The doll’s house is a short story that was developed by Katherine Mansfield in the year 1922. It mainly addresses the issue of discrimination in the society based on the class that someone belongs to.
The story begins by the introduction that the Burnell children had been given a doll house by Mrs. Hay, which happens to please and excite everybody that knew it or even dared to see it. There is a very high hope that the discrimination in the small town will soon be avoided and everybody is treated equal without being subjected to these discriminations. The lamp that was inside the doll’s house is always given some special emphasis to the Burnell children as it seems to be the only thing that seemed real in the doll’s house. This hope is brought by the comparison to the lamp in the doll’s house and Kezia leads all the way in ensuring that the discrimination is avoided. The little three girls to whom the doll house is given are very proud of it and anxious at the same time as they cannot wait for the following day to show the doll’s house to all their school friends. After all, all the friends hailed from a rich background and all that mattered at this time was showing off what every person had. However, only two of the students hailed from a poor background and as such, they were always subjected to discrimination and this even affected the way in which they socialized with the other students.
All the three ladies to whom the doll’s house was presented were very proud of it and each wanted to be the one to tell the story to the rest of the school friends. However, this role is assigned to the eldest lady, Isabel who was always very bossy. When the time came for the friends to be shown the doll’s house, two at a time, only the Kelveys, Lil and Else, is excluded. This is done intentionally due to their much lower social class that they belonged to. The Kelveys are even taunted about their low social class by Emmie Cole and Lena Logan. However, later on, Kezia, who always seemed to be disagreeing with the social injustices that were brought by the discriminations based on the social class, decides to introduce the Kelveys to the doll house. She never understood why the innocent children had always been treated in such a manner yet they were human beings. However, when she was doing so, she was attacked by aunt Beryl who had been worried by the letter that she had received early and scolds the poor ladies away. All in all, the poor ladies had managed to see the lamp and this had brought a rare smile to the face of Else.
Many themes are evident in this short story. However, the two major ones that are evident are the theme of discrimination in the society based on the social class that one belongs in and the theme of sisterhood. These are the two themes through which the storyline is based and to a large extent, they have tackled issues that are practiced in the modern society.
The theme of sisterhood refers to the close relationship that exists among and between the female friends, and which is sometimes built and enhanced by the fact that they share something in common (Barr, 16). In most cases, the ideologies that they share differ from what the public or the other people may be thinking of. Evidently, in the short story by Mansfield, there are several occasions in which this sisterhood has been observed and been promoted.
The first instance that demonstrates the theme of sisterhood is the relationship that is between the Burnell’s girls, Isabel, Kezia and Lottie. Although they don’t share similar ideologies as far as the discrimination in the society is concerned, they seem to be respecting each other a lot to the extent that their roles are clearly spelt out. When they are presented with the doll’s house, it is certain that Isabel, being the eldest, would automatically take charge of everything. As such, she is the one who takes up the responsibility of opening up the doors of the doll’s house. She is also tasked with the role of explaining everything to the other school friends when they go to school the following day. Even though everybody is anxious to be the one to inform the other students of the doll’s house, they manage to agree that the role will be played by Isabel by virtue of being the eldest in the group. Further, they demonstrate their cooperation on allowing Isabel to choose who among their many friends would be allowed home to see the doll’s house.
In the short story, sisterhood is also demonstrated through the way in which the schoolmates behave. Though this is not exclusive because two of them are being discriminated upon, all the other children who hail from the rich backgrounds seem to be relating well. This is the reason that makes anybody among them to brag to the others whenever they have something new in their home. When Isabel and her sisters are presented with the doll’s house, the first thing that comes into their minds is on how to brag to the other children. They even had to plan on who was to play the role of explaining to the other children what the doll’s house looked like. The manner in which the children play together in the school yard portrays a sense of sisterhood in the community. After taking their meals, they look for a rope and they begin to skip. They play together; skipping so high as they had never done before ran out fast together and all the manner of things that can boost friendship and this strengthened the bond that existed between them all. Sisterhood was being promoted and practiced.
In as much as all the children from the rich backgrounds demonstrated a high sense of sisterhood, the biggest show was however demonstrated by the relationship that existed between the two little poor children, Lil Kelvey and Ease Kelvey. These were the daughters of the works woman and seemed to be the only ones in the school that came from a poor background. Everybody treated them with scorn, always being on the receiving end as they were always the victims of discrimination based on the social classes. However, despite all these challenges they faced, they always walked side by side encouraging each other. They stayed together whenever they were to share their meals, walked together in their way to and from school and basically, did everything together. When the little girl in the school scolded them of being workers in the community in the future, just like their mother was, they just shy by themselves and let everything calm. The little girl even reminds them that their father is in prison but rather than attack her, they decide to just ignore everything and let it settle. Through this, they demonstrated the highest level of sisterhood that was evidenced in the short story by Mansfield.
There are also some rare cases in which sisterhood is demonstrated from the extreme circumstances. In this story, Kezia shows her extreme characters to ensure that the issue on discrimination should be done away with. She interprets the lamp in the doll’s house to mean the new hope that was brought to the society in which discrimination could be ended. She failed to understand the reason as to why the Kelvey were always discriminated upon and she is determined to make it desist. This is why she defies the odds and leads the Kelveys to her home to show them the doll’s house. She defies all the odds to ensure that she achieves her purpose of making them appreciated. However, her aunt scolds her and embarrasses the Kelveys, but nevertheless, she achieves her dream of treating them kindly. Through this, she promotes the theme of sisterhood in the short story.
However, sisterhood is destroyed in several occasions in the story. The rich children seem to be mistreating those from the poor backgrounds. On the other hand, the behavior of the aunt to the Kelveys when they had gone to see the doll’s house, to a large extent, destroys the spirit of sisterhood in the story.
In conclusion therefore, sisterhood has played a very significant role in our understanding of the story. The interaction between the poor and the rich in society should always be encouraged, the same way Kezia was determined to bring the issue of discrimination to an end.
Works Cited
Barr, Emily. The Sisterhood. London: Headline Review, 2008. Print.
