On “Her First Ball“ By Katherine Mansfield

Mansfield illustrates a rich, colorful fairy-tale-like picture as the setting of Leila’s world. We can obviously sense how Leila’s perception of the ball is that of a dreamlike event. The author shows her readers at the beginning of the story how Leila felt more like Cinderella incarnated in her body; for, her thrill is felt when she is in the cab passing by “waltzing” lampposts. Apparently, Leila’s heart is beating fast here, and we can almost hear its pulse, especially when “she tried not to smile too much; she tried not to care”(p.40).

The author’s creation of a dream w

orld is revealed in the way Leila views everything with wide eyes and astonishment. Simple common details, such as “Meg’s tuberoses, Jose’s long loop of amber, Laura’s little dark head…”(p.40) are even seen by her as most charming and extraordinary. Unmistakably, Mansfield is constructing “fairy land” as the setting of the story through the eyes of Leila.

contains within it many hidden criticisms of issues held during her lifetime, not to mention that the criticism is also written from a woman’s point of view, throughout the setting of a dreamlike world(in the eyes of a young lady).

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