Self Control In Mona Gardener's The Dinner Party

Did you know that women around the world are stereotyped as weaker and softer than men. The Dinner Party is staged in India in the 1940’s. When a spirited discussion is started by a young girl and the Colonel. The Colonel supports his statement that women tend to have less self control in any crisis, while the young girl thinks that women and men can have equal self-control. “A spirited discussion springs up between a young girl who insists that women have outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse era and a colonel who says that they haven’t.”. During this argument a snake was brought into the picture and would later help solve the argument. Mona Gardener uses the America visitor, a naturalist, to support the theme, self control is not determined by gender. The Colonial symbolizes how males have more self-control than …show more content…
He doesn’t support either side of the discussion, but when he solves the issue with the snake, he seems to backup and support the Colonel’s argument. Instead, at the end of the story he justified the young girls point. He states in the story “Just a minute”, the American says, turning to the Hostess “Mrs. Wynnes, how did you know that the cobra was in the room?”. By stating this question he proves the young girls point of revealing that the cobra had crawled across the Hostess’s foot under the table. The Hostess supports the young girl’s opinion in the story. Mona Gardner, the author of the “The Dinner Party”. Mona Gardner, the author of this story, uses Mrs. Wynnes to support the theme. The theme in “The Dinner Party" was self control is not determined by gender. The Hostess, with the help of the American, back up the young girl’s statement. Her actions, tell us that something was wrong, “She is staring straight ahead, her muscles contracting slightly. With a slight gesture she summons the native boy ….”. This quote shows that something isn’t quite right near Mrs.