Analysis Of Class Interests In The Garden Party

The conflict of interest between the upper-class Sheridan family regarding the death of their neighbour Mr. Scott seems purposely emphasized by Mansfield to shed light on the presence of prejudice to the working class living in modern communities. The social class division became coherent when the higher class Sheridans continued their life unaffected and felt not obligated to grieve to their lower class neighbours. It was particularly Ms.

Sheridan who held class distinction to the highest regard and was firm on resuming their garden party despite her daughter’s unforeseen notion to cancel in respect of their neighbours. Ms. Sheridan insisted that their neighbour’s misfortune should not spoil nor infringe upon her families affairs in which she notes that “people like that don’t expect sacrifice from [them]”. As the story continues, it seems Mr. Sheridan relies on the lower class solely for fulfilling commonplace jobs and labour in order to sustain her fantasy lifestyle. Her prejudice against the working class allows her to see them no other than objects where permitting a sense of humanity into their relationship would only further complicate their subordinate role. Furthermore, Ms. Sheridan’s negative presumptions on the motives of Mr. Scott’s death conveys casual prejudice shown towards her neighbours of the lower class in her community. When she suggests Mr. Scott must have been responsible for his own death, she felt it was reasonable for her to not concern herself in that matter of any deeper regard. The division of social class is depicted as important to the Sheridans as they strive to maintain their impressive life and garner the attention of the elite through hosting parties. Mansfield recognizes that the different classes rely on each other to facilitate each other’s world where co-existence is only business relationship them rather than being equal co-inhabitants of the same community. Ms. Sheridan’s inability to understand the perspective of the lower-class people is depicted to parody the class division held in modern communities.

While Mansfield paints sharp portraits of Ms. Sheridan as an example of upper-class snobbery, Laura’s coming of age as a young woman manifests the hypocrisy of bourgeois society. Mansfield shares an underlying theme of class prejudice and division but there is a deeper understanding of what she is suggesting. The story is able to propel through Laura’s confusion of emotions and perceptions on her understanding of the world. As she faces her neighbour’s deathbed, she discovers that death is universal and that her privileged life won’t protect her from the darkness of life. Laura’s humane character eventually blurs as the story progresses. She begins to develop an awareness of her privileges and attempts to consider the world from the perspective of the working class ironically finding herself rooted too deep in her family’s upper-class motivations and comfortable way of life, leaving the reader to reason why so on their own. Laura goes from urging her mother to call off the party to being eased when she tried her mother’s hat on then deciding that she will remember the matter of Mr. Scott’s death after the party is over. This change demonstrates how Laura, a young woman from the upper class, remains indifferent to the tragedy of others through frivolous distractions and is only romanticizing the pains of the lower class. 

Although Laura may seem to be depicted to understand the grief her neighbours undergo, she remains emotionally unaffected and her life abides back to the life of her upper social standing. A Marxist critique of modernism would notice that Laura’s evolving growth and maturity epitomizes the dysfunctional relationship between upper and lower classes and that her attempt at class consciousness in reality only ridicules the understanding of working-class subordinates. The character development in Laura’s ambivalent class consciousness demonstrates the limited understanding of those privileged despite being well-intentioned.