The Doll’s House

This story was written in 1922. The author, Katherine Mansfield, grew up in rural New Zealand and that is where this story takes place. It is a story about class conflict and the cruelty between children. It is also illustrates how class barriers are artificial and destructive to social relationships.

Concepts: symbolism, theme

Reading Strategies: connections, visualizations

Vocabulary: Find 4 words to put on your bookmark for your logophile

Prewriting: What is class discrimination? How is it learned? What might be done to end it? Do you think there are class divisions in Canada? In what way is Canada divided socially?

During reading:

Use stickies to record your connections. OR sketch what you visualize when you read.

To Discuss with your group:

  1. Describe what the dollhouse looks like. Why do you think the children were so fascinated by this toy?
  1. At the beginning, how do Kezia’s reactions to the house different from those of her sisters? What prompts her to invite the Kelveys to see the house? How does her action affect the tone of the story?
  1. Explain how the teacher treats the Kelvey’s.
  1. Could this story have been told as well from a limited omniscient point of view from Kezia?
  1. What is the importance of Kezia’s and Else’s common love for the lamp? How does that bond add meaning to the story?
  1. Why do you think Jane Mansfield wrote this story? What was her purpose?

To Record:

  1. What conflict is the main conflict in this story? (refer to prewriting question) Explain in a paragraph.
  1. There are three symbols in this story: the dollhouse, the lamp and Kezia herself. What do they represent? Use point form.
  1. The story is told from the omniscient point of view. What advantage does the writer have in using this point of view rather than first person point of view?

Reading Response: Choose one of your stickies and explain your connection.