Book Review of The Garden Party
Alexander
In The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield, the Sheridan family prepares for a lavish garden party. As they set up, Laura is given the job of overseeing the placement of the marquee. She notices the arduous work of those responsible for setting up all the furniture at the bottom level. A short time before the party, Laura learns that a local working-class man, Mr. Scott, has died in an accident. She tries to convince her family to cancel the party because it would be disrespectful. Unfortunately her parents are more interested in social status and enjoyment and seem to not care at all about the poor and their servants. Upon seeing Mr. Scott’s body, Laura realizes what it was really like to not belong to the upper class. For the first time in her life, she sees past the riches and shelter that comes with being the daughter of a wealthy family. This story shows us the relationships between the different classes of society, the expectations for women in the Victorian era, and also how Laura changes throughout the course of the story.
Social classes usually dictate the behavior and thoughts of certain people. Rich people mostly care about their social status and wealth, not about those beneath them. Despite knowing that Mr. Scott had just died an unfortunate death, the Sheridan family still wanted to go ahead with their party, since Laura was the only one who didn’t care solely about their enjoyment and status. They also largely didn’t care about the conditions of their workers, which is seen when they ordered their workers to carry large pieces of furniture across entire rooms all alone. For example, Hans was told to move multiple tables to the smoking room before removing some marks from the carpet. The story explicitly states that Jose “loved giving orders to the servants”. The actions of the Sheridan family show that they care more about their appearance to the rest of the local upper class than the living conditions of others and their workers. This is put on full display when they refuse to cancel their party even though a poor person just died in a tragic accident. Wealthy people are often blinded to the state of others, mostly those beneath them on the social pyramid.
Often, women are expected to stay home and do house chores and take care of children. These expectations were especially pronounced in upper class families during the Victorian Era. Laura’s mother, being the most important woman in the family, was a hostess, so her job was to host parties and prepare for them. Laura was expected to learn to become a hostess like her mother. Ladies in those times were also expected to appreciate good looks, art, and music. This is demonstrated when we learn that Laura’s sister plays the piano. This is mainly because men had all of the jobs and most, if not all of the income in a family. Laura’s mother was a hostess, so she was responsible for hosting and organizing parties. Laura was expected to learn to be a hostess in the future, while her sister played the piano. This shows that women in those days were expected to stay at home and do work, and maintain the family’s social status by hosting parties and inviting other high-ranking individuals. Traditionally, males are expected to take up jobs and do work, while women are expected to perform simple household duties.
People often don’t truly realize what it’s like to be poor or homeless until they witness it firsthand. Often, the plight of some is blinded to others due to their wealth or living conditions. Laura was sympathetic towards the poor, which was shown when she asked her parents to cancel the party since the scheduled time coincidentally was right after the death of Mr. Scott, a working class man. However, she didn’t truly understand what it was like to be poor until she saw the body of the dead man, as well as how the servants in her manor were treated. Sometimes, we are blinded to the state of others due to our own living conditions. Laura did have sympathy for those below her, but she didn’t know what it really was like to be a servant or a poor person until she saw how they were treated and how they worked. Unfortunately, her family did not share this view since they were even more blinded to the plight of others. We often take what is around us for granted and don’t see the fact that things could be worse.
In The Garden Party by Katherine Mansfield, Sheridan is organizing a lavish party in their garden. As they set up, Laura was tasked with supervising the placement of the marquee. She notices the difficult work of those responsible for setting up all the furniture at the bottom level. A short time before the party, Laura learns that a poor man, Mr. Scott has died. She tries to convince her family to cancel the party, since it would be disrespectful to his passing. Unfortunately her parents are more interested in entertainment and fitting in with other rich people. This story teaches us three themes. First, social classes often dictate the words and actions of people. Second, males are often expected to do work and women are expected to stay home and take care of chores, even today. Third and finally, people are sometimes blinded to the state of others because of their own living conditions.
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