Garden Party Setting

Setting: The Garden Party was written in 1922, shortly after the end of WW1. The story is set mostly in the garden of the Sheridan’s house which is based one the author’s childhood home in Wellington, New Zealand. The first part of teh story is set in a festive, light mood on a “perfect day.” (Mansfield 1) The sky is described as “without a cloud” (Mansfield 1) futher representing the light mood which seems to take away all your worries. In contrats, the second half of the story is set in the poorer area of the familie’s neighborhood. In this setting there is dark almost depressing mood. The street becomes increasingly “smoky and dark” (Mansfield 14) as Laura get’s closer to the dead man’s house. Furthermore the houses are described as “mean little cottages” (Mansfield 14) with a “flicker of light.” (Mansfield 14) This imagery shows the juxtaposition between the two settings and emphasizes their contrasing mood. This contrats in setting also causes Laura to be in conflict with the darker setting. Laura “[wishes] she has put on a coat” (Mansfield 14) and regrets wearing “the big hat with the velvet streamer.” (Mansfield 14) Her uncomfort shows you out-of-place her wealth and festive clothing is in the other areas of the neighborhood. This uncomfort also develops Laura’s character as it leads her to her epiphany later …show more content…
Furthermore we only know what the other characters say and do. Although there are exception to this throughout the story the majority of the story is told in limited third person. The story is thus told from Laura’s point of view however she is not the narrator. In this story the narrator is like an omniscient being focusing on events that happen around Laura and what she thinks but ocassionally reading other peoples thoughts as well. Infact often times it is unclear wich character thought a certain phrase which may indicate a narrator’s bias present in this