Analysis of “A Cup of Tea�? by Katherine Mansfield Essay Example
Analysis of “A Cup of Tea”by Katherine Mansfield K.Vasiliev
"A Cup of Tea" by Katherine Mansfield (1888 to 1923-New Zealand) is included in the 1923 collection of her work, The Dove's Nest and Other Stories edited by Mansfield's husband, John Middleton Murry. There is a very moving introduction to this collection in which Murry lets us know details about the next ten stories his wife was going to write. There is a temptation in reading Mansfield to see her work as artistically peaking in 1921 and 1922 given that we know these are her last stories. I sense a rapid growth in her artistic depth during this period but it is a feeling of a writer just starting to find her true power not of a writer at her zenith. The story, “A Cup of Tea” tells us how people show generosity to people whom they consider their inferior. People do so partly to show off their superiority to the poorer beings. Generosity in most cases is only to satisfy one’s ego. The story further shows how generosity and benevolence evaporates when the object of pity goes against one’s self interest, ego and vanity. Rosemary Fell was very rich. Though she was not very pretty, she made up for it as she lived in extreme style and fashion. One cold night, after coming out of a shop of fancy antiques, she came across a girl by the name of Miss Smith. The poor girl wanted the price of a cup of tea from Rosemary. It seemed to be a very romantic adventure for Rosemary like those events that take place in novelos or on the stage. She thought of doing something generous. She asked the girl to come home and take tea with her. The poor girl was startled at it. She did not believe Rosemary at first. She even suspected that Rosemary might hand her over to the police.
But at last Rosemary took her home. All the generous impulses worked in Rosemary. She wanted to show that those nice things that happened in novels and fairy tales about godmothers and generous rich people did really
"A Cup of Tea" by Katherine Mansfield (1888 to 1923-New Zealand) is included in the 1923 collection of her work, The Dove's Nest and Other Stories edited by Mansfield's husband, John Middleton Murry. There is a very moving introduction to this collection in which Murry lets us know details about the next ten stories his wife was going to write. There is a temptation in reading Mansfield to see her work as artistically peaking in 1921 and 1922 given that we know these are her last stories. I sense a rapid growth in her artistic depth during this period but it is a feeling of a writer just starting to find her true power not of a writer at her zenith. The story, “A Cup of Tea” tells us how people show generosity to people whom they consider their inferior. People do so partly to show off their superiority to the poorer beings. Generosity in most cases is only to satisfy one’s ego. The story further shows how generosity and benevolence evaporates when the object of pity goes against one’s self interest, ego and vanity. Rosemary Fell was very rich. Though she was not very pretty, she made up for it as she lived in extreme style and fashion. One cold night, after coming out of a shop of fancy antiques, she came across a girl by the name of Miss Smith. The poor girl wanted the price of a cup of tea from Rosemary. It seemed to be a very romantic adventure for Rosemary like those events that take place in novelos or on the stage. She thought of doing something generous. She asked the girl to come home and take tea with her. The poor girl was startled at it. She did not believe Rosemary at first. She even suspected that Rosemary might hand her over to the police.
But at last Rosemary took her home. All the generous impulses worked in Rosemary. She wanted to show that those nice things that happened in novels and fairy tales about godmothers and generous rich people did really