Klien remarks.

This paper is prepared for you by Talim Enam, BA (Hons), MA in English.

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