A Cup of Tea

After reading “A Cup of Tea” I consider it fantastic. Katherine Mansfield is so good at describing characters’ personalities and grasping their mentality. Rosemary Fell is a self-engrossed cheesy and hypocrisy woman.

(1) self-engrossed

At the beginning of the story Rosemary goes to a little antique shop the owner of which is ridiculously found of serving her because she will buy expensive antiques. In this scene there are a lot of dialogue deions and Rosemary occupies the centre of the conservation. I realize that when talking to others Rosemary prefers imperative sentences. This behaviour reflects her personality of self-center.

(2) Cheesy

However she fails to buy the expensive enamel box because of lacking money. Then she feels depressed and says “ there are horrible moments in life”. Ironically all she can do to release this “pain” is to have a cup of tea. What a strange world view!

(3) Hypocrisy

In my opinion she takes the poor girl home not because of her kindness bu her desire to show off. The most vivid deion is that she puts two dollars back after taking out 5 dollars. If she really want to help the poor girl she wouldn’t grudge giving just two more dollars.

Through the deion of mentality and actions Mansfield vividly satirized this self-centered cheesy and hypocritical middle-class housewife.

2021-04-24

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