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    Doll House Analysis

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    Titser Jeff
    The story is an analysis of class discrimination and privilege. It centers around two poor sisters, the Kelveys, and three wealthy Burnell sisters who receive an elaborate dollhouse as a gift. The dollhouse represents the Burnells' wealthy lifestyle and increased social status. They show it off to admire its features but do not play with it. The impoverished Kelveys are not allowed to see the dollhouse, just as lower classes were excluded from the Burnells' actual house. Mansfield depicts the evils of the arrogant upper class through their harsh treatment of the Kelveys, who are portrayed as humble and good.

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    Doll House Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Titser Jeff
    103 views3 pages
    The story is an analysis of class discrimination and privilege. It centers around two poor sisters, the Kelveys, and three wealthy Burnell sisters who receive an elaborate dollhouse as a gift. The dollhouse represents the Burnells' wealthy lifestyle and increased social status. They show it off to admire its features but do not play with it. The impoverished Kelveys are not allowed to see the dollhouse, just as lower classes were excluded from the Burnells' actual house. Mansfield depicts the evils of the arrogant upper class through their harsh treatment of the Kelveys, who are portrayed as humble and good.

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    The story is an analysis of class discrimination and privilege. It centers around two poor sisters, the Kelveys, and three wealthy Burnell sisters who receive an elaborate dollhouse as a gift. The dollhouse represents the Burnells' wealthy lifestyle and increased social status. They show it off to admire its features but do not play with it. The impoverished Kelveys are not allowed to see the dollhouse, just as lower classes were excluded from the Burnells' actual house. Mansfield depicts the evils of the arrogant upper class through their harsh treatment of the Kelveys, who are portrayed as humble and good.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    103 views3 pages

    Doll House Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Titser Jeff
    The story is an analysis of class discrimination and privilege. It centers around two poor sisters, the Kelveys, and three wealthy Burnell sisters who receive an elaborate dollhouse as a gift. The dollhouse represents the Burnells' wealthy lifestyle and increased social status. They show it off to admire its features but do not play with it. The impoverished Kelveys are not allowed to see the dollhouse, just as lower classes were excluded from the Burnells' actual house. Mansfield depicts the evils of the arrogant upper class through their harsh treatment of the Kelveys, who are portrayed as humble and good.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Analysis

    “The Doll’s House” by Katherine Mansfield is an


    extended metaphor for social class discrimination
    and warfare. The story centers on three wealthy
    sisters and two poor sisters and is an analysis and
    criticism of upper-class privilege.
    The story doesn’t mention any particular reason as
    to why the wealthy Burnell sisters receive the
    dollhouse or why they deserve it; it is sent as a gift
    from a guest who had stayed at their house. The
    dollhouse is a privilege that the impoverished
    Kelvey sisters—and, likely, most of their middle-
    class schoolmates—can’t afford.
    The dollhouse itself represents the Burnells’
    wealthy lifestyle. It is incredibly detailed and
    contains various miniature accessories, and it is
    treasured by the wealthy sisters—not simply
    because they enjoy it, but because it increases
    their social status at school. The Burnells’ attitudes
    toward the dollhouse also reflect a sort of
    materialism: the girls are not interested in the dolls
    themselves, which seem too large for the house,
    but in the house’s furnishings and accessories.
    When the Burnell girls invite friends over to see the
    house, they do not play with it; their guests are
    expected to stand and admire the house’s
    “beauties” as Isabel points them out.
    The Burnell sisters and their circle of friends are
    presented as a microcosm of society as a whole. In
    the same way that affluent individuals perceive an
    actual mansion, the dollhouse becomes a symbol
    of wealth, power, and social capital among the
    schoolchildren. The impoverished Kelvey sisters
    are therefore not allowed to see the dollhouse, just
    as middle- and lower-class children from their
    school are not allowed to “stay to tea” or see the
    Burnells’ actual house. Additionally, both adults
    and children of the community are excessively
    unsympathetic: just as Aunt Beryl “felt lighter” after
    scolding and chasing off the Kelvey sisters, the
    girls at school feel more joyful and energetic than
    ever after insulting and shaming them.
    Mansfield depicts the evils of the arrogant upper
    class through the harsh treatment of Lil and Else
    Kelvey as they are repeatedly excluded, taunted,
    and bullied by their peers. She further highlights
    this by causing the reader to empathize with the
    downtrodden sisters. Throughout the story,
    Mansfield refers to Else as “our Else,” emphasizing
    that she wishes the audience to identify with the
    sisters, especially the younger one. The Kelvey
    girls are portrayed as the epitome of goodness and
    humility: Lil brings her teacher a bouquet of flowers
    that she presumably picked for her, and Else wears
    a long white dress that is perhaps symbolic of
    innocence. In the end, when they are chased off by
    Kezia’s aunt Beryl, the sisters are presented in a
    praiseworthy light: their wonder from their brief
    glimpse of the dollhouse reflects a humility and joy
    that they other girls in their class don’t exhibit due
    to their pride and materialism. While the Burnells
    show off their dollhouse as a status symbol and the
    rest of their class competes for invitations to see it,
    the Kelvey girls, in their humility, feel amazed to
    have seen it at all.

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