Sunday, October 9, 2016

What is Katherine Mansfield's writing style in the story "The Garden Party"?

As an avowed modernist, Mansfield provides the reader with an insight into the subjective opinions and emotions of her characters. She does this through the deployment of a third-person limited narrative. This allows us to gain an in-depth understanding of the characters' perspectives while at the same time observing them from the outside.
Mansfield's use of internal dialogue, another notable feature of modernist technique, provides a smooth, flowing rhythm to the narrative while also immersing the reader in the story, thus heightening our empathy for the characters. The main voice in the story is that of the protagonist Laura, who in many respects resembles Mansfield herself. Yet every now and then Laura's dialogue is interrupted by an occasional glimpse into other characters' perspectives, such as those of Mrs. Sheridan and Jose.
The notable lack of structure to the story proves to be a useful means of allowing the action to develop in its own way. As Mansfield is dealing with a highly unusual occurrence—an epiphany, no less—and the events leading up to it, it makes sense to adopt a looser narrative structure, one that allows for greater concentration on the emotional responses of the characters concerned instead of a chronological series of plot points.

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