Abstract This paper looks at three of KatherineMansfield's short stories: "Bliss", "Je Ne Pane Pas Francais" and "Life of Ma Parker". It examines Mansfield's style, sense of realism and themes and her psychological understanding of issues confronting women.
Abstract This essay explores and evaluates KatherineMansfield's literary style with reference to her short story Bliss. It discusses the ways in which Bliss demonstrates her desire to break with the past and experiment with new methods of writing. The paper evaluates the story as an example of Modernist literature and reviews Mansfield 's importance in the Modernist movement. The paper also provides a detailed analysis of Mansfield's original and distinctive delivery of the short story.
From the Paper "An important figure in the modernist movement, Katherine Mansfield was a highly experiential writer who sought to find new ways of representing the world. The beginning of the twentieth century was a time of terrific change due to technological advances, scientific theories and capitalism. The First World War compounded this disturbance and literally shattered the universal values which held society together. Society was left fragmented and disillusioned and the Modernists felt that the traditional mode of representing the world in literature, specifically realism, was outdated and no longer appropriate. Mansfield 's short story Bliss, 1918, demonstrates the desire to break with the past and experiment with new methods of writing which would express this transformed society more aptly."
Abstract This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes the short story "Miss Brill" by KatherineMansfield. Specifically it contains an in-depth character analysis of "Miss Brill." The paper focuses on Miss Brill's inability to see reality for what it is, which makes her a sad and even pathetic character living a tragic and flawed life. The paper's author finds Miss Brill's character to be quite complete and complex for such a short story.
From the Paper "This very short story contains quite a bit of information in just a few pages. The narrator is Miss Brill, an older single woman out to enjoy a band concert on a bright fall day. Throughout the story, the reader learns more about her character, her life, and her work, and it is clear by the end of the story that her life is empty and sad. In fact, her character is quite pathetic, not because her life is so empty, but because she cannot admit that to herself, or face reality. She is old, out of touch, and clueless. She is also a kind woman and it is clear she is harmless and meek. However, her life is tragic because it is so empty and she accepts it that way. "
Abstract This paper discusses whether sexuality was an important part of a star image in the 1950s narrative cinema or not. According to the paper, these questions are important when studying the 1950s films and especially when studying the films of Jayne Mansfield. Jayne Mansfield represented the era of sexuality that the 1950s used in their narrative cinemas and this sexuality can be seen in the 1950s films of 'The Girl Can't Help It', 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter', and 'The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw'.
Abstract This essay analyzes the diction of "Katherine" by Anya Seton in terms of whether the language is concrete or abstract, whether the words have interesting connotations, whether the diction is formal or colloquial and what inferences can be drawn about the speaker from the word choice of the speaker.
Abstract This paper discusses KatherineMansfield's "Miss Brill", a story of an elderly woman who spends her Sunday afternoon visiting a seaside park. The paper looks at how, by using structuralist technique for criticism, Mansfield questions the discrepancy between the character's inner nature and outward appearance through several key binary oppositions: loneliness/companionship, isolation/inclusion, youth/old age, and reality/illusion. Of these binaries--loneliness/companionship and reality/illusion--form the crux of the story, and being the all-encompassing binaries and overarching themes. The paper also examines how, by using the third-person limited omniscient point of view, Mansfield successfully shows that old Miss Brill tries to avoid loneliness by making up illusions that will free herself from reality, but eventually ends up having to face the reality again.
From the Paper "Initially, "Miss Brill" begins with a great day with the blue sky "powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publique" (Mansfield 464). Miss Brill picks out her fur, so she can wear it to the park. After she arrives at the park, the band is playing. She sits down at her "special" seat next to an old man and woman. Miss Brill always looks forward to hear other people's conversation. An Englishman and his wife also sit next to her on the other side. Miss Brill wants to "shake" her because she doesn't seem to appreciate anything her husband does for her. Miss Brill turns her attention to some other people, who sit "still as statues" (Mansfield 465). She loves to be an observer--sitting by herself and watching other people's behavior. "
Abstract The paper investigates if "Karain" by Joseph Conrad and "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" by KatherineMansfield fall into the category of timelessness. The paper identifies the elements of relevance in both works and posits that Mansfield's work is more symbolic in terms of oppression, while Conrad's contains more concrete elements of connection to the modern reader. The paper therefore concludes that both authors have the potential to be truly timeless.
Outline:
"Karain" by Joseph Conrad
"The Daughters of the Late Colonel" by KatherineMansfield
From the Paper "Some pieces of literature are simply timeless. Among these might be counted the works of Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Although their settings are in a different time, populated with characters of different dispositions and status in life than contemporary people, they nonetheless include universal themes that appeal to readers even today. Poverty and love are but two of the general themes that might be found often in the works of these two authors. These themes provide the basis for connection and identification. Some authors do not achieve this sense of universal and timeless appeal. The question is, do "Karain" by Joseph Conrad and "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" by Katherine Mansfield fall into the category of timelessness? Perhaps the fact that these stories are still widely read answers the question. Specifically, I believe that there is a good balance between the specific, time-centered paradigm and the universal in order to provide readers with a fulfilling experience."
Abstract In this article, the writer discusses whether nature, especially gardens, has a special place in KatherineMansfield's work. After a closer look at a selection of her stories, the role of gardens and their symbolic meanings are examined. As the description of nature, often gardens and their flowers, constitute a considerable part of Mansfield's stories, her personal connection to nature is also taken into account. Finally, expression through the language of nature is analysed.
Outline
Introduction
Descriptions of Gardens
Descriptions of Landscapes
Symbolism
Nature Images in Language Choice
Conclusion
References
From the Paper "Katherine Mansfield grew up near the coast, surrounded by New Zealand's varied landscapes. However, she did not take the beauty of nature for granted. In fact, she paid attention to the details of nature and appreciated the landscapes. On her Urewera camping trip in 1907 she makes notes of the landscapes she sees, writes letters to her friends and family and experiments with literature (Scott 1997). Her notebook is a mix of notes about her trip, poetry, short stories and letters. It shows that Mansfield felt and inhaled the nature, rather than describing it as an external observer. She was part of the landscapes in which she stayed. It is likely that her conscious and close observation of the New Zealand nature strongly contributes to the descriptions in her short stories. Even when Mansfield lives abroad, she remembers the landscapes of New Zealand so vividly, that she can portray them very accurately in her stories."
Abstract This essay briefly discusses five short stories of New Zealand author, KatherineMansfield, including "Mrs. Brill," "The Doll House," "Marriage a la Mode," "The Garden Party," and "The Woman at the Store." The essay specifically discusses the common theme of loneliness in each of the stories.
Abstract This paper discusses the characters in the stories of KatherineMansfield. The paper specifically looks at how the characters try to avoid the unpleasant realities of human existence and how well they do this. The paper provides examples from the texts of some of her stories in order to illustrate how the characters' struggles provide them with a sense of accomplishment and a degree of hope.
From the Paper "In this story, the story shifts its point of view from Mr. Woodfield to the boss. He cried when he learned of his son's death, but since then, he has not been able to do so and believes something is wrong with him. The story shows how certain unpleasant things become only vague memories as the individual cannot keep them fully in mind at all times. Death is depicted in this fashion, and while the death may be devastating, human beings necessarily go on without letting the pain cripple them entirely. This is symbolized in the story by the death of the fly on the boss's desk. This death is caused by the boss, who is distressed by what he has done for a moment, but who a second later cannot remember that feeling or even what caused it: "For the life of him he could not remember" (358). This story is more explicit about what may be true for all the other characters in the earlier stories, that people ultimately avoid the unpleasant realities of human existence by simply forgetting them, not intentionally, but because that is the way the mid works."
A critical analysis of 'Mansfield Park" by Jane Austen. The author gives a brief outline of the main themes of the book and provides an analysis of the criticisms by various writers.
4,070 words (approx. 16.3 pages), 5 sources, 2001, $ 109.95
Abstract An examination of the criticisms of Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park". The author gives a brief outline of the main themes of the book and provides an analysis of the criticisms by various writers.
From the Paper "Most critics seem to agree that the novel Mansfield Park is somehow alien to both Jane Austen's personality and the tone of her other works. Lionel Trilling remarks that it is not possible for him to observe how different Mansfield Park is from Austen's works both before and after, particularly from Pride and Prejudice, without supposing that she had undergone a spiritual crisis in the intervening period between the two novels. He postulates that "fatigue" must have played a part in that crisis, apparently suggesting that Austen wrote the novel during a profoundly depressed state of mind (Trilling 433). Trilling further asserts that Austen's other works are essentially ?modern novels,? but that Mansfield Park "scandalizes modern assumptions about social relations, about virtue, about religion, sex and art" (Trilling 426). Trilling's presumption is that Austen wrote Mansfield Park as a sort of atonement for the levity she had exercised earlier and that the book is to be read as a primer of behavioral attributes, without irony."
Abstract The following paper examines the five codes and ideas that appear in Roland Barthes' 'S/Z' and applies it to Jane Austen's novel 'Mansfield Park'. Barthes' codes apply both on the small scale, to the language and on the larger scale, to the whole novel. This paper demonstrates the application of the codes, specifically the cultural and symbolic code, to both the novel as a whole and to certain selected texts.
From the Paper "Roland Barthes writes about different characters in Sarrasine fitting into different roles, such as passive/active or mother/father. In Mansfield Park, many of the characters fit into these roles or actant. Fanny can definitely be classified as "passive". She is not a radical, she stands for silence, tradition, tranquillity, manners and for acting upon what one knows, not what one feels. Mary Crawford is "active" and an advocate of change. She acts on her emotions and stands for movement, modern ideas, progressiveness and speaking one's mind instead of remaining silent."
Abstract This paper describes and analyzes the character of Fanny Price from the novel "Mansfield Park" and contrasts her character to other characters in the novel. The paper explains that Fanny Price's character feels her position in society deeply and acts according to what society expects of her but does not sacrifice her morals or integrity in doing so.
From the Paper "While Fanny Price of Mansfield Park is hardly Jane Austen's most flamboyant heroine, she does embody certain positive traits, which distinguish her from the Bertrams and from the rest of her immediate society. Fanny's deep sense of morality contrasts sharply to the self-centered habits of her adoptive mother, Mrs. Bertram, as well as to the conniving, indulgent behavior of Aunt Norris. Her humility and kindness set her apart from her cousins and from the Crawfords as well. In the world of Mansfield Park, only one person treats her kindly - her cousin, Edmund - and it is in her love for him that Fanny comes to embody her most heroic aspects."
Abstract This paper describes the evolution of Laura, a character in Kathleen Mansfield's short story "The Garden Party". The author points out that Laura is the youngest child of a privileged New Zealand family. The paper relates that, from beginning of the story, Laura exhibits signs of independent thinking and, as the story ends, she faces death immediately after enjoying the excesses of one of her family's parties.
From the Paper "Katherine Mansfield's The Garden Party focuses on a wealthy New Zealand family and their collective narrow, in fact, almost incestuous, view of the world with themselves egotistically placed in the center of events. The family's youngest daughter, Laura, serves as the story's protagonist as she struggles within the confines of the lineage to which she was born; that of a rather cynical family unit which seems oblivious to events outside their specific circle of influence. Laura is immediately portrayed as different from other members of her family, as she interacts comfortably with the help hired to prepare for the pending garden party and, in fact, permits one of the hired hands to determine the location for the party's marquee."
Abstract The paper examines Jane Austen's novel "Mansfield Park" and highlights the debate whether one should marry for affection or economic advantage. The paper identifies Austen's belief that one should marry where there is affection and fortune. The paper then discusses the subsequent fate of Mary, Maria and Fanny at the close of the story, where Austen indicates that although everyone seeks an ideal marriage, they are forced to take what circumstances offer them.
From the Paper "Mary Crawford embraces marriage as a business transaction in which finances and family connections are of the utmost importance. She repeatedly states her faith in and desire for wealth. "I mean to be too rich to lament or to feel any thing of the sort. A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" (177). Edmund can't help feeling distress at such declarations from the woman he desires to marry. When he tries to impress her with the value of a modest income, Mary's retort is a clear challenge. "Be honest and poor by all means - but I shall not envy you; I do not much think I shall even respect you. I have a much greater respect for those that are honest and rich" (178). Mary makes it clear throughout the novel that although she desires Edmund, he must choose a more impressive profession and offer her a larger income if he expects her to marry him. Despite the attraction Mary feels towards Edmund, she cannot accept his social status. Fanny later observes that Mary "had only learnt to think of nothing of consequence but money" (360)."
