摘 要

《园会》是凯瑟琳·曼斯菲尔德著名的现代短篇小说之一。小说展示的是平凡的生活，一次园会和一起死亡事件，这其中包括了喜悦和恐惧，也包括了希望和梦想。本文将分析女主人公劳拉的心理变化，探索她如何从一个天真善良的小女孩逐渐变得矛盾，而最后又超越自我，变得成熟的过程，从而使人们重新看待死亡，对生活进行进一步的思考，在生命中领悟死亡的真谛。

关键词：劳拉；心理变化；生与死

Contents

1. Introduction................................................................................................................1

2. Demonstration............................................................................................................2

2.1Initially: A naive, happy and kind girl.......................................................................2

2.1.1 Full of fantasy to life.............................................................................................3

2.1.2 Full of kindness to the people around...................................................................4

2.2. Gradually: A girl with inner conflicts......................................................................4

2.2.1 Sympathy for the working class............................................................................5

2.2.2 Compromise with the bourgeoisie.........................................................................6

2.3. Finally: A girl becoming mature..............................................................................7

2.3.1 Different attitudes towards death..........................................................................7

2.3.2 Further thinking about life.....................................................................................7

3. Conclusion..................................................................................................................8

Works Cited....................................................................................................................9

Bibliography.................................................................................................................10

An Analysis of Laura’s Psychological Changes in The Garden Party

1. Introduction

Kathleen Mansfield Murry (14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a prominent New Zealand modernist short story writer who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Her first collection of stories was published in 1911. Her most popular and successful stories are The Garden Party, A Cup of Tea, Life of Ma Parker, The Fly, Bliss, etc., and she also wrote stories with New Zealand settings. She died of tuberculosis, a disease that she got shortly after her second marriage.

The Garden Party is a 1922 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published in the Saturday Westminster Gazette on 4 February, 1922, then in the Weekly Westminster Gazette on 18 February, 1922. The text is written in the modernist mode, without a set structure, and with many shifts in the narrative. The Sheridan family is preparing to host a garden party. Laura is supposed to be in charge. After the furniture is rearranged, they learn that their working-class neighbor Mr. Scott has died. While Laura believes the party should be called off, neither her sister Jose nor their mother agrees. The party is a success, and later Mrs. Sheridan decides it would be good to bring a basket full of leftovers to the Scotts' house. She summons Laura to do so. Laura is shown into the poor neighbors' house. She is enamored of the young man, finding him beautiful and compelling, and after she leaves the house, she starts to think about what real life is.

This short story is like a photo which seizes the moment in people's lives and seals the memory. Life is right there, smiling or frowning, being sad or happy, serious or surprising. This subtle and elegant story shows us the ordinary life, and the trivial and insignificant little things that constitute the ordinary people's life. The novel reflects the class antagonism and the wealth gap between the rich and the poor. In terms of art, Katherine Mansfield is deeply influenced by Chekhov. She doesn't set odd bureau, and does not ask for absurd and circuitous plot. She pays attention to exploring changes in the feelings of the characters from the little things seemingly unremarkable, and shows a protest against the unreasonable society in the objective statement. This work has bright color and the style is concise, fluent and poetic.