No name Professor No name English 101 03 April 2012 True Power In the short story “The Doll’s House,” written by Katherine Mansfield, there are three little girls that receive a doll house from a family friend that is a “perfect, perfect little house” (Mansfield). The two main characters in the story are the Burnell sisters, Isabel, the eldest daughter, and Kezia who live in a small village. The hierarchy is very apparent in this town, just like in every other little town there are almost always those who are on top, those who are in the middle and those who are on the bottom of the power structure.
Not only is it the adults that are aware of this structure, but the children are as well. This story proves that the power structure is not induced by how hard of a worker one may be, or what kind of contributions one may make for the village, it is all based upon wealth and possessions. In this story we see how the doll house is used to enforce the social hierarchy in this small little village. At the bottom of the social hierarchy we have the Kelveys, Lil Kelvey and our Else: “They were the daughters of a spry, hardworking little washerwoman, who went about from house to house by the day” (Mansfield).
Because of this ranking, “Many of the children, including the Burnells, were not allowed to even speak to them” (Mansfield). They were treated different by everybody in the town, “Even the teacher had a special voice for them” (Mansfield). No one knew what was to be said of Mr. Kelvey, “But everybody said he was in prison” (Mansfield). This was yet another reason they were at the bottom of the social hierarchy it was an excuse to reinforce power structure. To the village they were not, “Very nice company for other people’s children! (Mansfield). This is an excellent paragraph, with a strong use of primary source materials in support of your contentions. Isabel is the one who uses the power of the doll house to show she is at the top of this social structure. When receiving this doll house Isabel demands, “I’m to tell […], because I’m the eldest” (Mansfield). There is no argument between the sisters about this because “ Lottie and Kezia knew too well the powers that went with being eldest” (Mansfield). The doll house is located in the ourtyard because of how big it is, “It was so big that the carter and Pat carried it into the courtyard,” (Mansfield). The Burnells, especially Isabel, loves the doll house so much that they want everyone to see it, “And I’m to choose who’s to come and see it first. Mother said I might” (Mansfield). Mansfield states in the story: For it had been arranged that while the doll’s house stood in the courtyard they might ask the girls at school, two at a time, to come and look. Not to stay for tea, of course, or to come traipsing through the house.
But to just stand quietly in the courtyard while Isabel pointed out the beauties, and Lottie and Kezia looked pleased…. (Mansfield) This insinuates that Mrs. Burnell did not allow the girls’ schoolmates to come inside the house because the Burnells are at the top of the social structure, and Ms. Burnell does not want people to get the idea that the lower class villagers are welcome there. Isabel wanted every little girl to see this dollhouse, “She held quite a court under the huge pine trees at the side of the playground” (Mansfield).
The Kelveys were not invited to join this court, “And the only two who stayed outside the ring were the two who were always outside, the little Kelveys” (Mansfield). The reason for this is because, “They knew better than to come anywhere near the Burnells” (Mansfield). Isabel loves all the attention she is getting around playtime, “The girls of her class nearly fought to put their arms round her, to walk away with her, to beam flatteringly, to be her special friend” (Mansfield). This really shows how much power Isabel is receiving because of the doll house and because she has the power to choose who can see it.
These little girls are not nice to Isabel because they like her “But when the [little girls] knew they were all to have a chance [to see the doll house] they couldn’t be nice enough to Isabel” (Mansfield). This doll house was so popular amongst the little girls that “Even the dinner hour was given up to talking about it” (Mansfield). Yet the Kelveys, overhearing the conversations about how wonderful the doll house is, “moved away forgotten, there was nothing more for them to hear” (Mansfield).
This gift was meant to bring happiness to the Burnell children; it was something that was meant to be an innocent, wonderful gift, not to be used for evil purposes. But because Ms. Burnell granted Isabel power over the house, Isabel took advantage of that power to gain control over all the little girls and further exclude the Kelveys. To make the Kelveys shameful that they were the only ones that could not be allowed to see this doll house. Isabel wanted nothing more than to be the one on the top of the social hierarchy and have little girls fighting just to be her special friends.
Isabel got what she wanted; she is at the top, just like her mother is. This is a very good essay, but there are some serious problems with some of the formatting, which shows that the editing was not as close as it should have been. Please be more careful about such things since in the final essay, I shall take off credit for mistakes. Also, note that there were some major problems in the works cited page, once again, please be more careful. Grade: A ? Works Cited Mansfield, Katherine. “The Doll’s House. ” Una Revista de Literatura. The Doll’s House. Web. 03 April 2012.
