Isolation, Disillusionment And Death: A Thematic Study Of Katherine Mansfield's Short Stories

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) is a woman writer who enjoys the reputation of"a master of short stories". She has made great contribution to the development of the modern short stories. Criticism tends to focus more on her modernistic art rather than on the content. The thematic values are more or less neglected. The thematic evolvement in Mansfield's stories has rarely been a focus of examination.During her brief creation time, Mansfield profoundly changed the themes of her short stories. Drawing on her life experiences, the thesis tries to reveal the thematic evolvement in Mansfield's short stories creation through probing the major works which are most characteristic of her works during different periods. The thematic evolvement of Mansfield's writings had gone through three stages in her short but fruitful writing career. Firstly, as she began the independent life in Europe, her writing merely reflected her feeling of homelessness and alienation. The youthful bitter characteristics of In a German Pension in fact measure the extent of her loneliness; secondly, the year of 1915 was a turning point of her motif of writing. As she was shocked by her brother's death and repeatedly disappointed by the relationship with her lover Murry, her works was characterized by a tone of disillusionment. Disillusionment became the focus of her writing in Bliss and the other stories. Lastly, Mansfield's deteriorating health and the impending death drove her into a brave probation of the paradox of life and death. Her outlook has profoundly changed. Death plays an important role in stories which collected in The Garden Party and Other Stories and the posthumously published Something Childish and Other Stories. The three stages of thematic evolvement fulfill Mansfield's search circle of life.The thesis is composed of five parts. The first chapter is the introduction. It states the aims, significance and related methodology of the study. The second chapter focuses on the theme of isolation predicament that occurs repeatedly in In a German Pension. In this chapter,"The Baron","Germans at Meat","The Luft Bad","The Child-Who-Was-Tired"and"The Tiredness of Rosabel"from Mansfield's earliest creation are chosen for analysis. The third chapter discusses the thematic change of disillusionment. Five short stories"Prelude","Bliss","The Little Governess","Picture"and"Sun and Moon"that represent her mature writing will be used to demonstrate the conflict between illusion and reality. The fourth chapter makes contribution to the discussion of the paradox of life and death. Six representative short stories"Fly","Garden Party","At the Bay","The Doll's House","Her First Ball"and"Voyage"which selected from Mansfield's final stage of writing will be used to explore the important role of death in these stories. The fifth chapter goes on to analysis the contributive writing techniques in Mansfield's works. Finally, based on the above chapters, the last chapter is conclusion.