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"The Doll's House" Essay
A contributing factor to the story "The Doll's House" by Katherine
Mansfield is the characterization of Kezia as she travels in her innocence
through the symbolic world of experience. Kezia is essential to the plot
because she represents a taboo, offering opposition to common ways of
thinking. Through the portrayal of Kezia, as she interacts as the symbolic
eccentric, Mansfield emphasizes the powers and blind justification of
conformity within a society.
The story commences with the arrival of the doll's house sent to the
Burnell children. The Burnells take a great liking to this new acquisition.
As the two older children admire the red carpet, red plush chairs, and
gold frames of this highly ornamented house, Kezia, the youngest of the
girls, takes an interest in the rather simple lamp. In fact, "what she
liked more than anything, what she liked frightfully, was the lamp." This
infatuation symbolizes her impeccability in comparison to the others as she
is drawn to the unadorned lamp. Kezia proceeds to find fault with the state
and proportions of the doll's house and perfection with the lamp in its
simplicity. As others take interests in the gaudy nature of the house,
Kezia rebels: "But the lamp was perfect. It seemed to smile at Kezia, to
say `I live here.' The lamp was so real."
Conflict intensifies as Kezia remains the odd ball. The appreciation of
the lamp is a metaphor for the actions to come. Kezia likes the lamp
because she does not know any better. Thus, she decides to befriend the
Kelveys because she doesn't see anything wrong in doing so. The Kelveys
are a family that are shunned because of their economic status. Throughout
the town, "Many of the children, including the Burnnels, were not allowed
even to speak to them." Without a second thought, school children and
their families followed in the consuming tradition of looking down upon
these unprivileged people. Kezia offers offset to this common path of
thinking and questions such a blind following. She asks her mother, "Can't
I ask the Kelveys just once?" To which, the response is, "Run away, Kezia;
you know quite well why not." Mansfield successfully expresses the
enveloping and controlling nature of conformity through the juxtaposition
of Kezia's innocence to the prejudiced views of those who live in the
world of experience. While others remain to push Kezia's nonconformist
qualities down, she pursues contact with the Kelvey girls. She states in
her actions that she is strong enough to engage in war against conformity
when she invites the Kelveys to see the doll's house despite her mother's
unjustified demands. When the Kelveys have their visit, they hardly get to
take in the full effect of the doll's house before they are shooed "out as
if they were chickens." However, they overlook the embellished details of
the house and have, like Kezia, a tendency to be drawn to the simplistic
lamp. Thus, Kezia and the Kelveys are drawn together in the purity of heart
of the light to battle and ignore things based upon blind faith.
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