The Doll’s House

By Katherine Mansfield

Grade 9
When you were a child. What was your
favorite toy? Recall some of your
experiences with it.
Is social discrimination inherent or
learned? What indignities do the
ostracized poor have to suffer?
Katherine Mansfield
➔ Katherine Mansfield was born Kathleen
Mansfield Beauchamp in Wellington,
New Zealand, on October 14, 1888.
➔ Educated in Wellington and London,
Mansfield left New Zealand for England
at the age of 19 to begin a career as an
author.
➔ Much of Mansfield's early work is in the
form of the sketch, in which a segment of
life is described highly popular in journals
of the time.
Katherine Mansfield
➔ Innovative, accessible, and
psychologically acute,
Mansfield’s numerous short
stories pioneered the genre’s
shape in the 20th century.
Katherine Mansfield
➔ Her fiction, poetry, journals, and letters
cover an array of subjects: the difficulties
and ambivalences of families and
sexuality, the fragility and vulnerability of
relationships, the complexities and
insensitivities of the rising middle
classes, the social consequences of war,
and overwhelmingly the attempt to
extract whatever beauty and vitality one
can from mundane and increasingly
difficult experience.
Katherine Mansfield
➔ In France during the summer of
1915, Mansfield spent time with her
brother Leslie, reflecting on their
family and life in New Zealand.
➔ Tragically, Leslie was killed during
training for service in WWI; “blown
to bits” while demonstrating how to
throw a hand grenade, remarked
Mansfield.
Katherine Mansfield
➔ Following his death, she drew
upon the memories of New
Zealand discussed with her
brother in writing some of her
most well-known work, including
Bliss and Other Stories (1920),
The Garden Party, and Other
Stories (1922), and her novel The
Aloe (1930).
Katherine Mansfield
➔ Following his death, she drew
upon the memories of New
Zealand discussed with her
brother in writing some of her
most well-known work, including
Bliss and Other Stories (1920),
The Garden Party, and Other
Stories (1922), and her novel The
Aloe (1930).
The Doll’s House
Theme
➔ Refers to the central idea of the story. It is a general statement
about life that the writers expresses in the story. Usually the
theme is expressed in a complete sentence.
Stated theme
➔ is directly expressed in the story.
➔ This theme can be stated by the author, or by a character at
the end of the story.
Implied theme
➔ Is not directly stated.
➔ It is revealed by the other elements in the story.
➔ You may discover an implied theme by examining the
following elements of the story.
Implied theme
1. The title may tell us the author’s opinion of what happens in the story.
2. A character may learn a lesson about life.
3. The personality traits of a character may tell us the author’s ideas about
people in general.
4. Details of setting may suggest the author’s ideas about the world in
general.
5. The author’s point of view may suggest how he/she wants us to react to
the story.