1. The Doll’s House
Katherine Mansfield

2. Kathleen: biography 1888 (New Zealand) 1923 (France)
From a rich middle-class colonial family (her father was a banker and also a knight of the Empire)

3. Mansfield: life Early life in Wellington and its suburbans
Social context: colonial Victorian period during childhood, World War I when adult
Relation to her short-stories
Family ties (cousin, brother, father and mother visited her in Europe, which helped to influence her short-stories about “home”)
Country-side memories

4. Mansfield: childhood

5. Mansfield: childhood

6. Mansfield: perspective

7. Mansfield: perspective

8. Mansfield: perspective

9. Mansfield: education
“All the Karori children — boys and girls —went to the [same] Karori School”

10. Mansfield: inspiration
She wrote in 1916: “I begin to think of an unfinished memory which has been with me for years. It is a very good story if only I can tell it right, and it is called ‘Lena’”
Kezia and Lottie appear in other stories, perhaps indicating crystallized characters inspired by early memories as a girl: At The Bay, The Man Without a Temperament, Prelude

11. Mansfield: inspiration
“Selected children from the Primary School — selected neighbour children — were allowed over to play with them; and then they had great parties in the garden”

12. Mansfield: adult life
Left New Zealand and move to England to never see home again
Had two lesbian relationships, possibly four, and had a spontaneous abortion once
Kept writing about personal experiences (like her time in Bavaria for a treatment)
Married John Murry, an influent editor, which allowed her to publish her works and review other authors of that time

13. Mansfield: literature
Influenced by D. H. Lawrence, Woolf, French symbolists, Wilde, Chekhov
Modernist texts: attention to details, nonlinear narratives, not much structure
Today considered one of the best short-story writers of her period, frequently included in short-stories anthologies.
Trivia: 33 short-stories documented online

14. Mansfield: literature
Themes: class consciousness, loneliness, women’s rights, māoris, reality versus appearances, relationships, childhood
Fragment of letter written by Woolf to Mansfield: “It seems to me very important that women should learn to write”

15. Mansfield: death Died of tuberculosis, she was only 34
“ ...the longer I live, the more I return to New Zealand. A young country is a real heritage, though it takes one time to remember it. But New Zealand is in my very bones”

16. Mansfield: pictures

17. Mansfield: pictures

18. Mansfield: pictures

19. Mansfield: pictures

20. Short-story: symbolism
The main symbol is, at the same time, the title and the subject of the short story, that is, the doll’s house
There are many aspects revolving around this symbol or subject, as if the doll’s house was a gravitational point where everything in the short story happens

21. Short-story: characteristics
Characters: the Burnell sisters, the little Kelveys, the mother and aunt, school girls
Action: the girls run to see the doll’s house, the great novelty!
Conflict: the little Kelveys are not invited to see it
Themes: pride and prejudice, true and false feellings of friendship, innocence

22. Short-story: plot
Emphasis: Mansfield focuses the relationship among the society of her time, emphasizing themes such as prejudice and external appearances
Pacing: the rhythm of the narrative is fast, covering mainly the interest of showing and seeing the doll’s house
Order: chronological order

23. Short-story: structure
Exposition: the description of the doll’s house and its effect upon the children
Conflict: the initial conflict takes place when the poor sisters are not invited to see the doll’s house
Person against person: all characters but Kezia avoid the little Kelveys sisters due to their social condition
Person against environment: at the same time the little Kelveys as well as their parents are victims of the society’s prejudice. Rich people avoiding poor people

24. Short-story: structure
Rising action: takes place when Kezia invites the little Kelveys sisters to see the doll’s house
Climax: when finally the little Kelveys sisters see the doll´s house and soon after they are expelled from the backyard by aunt Beryl
Falling action: the little Kelveys, after that tremendous fright, stop to rest
Resolution: the little Kelveys were satisfied to see the doll’s house. Elsa was happy manly because she saw the little lamp

25. Short-story: narrator
The narrator is omniscient during the whole plot of the short story. He is an observer, controlling the situation and some times being an intruder narrator, commenting about life in a poetic way in this short story

26. Short-story: setting
The readers have only two clues of the setting: when, at the beginning of the short story the narrator says that Mrs. Hay went back to town, that is, she was in some place at countryside; when the narrator says that there was one school for miles, giving to the readers the idea of a small place or countryside
Thus, the setting is important to establish the confluence of people from many levels of society where the theme of prejudice is infiltrated

27. Short-story: characterization
Protagonist and antagonist: it is difficult to establish the protagonist of this short story because Kezia and the little Kelveys have the same importance in the plot. If one or another did not exist the plot would not be well constructed
On the other hand we have many antagonists in the plot. Isabel Burnell, her colleagues and her aunt are in the same level, all them carrying their prejudice against the little Kelveys. The conventions of society, the false appearances and prejudice are antagonists as well
The only characters presented in details on the plot are the little Kelveys. The narrator explores their clothes as a signal of their social condition. The direct presentation is used

28. Short-story: types All characters in The Doll’s House are flat
The antagonists are characterized by their prejudice and insensibility, the children following the educational patterns of their parents
In spite of their kindness, simplicity and innocence, Kezia and the little Kelveys are also flat characters, because there is no complexity in their behavior

29. Short-story: themes
The central concept of this short story is the prejudice against poverty as well as the idea of false appearances
Besides, there is a subtle theme in The Doll’s House that is the example of parents about the education of their children

30. Short-story: symbolism
The Doll’s house is a symbol
In this short story the external aspect of the house, its beauty, appearance, color and form alludes to the external aspect of human being, that is, his position in society, assets and family’s name
The internal components of the house have many meanings, being the little lamp which has the main significance. The lamp represents the soul, the qualities of the human being and his real nature

31. Short-story: more
Maybe the literary allusion in The Doll’s House could be the title, because is the same of the Ibsen’s famous play. But, as there is not any connection between contents in these works, maybe there is only a coincidence
There are some quotations in The Doll’s House where we can see soft indications of irony

32. Caio Begotti Carlos Conrado UFPR, 2010
Thank you
Caio Begotti
Carlos Conrado
UFPR, 2010