(完整版)《一杯茶》赏析

A Cup of Tea
Katherine Mansfield was one of the most famous short story writers in the world. In her stories, she always uses indirect ways to reflect the reality in the society. She likes to emphasis the theme by describing a certain person, an event or a scene. In many of her stories, she shows her attitude of feminism by using many ironic and exaggerating sentences, which add a little humorous sense as well as profound meaning to her story.
A Cup of Tea is a simple story with penetrating meaning: Rosemary is a very rich woman. Although she is not very beautiful, she dresses in a delicate and modern way. In a rain y day, she encounters a young beggar who wants a cup of tea to get warm. Rosemary takes the little girl home and offers her food and drinks. When her husband comes back, he is very shocked to say such a ragged girl and asked Rosemary to get rid of her. Refused by Rosemary, he intentionally speaks highly of the beauty of that beggar, which surprised Rosemary and finally she let the girl go.
In the beginning of the story, the author gives us a very typical protagonist—Rosemary, a wealthy and happy woman. She has beautiful clothes, celebrated friend sand a husband loves her very much. “She was young, brilliant, extremely modern, exquisitely well dressed” and “if Rosemary wanted to shop she would go to Paris as you and I would go to Bond Street.”From all of these ironic detailed descriptions, it is apparent that Rosemary is a hypocritical woman. She attaches great important to her dress and deliberately chooses those friends who can help her get high social status. Although she is a woman of decent life, she cannot live independently in such a male-centered society. It is this unfair society that twists her mind and thus forces her become so hypocritical and artificial.
There are three events in this story can support the author’s feminism idea. The first is about a little box. In a shop, Rosemary was attracted by an exquisite little box which costs twenty-eight guineas, Twenty-eight guineas does not cost much for her such a wealthy woman, but Rosemary hesitates and left it in the shop. Through a series description of the surroundings, the author presents the gloomy mood of Rosemary—“Hateful umbrella”, “Rosemary felt a strange pang”and “horrible moment in life”. Rich as she is, it is so strange that she has such a strong emotion towards a little box. However, in a deep sense, what makes her so distressed is the society, in which man is the authority. In this society,
Rosemary totally depends on her husband for the money. Without the permission of her husband, she cannot afford to buy nothing even a little box. In the society, a woman has no right to own property. Beautiful clothes, luxurious house and delicate furniture, all of these belong to her husband, not her. Without her husband, she has nothing, even bears no difference with a beggar. Although Rosemary does not realize the cruel reality, the real reason causes her upset is that she cannot de everything but to abide by the regulation of the society she lives in.
The second event which proves the themes is event that she helps a young beggar. Living in such a society, although unconscious, Rosemary must lack a sense of belonging and achievement. While submerging in the sorrow, she meets the beggar girl who wants a cup of tea. Stimulated by the poor girl, she decides to take her home and be nice to her. From this, we can see how twisted she was due to the milieu, for her help offered to that girl just out of hypocrisy and the desire to have a sense of satisfaction. “She had a feeling of triumph as she slipped her head through the velvet strep”;“She was going to prove to this girl that fairy mother was real, that rich people have hearts.”All of these show that how ridiculous she is. However, to think deeply, it is the society that changes her into a hypocritical woman. She cannot get anything from the society—independence, property, social status even a small box she likes so much. As a result, she can only get a little happiness from showing off towards the poor people.
Another reason she helps the beggar is that she and the beggar are same in some degree. To the girl she said, “Women were sisters.”Yes, at that period of time, all the women are same. They all can be regarded as “beggar”. Rich women beg money from their husbands and poor women deg money from pedestrian in the street. Before meeting the beggar girl, she was in a gloomy mood because she cannot afford that small box. When she meets the girl who has no money to buy a cup of tea, she may burst out a kind of sympathy towards a girl, as well as herself.
The last scene is also the climax of the story. In the end of the story, Rosemary “presses his head against her bosom” and asks her husband, “am I pretty?’From the beginning of the story, we know that Rosemary’s husband “absolutely adore her”. But from her husband’s reaction from the beggar girl Rosemary has brought home, he exposes his real feeling
towards her. He dose not like the beggar, nor does he want Rosemary to help her. In order to get rid of the girl, he uses a tricky to irritate Rosemary to drive the beggar away. This reveals the inequality between man and woman at that time. Man regards woman as his appendage not his spiritual company. He takes over everything and his wife must behave as he likes. In this story, it is the first time that Rosemary wants to do something special and “fascinating” to herself, but she has to give it up a she husband wishes. Woman at that time had no right to fulfill such little dream. The beggar girl is just like the little box she likes in the shop—without her husband’s permission, she can get nothing.
The end of the story is designed simple, short but quite extraordinary. In Rosemary’s heart, the poor girl can serve as a foil to her elegance and wealth, but her husband praises the beauty of that girl. Not pretty as Rosemary is, she was so frustrated that finally she let the beggar go with offering a little sum of money. Some exclamations use by the author ridicule Rosemary’s change of mind completely: “pretty! Absolutely lovely! Bowled over! Her heart beat like a heavy bell!”How astonished and furious she is. Then she took off her hypocritical mask, gives the girl three pounds and drives her away.
But why such a few praise words can drive her so crazy that she becomes no longer the “kind” woman as she claims? The reason still underlies the background of the society she lives in. Rosemary becomes so anxious because once her husband loves another woman, she will lose everything she has. So after driving the girl away, she “done her hair, darkened her eyes a little and put on her pearl.”Her intention to do such delicate makeup is that she is eager to assure her position in the family and in her husband’s heart. She knows that she should totally depend on her husband. At last, she asks her husband. “Am I pretty?”This question pointed at the theme—the large gap and discrepancy of position between man and woman at that time.
In this story, there are also several distinct contrast which can prove how the unequal, hypocritical society influences even twists human’s mind and heart.
The most conspicuous one is Rosemary’s attitude towards the girl. When she meets the girl in the street, she pretends t be very kind to her. She takes her home, dries her clothes, and offers her food and tea. The author’s detailed description towards Rosemary makes us think she is very kind and generous: “Rosemary knelt beside her chair. She put he arm
around those thin, bird-like shoulders.”However, after her husband deliberately told her how lovely the girl is, she was no longer kind and generous woman, but very cruel and selfish. In her eyes, even five pounds weighs too much for a beggar girl who might threaten her happiness. Living in such a male-centered society, her husband is everything, so she must not allow any person to grab her happiness. Her husband eclipses everything, even kindness and generosity.
Another contrast is about her husband. At the beginning, the author said Rosemary’s husband loves her very much. But in the end, after he knows Rosemary wants to look after the girl, he pretended unconsciously praises the girl, which irritates Rosemary so much that finally she let the girl go. This contrast ironically shows that Rosemary’s husband dose not love her that much and he only regards her as some kind of appendage to him. He would never respect her decisions and even does not allow her make any decision. Rosemary’s role in his heart is just like a tame lamb who can obey everything he asks. This is the common attitude man towards woman at that time.
When reading the short story A Cup of Tea written by Katherine Mansfield, we can find that the story is very simple as well as amusing and humorous with her fresh and elegant words. However, the deep and serious meaning hides under the funny surface. After reading it several times, I do not think this story funny at all. Instead, it is a tragedy—a tragedy for women in that society. No matter in social or domestic life, the woman at that time did not have their own positions and were marginalized by the society where man could dominate everything even a fate of a woman. As a woman, she did not have any source of earning money, except pleasing her husband. Under the disguise of wealth and decency, the tragic life of Rosemary serves like a mirror reflecting the cruel reality of that society, and this is also the feminism attitude holds by Katherine Mansfield.。