Her First Ball: Katherine Mansfield BBS 2nd Year Visions: A Thematic

 

Story: Her First Ball by Katherine Mansfield

About the Story Writer 

Katherine Mansfield, born Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp in 1888 in Wellington, New Zealand, was a prominent modernist writer known for her short stories. She moved to England in 1908 to pursue her writing career and became associated with literary figures such as D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf.

Mansfield's writing is characterized by its subtle use of language, psychological depth, and exploration of themes such as alienation, the complexity of human relationships, and the fleeting nature of happiness. Some of her most famous works include "The Garden Party," "Bliss," and "Prelude."

Mansfield's life was marked by personal struggles, including health issues and turbulent relationships. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 34 in 1923, leaving behind a legacy of innovative and influential literature that continues to be celebrated today.

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Characters in the Story

a.            Leila- The main character in the story. She is a round character but also a static character. She is a country girl, unlike her cousins.

b.           Laurie- A city guy who is a cousin of Leila and he is a flat character

c.            Laura- A city girl who is a cousin of Leila and she is a flat character

d.           Jose- A city guy who is a cousin of Leila and he is a flat character

e.            Meg- A city girl who is a cousin of Leila and she is a flat character. However, in the story, she is helpful to Leila at certain instances

f.             The old fat man- He is a stock character but also a foil character because he appears to be against Leila's interests by his comments

The Main Theme and Plot of the Story

The main theme of "Her First Ball" by Katherine Mansfield revolves around the fleeting nature of youth, the contrast between innocence and experience, and the bittersweet realization of life's complexities. The story follows a young girl named Leila attending her first ball, filled with excitement and anticipation. However, as the night progresses, Leila begins to see the ball and life itself in a different light. Mansfield explores the theme of youth and its transience through Leila's experiences at the ball. At first, Leila is enchanted by the glamour and excitement of the event, reveling in the joy of dancing and socializing. However, as the night wears on, she becomes increasingly aware of the passage of time and the inevitability of growing up. The theme of innocence versus experience is also evident in the story, as Leila navigates the complexities of social interactions and the realization that life is not always as simple or idealistic as she had imagined. She is exposed to the harsh realities of adulthood, such as aging, superficiality, and the fleeting nature of happiness.

The main plot of "Her First Ball" by Katherine Mansfield follows a young girl named Leila as she attends her first ball. The story begins with Leila preparing for the ball with her cousins, feeling excited and full of expectation. As she arrives at the ball, she is dazzled by the music, the lights, and the glamorous atmosphere. Leila is immediately swept up in the excitement of the ball, dancing with various partners and enjoying the attention and admiration of the young men. She is particularly enchanted by the charming and handsome young man who asks her to dance, feeling as though she is living a fairy tale. However, as the night progresses, Leila begins to notice the realities of the adult world around her. She observes the older women at the ball, who seem tired and worn out, and she overhears a conversation between her cousins that reveals the superficiality of the event.

Towards the end of the story, Leila experiences a moment of disillusionment when she realizes that the ball is coming to an end and that she must return to her ordinary life. Despite this, she is able to find consolation in the memory of the ball and the excitement of the night.

Summary of the Story

In story, female character, Leila and her cousins were on the way to for ball dance. It is her visit to ball dance hall. As they were moving by cab (taxi) for ball dance, Leila feels very excited and imagines that she is with her partner inside the cab and compares the bolster (pillow) on which her hand relaxed felt like the sleeve of young man's. Her cousins, Sheridan (Irish) girls thought it would be so strange experience to Leila because she had never been to a ball, Leila was very excited about this new experience. Leila had learned to dance at boarding school but she was not familiar with ball dance.

They arrived at the drill hall where the ball dance would start. There were varieties lights and happy couples everywhere. Many girls had gone into the Ladies' room to decorate them with cosmetics items. It was crowded with young boys and girls as they were getting ready for the ball. The dancing had not begun, and the hall was very noisy with people talking. Leila was amazed, and was glad that she had decided to come. Earlier in the afternoon, she hadn't wanted to come in the hall. The wonderful hall and the beautiful people made her breathless. All the girls stood together on one side of the door, the men on the other side. Leila was then introduced to a lot of girls by her cousin Meg. The girls did not show much concern to talk to Leila because they were all looking towards the handsome men. Suddenly, the men started walking across the floor. When they came up to the girls, the men's names were put down in the girls' programs. Several men put their names in Leila's program and one of them was an old and fat man. Then the music began and couples started dancing. Suddenly, a man came up to her and offered her his arm. Leila enjoyed dancing with him. The man asked if she had been to the ball last week. He was surprised when she told him it was her first ball dance. 

Soon the music stopped, and then started again. Her second partner came along. He asked exactly the same questions as the last one. They danced for a while and then they went to have an ice in the supper room. When they came back, the older fat man was waiting for her to dance with her. When the old man and Leila were dancing, he revealed her that he had been to balls for thirty years. That was twelve years before Leila was born. He said that in one day soon, Leila would be one of the mothers in the hall, she would be fat, and talk to elderly lady next to her about awful men who would try to kiss her daughter, and she would be sad because no one would kiss her any more. This made Leila feel bad. It sounded as though it could be. At that point, the music started to sound sad. How quickly her happiness had changed, she didn't want to dance anymore, she only wanted to stand still by the wall. Later, the old man said that he was only joking but Leila was still sad.

Then the music started again. But Leila didn't want to dance. She just wanted to go home. In the meantime, the music started to play. The music was soft and beautiful and in front of her, a young man with curly hair bowed to dance with her. They walked onto the dance floor. Then, in only a minute, she again felt the magic of the ball. Then she felt everything of ball beautiful. While dancing, when she bumped into the fat man on the dance floor, she even didn't recognize him.

Possible Questions and Their Answers 

1. What are some metaphors and personifications in "Her First Ball" that create excitement?

       Figurative language, such as metaphors which make implied unusual comparisons between unlike things and personification, which gives inanimate objects human-like characteristics, lends imaginative description to a narrative as well as embellishment.  In Katherine Mansfield's short story, "Her First Ball" the use of figurative language helps to suggest the magical feel that the night contains for Leila, who has come to the city for her first formal dance.  With her nearest neighbor being fifteen miles away, the prospect of being among so many of her age is, indeed, exciting to Leila.  Below are some examples of metaphor and personification which serve so well to create the atmosphere of this excitement:

Metaphor

a.      "...smoothing marble-white gloves."  [an implied comparison of the gloves to marble]

b.     "The azaleas were...pink and white flags streaming by."

c.      "She was only at the beginning of everything..."  [Leila's experience at the dance is compared to the beginning of her adult life and all it will include.]

d.     "The lights, the azaleas, the dresses, the pink faces, the velvet chairs, all became one beautiful flying wheel. [The lights, etc. are compared to a "flying wheel."]

 

Personification

a.      As Leila and her cousins travel the road to the ball, "little satin shoes chased each other like birds."  [The shoes are given qualities that only an animate creature can do with the word chased.]

b.     "A great quivering jet of gas lighted the ladies' room.  It couldn’t wait; it was dancing already. When the door opened again...it leaped almost to the ceiling."

c.      "...little quivering-colored flags strung across the ceiling were talking." [animate qualities are in bold]

d.     "It seemed to her that she had never know what the night was like before.  Up till now it had been dark, silent, beautiful very often--oh, yes--but mournful somehow.  Solemn.....it had opened dazzling bright." [animate qualities]

e.      "At that the music seemed to change; it sounded sad, sad it rose upon a great sigh...."

f.       "But presently a soft, melting, ravishing tune began...

2.     How does Mansfield portray Leila's thoughts in "Her First Ball"?

Mansfield reveals Leila's thoughts through narrator commentary, indirect speech, free indirect speech, and sensory and psychological reactions. She opens the narrative with narrator commentary in which she exposes Leila's thoughts as one who is aware of to Leila's every thought: "Exactly when the ball began Leila would have found it hard to say." Indirect speech is a technique in which a character's words are stated by the narrator without benefit of direct quotation: "That was the great difference between dancing with girls and men, Leila decided." Free indirect speech, a technique Jane Austen excels in, takes indirect speech one step further and gives the characters thoughts as though one were directly listening in to the character's thoughts: Why didn't the men begin? What were they waiting for? There they stood, smoothing their gloves, patting their glossy hair and smiling among themselves.

Finally, Mansfield reveals Leila's thoughts through recounting her sensory and psychological reactions:

• Leila ... felt that even the little quivering coloured flags strung across the ceiling were talking.
• The azaleas were separate flowers no longer; they were pink and white flags streaming by.
• She quite forgot to be shy ....

One modernist technique Mansfield does not use is stream of consciousness. While this term may be loosely used by some to cover other techniques that reveal a character's inner thoughts, like free indirect speech, for example, the definitive elements of fragmentation and randomness that mark stream of consciousness are missing from Mansfield's techniques in "Her First Ball."

3.     In "Her First Ball", how does Mansfield depict Leila in the story?

           Leila is certainly not worldly as are some of the other girls, nor world-weary as is the fat man.  As the title of Mansfield's story denotes, Leila is inexperienced and naive, having grown up in the country and learned to dance without the benefit of masculine partners. An ingenue, Leila finds each experience thrilling; it is all "the beginning of everything" for her. Oh, dear, how hard it was to be indifferent like the others! For it was thrilling. Her first ball! Everything seems new to her; the night, for instance, Leila feels has merely been dark and mournful before now. But, on this evening, it has "opened dazzling bright." Even when the fat, older man makes her aware of age and mortality, Leila rejects this truth and, in her resilience, she seizes the excitement of the moment and glides through the evening, smiling "more radiantly than ever."

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