The Garden Party

The Garden Party Summary | Detailed Summary

Katherine Mansfield's "The Garden Party" opens on the morning that the Sheridan family is giving a party. Mrs. Sheridan, the family matriarch, has agreed to step aside and act as a guest while her daughters arrange and host the event by themselves. Laura Sheridan serves as the story's protagonist. Since she is considered to be the creative sister, it is up to her to set up the backyard for the guests.

The day of the party, the weather is perfect. It is warm, with no clouds in the sky, and the family's gardener has been up since dawn tending to hundreds of roses that seem to have bloomed overnight. The narrator comments that roses are the most important flowers at garden parties. They are sure to impress the guests, because often they are the only flowers that everyone recognizes.

Workmen arrive at the house to set up a marquee, and Laura is sent to instruct them on where to do this. She tries to look severe as she approaches the four workmen, who are standing on the garden path holding covered rolls of canvas. She is imitating her mother, and when she wishes them good morning she notices that her voice sounds overly affected. A tall, lanky, freckled man smiles at Laura. He has nice eyes: small but impressively dark blue. The other men smile at Laura as well. She suggests placing the marquee in the Lily lawn, but a chubby workman disagrees with her. Laura's upbringing makes her question whether it is appropriate for the workmen to speak to her so frankly. She makes a second suggestion of placing the marquee on the tennis court but then remembers that a band will be set up there. A pale man among the workers then suggests setting the marquee up in front of the Karakas trees, and Laura complies.

Three of the workmen leave to set up, but the tall, lanky man stays behind. He bends down, picks up a sprig of lavender and smells it. Laura is curious about him, since she has never known a man to have interest in such things. She wonders why she can't have workmen friends instead of the silly boys she sees now and thinks that she would get along better with men like the tall man. Laura finds the class distinctions absurd and feels that she is unaffected by them. As she stares at the tall man drawing on an envelope, she feels like a work girl.

A voice from the house calls Laura to the phone. In the hall she sees her father and her brother Laurie getting ready to go to the office. Her brother asks her to check if his coat needs to be pressed. She says she will do this and takes her phone call. It is her friend Kitty, who Laura invites over for lunch. Mrs. Sheridan interrupts the phone call with a message for Kitty to wear the hat she likes. Laura passes on the message and hangs up the phone.

As Laura watches the preparations for the party, the doorbells rings, and Sadie, one of the servants, comes downstairs to answer it. A florist is at the door with pots of pink lilies. Laura crouches near them in delight as if they were giving off warmth but tells the florist that there must be a mistake, as no one has ordered the lilies. Mrs. Sheridan walks in and says that she ordered them. Laura jokingly reminds her mother that she had promised to leave the party decisions up to the girls. Her mother replies that she had bought them on a whim the day before, because she couldn't resist. The florist stacks the lilies on the porch.

In the drawing room, Laura's sisters Meg and Jose help another servant, Hans, move the piano and sofa. Jose instructs Hans on where everything should be placed. She loves giving orders to the servants, and they love getting orders from her because she makes them feel like they are taking part in some drama. Jose asks Hans to send Laura and her mother into the room. She also asks to hear the song "This Life is Weary" on the piano, " and sings along in accompaniment. Sadie walks into the room to collect labelling flags for the sandwiches, and Mrs. Sheridan says she will bring them to the cook in ten minutes. She tells Laura to write out the names on the flags for her. Then she orders Meg and Jose to finish getting ready and also asks Jose to pacify the cook, who is terrifying her today. The cook is not addressed by name but is simply called "cook." After Laura finishes writing the flags, she brings them to the cook and finds that Jose is there as requested. Laura notes that the cook by no means looks terrifying; as Jose compliments her on the variety of sandwiches she has made, the cook smiles while she cuts off the crusts.

Sadie enters the kitchen to announce that the deliveryman from Godber's has arrived to drop off the cream puffs that were ordered. Sadie brings the pastries in and the cook arranges them. She lets Laura and Jose each sneak one. The sisters know that it is improper to eat these so soon after breakfast, but they take them anyway. Laura then wants to go back outside to see how the marquee is coming, but finds that Hans, Sadie, the cook, and the Godber's man are blocking the door. The deliveryman is telling the others something, and by the expressions on their faces, it is undoubtedly bad news. The cook tells Laura and Jose that there has been an accident nearby, and the deliveryman continues the story, telling them that a carter named Mr. Scott from one of the nearby cottages had been thrown from his horse and killed that morning. He had a wife and five children. Laura tells Jose that they should stop the party. Jose is amazed and accuses Laura of being too extravagant.

The cottages are a group of small houses near the upper-class neighbourhood where the Sheridans live. Washerwomen and cobblers occupy them. The Sheridan children had been forbidden to go there when they were young, because their parents hadn't wanted them to be exposed to poverty and the foul language they believed would be used at the cottages. Laura and Laurie had ventured there anyway, though. They had found the area to be disgusting and sordid but had wanted to go everywhere and experience everything. Now, ass she thinks about the death, Laura is worried about what the band will sound like to the poor widow of Mr. Scott. Jose is annoyed with her sister and says that Laura's sentimentality will not bring the man back to life.

Laura tells her mother that there has been an accident. Her mother's first concern is that something may have happened in their garden, and she is relieved to find out that this is not the case. Laura tells her about Mr. Scott and suggests that they cannot continue with the party under these circumstances. Mrs. Sheridan reacts the same way as Jose. She doesn't take Laura very seriously, and Laura is astonished at her mother's reaction. Mrs. Sheridan talks Laura into continuing the party and gives her one of her hats to wear. She places it on her head and passes her daughter a hand mirror, but Laura cannot look at herself. Mrs. Sheridan is losing her patience. She tells her daughter that people don't expect sacrifices from them and says that it would be unsympathetic to stop everyone's enjoyment.

Laura doesn't understand her mother's reasoning. She goes to her room, where she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror and admires the hat. Now she hopes that her mother is right, and thinks that maybe she is just being extravagant. She thinks of the poor widow and her children again, but now the image is blurred and seems unreal; she speculates that perhaps she will remember the image better after the party. At 2:30, the band arrives. Laura talks with her friend Kitty Maitland, and Laura's brother Laurie comes home and waves hello on his way to get dressed. When Laura sees him, she thinks of the accident again and wants to tell him about it. If he agrees with the others, then she will know everything is all right. She follows him into the hall, where he comments on her stunning hat; nothing is said about the accident.

Guests begin to arrive, and Laura greets them as the band plays. The party is a success, and everyone appears to have a great time. When the party is over, Laura and her mother stand side by side on the porch saying goodbye to the visitors. Once their company is gone, Mrs. Sheridan tells Laura to round up the rest of the family to have coffee in the marquee. Laura offers a sandwich to her father, who asks if they have heard about the accident. Laura's mother says that it almost ended the party, because Laura insisted on postponing it; Laura resents being teased about this. Her father mentions Mr. Scott's children, and an awkward silence surrounds the family. Laura's mother looks at all of the leftover party food that will go to waste and suggests that they make up a basket for the Scott family. Laura asks if that is really a good idea, feeling that the widow would resent a gift of their leftover party scraps. Her mother insists that Laura take the basket and tells her to go as she is, still dressed in her party clothes. She suggests bringing them some lilies too, but Jose points out that the stems will ruin Laura's dress.

Mrs. Sheridan follows her daughter to the bottom of the marquee. She begins to warn her by saying, "Don't on any account..." She stops herself, though, and when Laura asks her mother what she is saying, Mrs Sheridan refuses to tell her. It is beginning to get dark as Laura heads out. She closes the garden gate and follows the gleaming white road down to the quiet cottages, which are cloaked in deep shade. Laura flashes back to the party as she walks, remembering what a success it was. She crosses the road and starts up a dark, smoky lane, toward the cottages. She sees women in shawls hurry by and children standing in doorways. There are flickers of light and moving shadows in some of the small houses. Laura wishes that she had worn her coat and is embarrassed by her fancy dress and hat; she worries that people are looking at her and wonders if coming to the cottages had been a mistake; she realizes that it is too late to go back, as she has arrived at the Scott house.

People stand outside the house talking, but the voices stop when Laura nervously approaches. The group parts as though they expected her. Laura asks one of the people outside if this is the Scott house, and on learning that it is, she knocks on the door. She has just decided to simply drop off the basket and go when the door opens, and a woman dressed in black tells Laura to come inside. Laura says that she doesn't want to and only wishes to leave the basket that her mother has sent her to drop off. The woman seems not hear her though, and asks her to come inside again. Laura follows the woman into the house And sees Mrs. Scott sitting before a fire in the small kitchen. The woman who answered the door is the widow's sister. She tells Mrs. Scott that a young lady has come to see her. Mrs. Scott turns around, her face swollen with tears, and then turns back to the fire; her sister asks Laura to excuse her. Laura wants to get away.

Mrs. Scott's sister asks Laura if she would like to look at Mr. Scott; the way in which she asks seems to assume that Laura will want to do this. She tells Laura not to be afraid as she draws back the sheet that covers the dead man. Laura sees him and thinks that he looks peaceful, like he is sleeping. She considers that garden parties and dresses mean nothing to him, and she thinks that he is wonderful and beautiful. Laura thinks about how while the band played and they continued their party, this man had been brought here. He has a content look on his face that seems to say that all is well.

Suddenly Laura begins to cry and says, "Forgive my hat," once again embarrassed by her attire. She finds her way to the door and walks down the path past the people outside. Her brother Laurie is standing at the corner, and he calls to her. He tells her their mother is getting anxious and asks if the basket was all right. When she comes closer, he sees that she is crying and tells her not to cry. He asks if seeing the Scotts was awful. Laura says seeing Mr. Scott was marvellous. She begins, "But isn't life..." She is unable to finish her sentence. Laurie understands what she is saying and simply responds, "Isn't it?"