(Katherine Mansfield)
The
Doll’s House is a thought provoking story that describes the feeling and
emotional relationship of children in very simple and impressive manner. These
feeling and emotional relationships are linked with set up of a society which is
based on the class-consciousness. The upper class always keep distance with the
lower class. The present story is the study of a mind. It brings our
interrelationship between the Burnell daughters and their school-mates. The
story teaches us a moral lesson. The writer says we should never look down upon
the poor.
Once
Mrs. Hay stayed as a guest with the Burnell family. When she went back. She sent
a doll’s house to Burnells children. It was a beautiful house so perfect that
I looked real. It was painted green
and yellow. The floor was carpeted,
walls were papered and there were plush chairs in the dining room; with a tiny
table lamp on the dining table. There lived two parent dolls and baby dolls in
the house. It was perfect in all respects, and Isable, Lottie and Kezia liked it
so much. They had never seen anything like it in their lives.
Next
morning the Burnells sisters were keen to tell their friends about the doll’s
house. Isable, being the eldest, took the initiative. During the play time all
the girls gathered around her. They were excited to hear something strange.
However, there were two girls, Lil Kelvey and Else Kelvey, who stayed outside
the ring. They were poor and the girls made fun if them. Their father was in
prison and their mother was a washerwoman who worked in different houses. Even
the teacher had an insulting look for them.
Isable
invited two of her friends each day to come and see the doll’s house. Kezia
had a soft heart. She requested her mother to allow her to invite the Kelveys
but she was forbidden to do so. However, when she say the Kelveys sisters
passing by her house, she invited them to get in and have a look at doll’s
house. They hesitated for a moment
but then entered the house. While Kezia was showing them to house, Aunt Beryl
appeared there and turned the poor girls out. She took Kezia to task for her
disobedience.
The
writer has very successfully shown the intimate interrelationship between
Burnells sisters and their school-mates. The relationship of the rich girls with
the Kelveys presents a contrast to it. The writer tells us that children are
basically innocent. They are spoiled by their parents who inject various
prejudices into their minds. Kezia’s gesture of love marks the climax of the
story. The writer teaches us not to spoil the goodness of children. The innocent
sisterly relationship between Kelveys sisters is touching and impressive.