Analysis Of The Dinner Party By Mona Gardner

A Long time ago in India, women were criticized and stereotyped for their femininity, in particular how they react in a crisis. In “The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner, women are falsely accused of being weak during a crisis. “The Dinner Party” is set in India, where there is a huge dinner party going on. The colonel makes a false accusation that during a crisis, women usually scream and have less self control than men do. However, the hostess of the party proves him wrong. There is a cobra in the room and the hostess spots it. The hostess decides to solve the problem and devises a plan to get rid of it. The hostess decides to solve the problem using bait for the snake, and she only said she knew the snake was there when the American Naturalist …show more content…
The argument creates the conflict and forms the controversy between the two sides. As said in the story, “A woman’s unfailing reaction in any crisis, the colonel says, is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, he has that ounce more of nerve control than a woman has.” He believes that men may also want to scream but they don’t because of the ounce more nerve control they have. This is the stereotypical point the colonel is trying to prove, but the young girl opposes. That men have more control than women. However, later in the story the American Naturalist does something that proves the young girl’s point but seems as if he’s supporting the …show more content…
Wynnes was in control. Even though it seems as if he is supporting the colonel, the American Naturalist is found proving the young girl’s point. As said in the text, “You were right, Colonel! the host exclaims. A man has just shown us an example of perfect control. Just a minute, the American says, turning to his hostess. Mrs. Wynnes, how did you know that cobra was in the room?” This proves that Mrs. Wynnes was the person in control of the snake situation and the American was just there to help. This action by the American Naturalist is proving the young girl’s point that women have just as much nerve control as men. The colonel is against this fact but he is proved wrong by Mrs. Wynnes’ action. The American Naturalist was used to show gender does not support your self control. Mona Gardner uses Mrs. Wynnes to prove her theme that gender doesn’t support your self control. Throughout the story Mrs. Wynnes displays perfect self control proving the point made by the author. As said in the text, “A faint smile lights up the woman’s face as she replies, because it was crawling across my foot.” This proves that Mrs. Wynnes held perfect control during a crisis. Even though a snake crawled over her foot, Mrs. Wynnes still kept calm. Mrs. Wynnes did not scream and she devised a plan to get rid of the snake. This justifies that gender does not support