The Garden Party

The story begins with “ideal” weather for a garden party, with a tone of lightness and gaiety surrounding the early events; by the end, it is night time, and Laura weeps in a strange epiphany after visiting a man’s wake. This drastic, overarching transition frames one of the story’s key messages: People live in constant liminality, balancing between fragile states as they transition through various life stages. This message is mirrored in the journey of the protagonist, Laura Sheridan, a young wealthy girl who, within the span of one day, struggles with her precarious position between wealth and poverty, adolescence and adulthood, and life and death.

The story’s encompassing liminality extends to the theme of class distinction. As Laura prepares for the party, she dances from duty to duty and, in doing so, reveals her liminality as a character: While wealthy in her upbringing and surroundings, she is curious of the less-affluent workmen who help to set up the party, as well as the poorer, working-class neighborhood outside the Sheridans’ gates. Mansfield quickly dramatizes the Sheridans’ wealth by juxtaposing Laura’s upbringing against one of the workmen’s use of slang in the beginning of the story. The family’s affluence is evident also in their extensive, lavish property—such as the garden, tennis courts, and veranda—much of which is given sensuous narrative description. Money appears to be no object for the Sheridans; Mrs. Sheridan surprises the children with a large order of flowers, servants help prepare a bounty of food, specialty desserts are catered for the event, and a band is brought in. In fact, Laura’s reality is one that is almost unrealistic to her contemporary society; her life inside the gates of her household is cloistered away from poverty and death.

However, the protagonist’s naiveté will have begun dissipating by the end of the story, as liminality is also a stage for the theme of children’s transition between adolescence and adulthood. Laura and her siblings “play” at adulthood: Her brother Laurie accompanies his father to work, while Laura and the other siblings “plan” for a party that is really being planned by Mrs. Sheridan. Neither the children nor the adults mind this, as it is an understood family game supported by undertones of laughter, good weather, and amicable interactions. Laura is soon propelled into maturation: The dynamic of liminality finds its ultimate expression in the theme of life and death, and the turning point of the story is Laura’s realization that a man has died near the gates of the Sheridan house. The delivery man from outside the gates brings this news, which, although surprising to everyone, really only affects Laura—and this announcement shocks her and ultimately makes her re-evaluate the ethics of whether this party should continue under the new circumstances. While Laura grapples with this knowledge, her family disregards it as unimportant to their way of life, especially Mrs. Sheridan, who is only concerned whether the death occurred inside the gates of the home. While the characters continue with the party preparations, Laura’s newfound knowledge opens the door to her awareness—of herself and of the outside world—as well as her movement from the liminal and into the next phase of her life.

The preparation, occurrence, and conclusion of the party symbolizes life, which is also in a liminal state of flux. Mansfield reminds the reader that time itself is fleeting with the story’s flower imagery, which defines even the narrative description of the party itself: “And the perfect afternoon slowly ripened, slowly faded, slowly its petals closed” (9). After the party, Laura begins her journey from inside the gates to the widow’s house to pay respects and deliver the gift basket. It is a journey of her own self-awareness; while complimented for her outfit at the party, she realizes how out of place she looks in the outside world. When she is confronted with death, she acknowledges the beauty along with the sorrow and, in the final moments of the story, is so overcome with emotion that she fails to find the words to describe life. For Laura, her transformation has begun, and, while she may physically return to the house inside the gates, her emotional and psychological development have begun her transition into adulthood.