What is the theme of the story “The Garden Party”? How does the form of a short story help to convey the theme?

Ans. Katherine Mansfield’s ‘The Garden Party’ unfolds several themes within the compass of a short story. Primarily, the story is concerned with Laura’s journey from innocence to experience, from a sheltered life to harsh reality and from upper-class morality to a new understanding of life and death. Her experiences and observations lead her to a deeper understanding of the society and world around her. The other themes are class distinctions, the fleeting of life, identity crisis, superficiality and extravagance, empathy and understanding and the nature meaning of life and death.

Katherine Mansfield has exploited the form of a short story to convey multiple themes. She captures a day’s experience that suggests Laura’s transition and growth. The brevity of the short story allows Mansfield to focus on a single day’s experience to highlight Laura’s transformation from adolescence to adulthood. The stream-of-consciousness narration reflects Laura’s thoughts and feelings. It immerses the reader in her inner world to explore the flow of her thought process. The story does not directly focus on any theme. Everything has been subtly suggested by encouraging readers to engage actively with the narrative. Mansfield uses a number of symbols, like the garden and the flowers, to add meaning and significance to the thematic development. The garden of the Sheridans symbolises the aesthetic sense of the wealthy; the garden of the poor stands for sustenance. All through, the the story focuses on Laura and her transformative experience. By using the form of a short story, Mansfield masterfully conveys the theme of Laura’s journey towards self-discovery.

Describe the atmosphere as presented in ‘The Garden Party’.

You’ll have to go, Laura; you are the artistic one. – Who says this? Where will Laura have to go? What is the context of the speech? Why will Laura have to go?

Good morning, she said, copying her mother’s voice. – Who is ‘she’? Why did she copy her mother’s voice? Why did she stammer? What made her recover?

Describe the setting of The Garden Party

Explore the symbolism of the Sheridan family’s garden in the story.

Describe the garden of the Sheridan family.

What is conflict? Bring out the conflict in ‘The Garden Party’.

What is the significance of the title of the short story ‘The Garden Party’?

What role does Mrs. Sheridan play in ‘The Garden Party’?

“Don’t be so extravagant.” – Who said this and to whom? In which context did the speaker say so? What do you consider to be really extravagant?

Sketch the character of Laura

How important are the plot and characters in the story ‘The Garden Party’?