What is the central theme in Katherine Mansfield's "The Doll's House"?

The central theme in Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Doll's House" concerns the inhumanity of social class discrimination and the hope for the dawn of a new day bringing true equality.

Mansfield grew up in British colonial New Zealand, and her short story, as well as many of her other works, reflect her own experiences and observations. In colonial New Zealand, not many schools existed; therefore, the rich were forced to attend school with the poor working-class children, a truth reflected in the setting of "The Doll's House." The three Burnell girls, who are given the dollhouse, represent the rich who must attend school with the "judge's little girls, the doctor's daughters, the store-keeper's children, [and] the milkman's." But this mix of society, rather than creating equality, only serves to emphasize established social hierarchy. The Burnells especially emphasize social hierarchy because, being rich, they look down their noses at others in their school. Though they socialize with those whom they are allowed to at their school, they only deign to do so. Isabel, in particular, only socializes with other girls when she knows doing so will make them envious of her. The dollhouse they are given symbolizes their view, especially their parents' view, of ideal upper class life, and evidence that the Burnells only deign to socialize with those beneath them at their school is seen in the fact that the Burnell sisters are granted permission to invite girls from school to come see the dollhouse, two at a time, but the girls are given strict orders about what their invited guests are permitted to do:

[The invited girls were not] to stay to tea, of course, or to come traipsing through the house. But just to stand quietly in the courtyard while Isabel pointed out the beauties, and Lottie and Kezia looked please.

While the Burnells look down their noses at those they deign to socialize with at school, they, along with the rest of the school, completely snub the two Kelvey girls, who represent the poorest of the poor. They are daughters of the washerwoman, and their missing father is rumored to be imprisoned. Being the poorest of the poor, they are completely forbidden to come look at the dollhouse or even to so much as speak to the Burnells.

Yet, while the dollhouse represents the ideal upper class life, it contains one more symbol, the lamp that looks so real that Kezia, the youngest, thinks it is the best part about the dollhouse. The lamp symbolizes a ray of hope in the dark world, of hope for the elimination of socioeconomic disparities and the creation of true equality. We particularly see the symbolism of the lamp when, Kezia, against her family's wishes, invites the Kelvey girls in to see the doll house. They are soon chased away by Kezia's aunt; regardless, Else Kelvey, the youngest, speaks of seeing a glimmer of hope for a better tomorrow when, at the end of the story, she smiles and softly says, "I seen the little lamp."

What is the central theme in Katherine Mansfield's "The Doll's House"?

One of the themes in this short story centers around the idea that every person ultimately craves inclusion.

The Kelvey girls are excluded from the social circles at school because of their poverty. They are "always by themselves," and the other girls ridicule them about their prospects of becoming servants when they grow up. They endure the mocking jeers of Lena, who drags one foot behind her, giggling behind her hand, as she attempts to engage Lil Kelvey in demeaning conversation. And every other girl gets invited to see the glorious doll house except the Kelvey girls.

They don't beg for an invitation like the other girls because they are used to rejection and exclusion. Yet when a chance opportunity presents itself, they follow Kezia "like two little stray cats" to share in the same experience that the other girls have enjoyed.

Even after being chased off the property by Aunt Beryl, the Kelvey girls look "dreamily" across the land in front of them, still focused on the "little lamp" in the doll's house which they had temporarily been granted access to. Else "smiled her rare smile" at the memory of the house. For just a moment, the sisters were included in a society which only treats them with scorn, and the memory of that inclusion is enough to allow hope to creep into their souls, however fleeting. The doll's house symbolizes the access to inclusion inherent in any society and therefore the exclusion that some constantly face.

What is the central theme in Katherine Mansfield's "The Doll's House"?

Certainly, the story seems to convey the theme that hate and prejudice are learned rather than inherent. Kezia Burnell, for example, seems not to have inherited or imbibed the proud and scornful attitude of the adults in her family and even her oldest sister. Her mother flatly refuses her compassionate request to invite the Kelveys over after all the other children have seen the doll's house, and her Aunt Beryl cruelly runs them off as though they were somehow dangerous. Even the other girls at school seem to enjoy picking on them and belittling them; however, Kezia's refusal to join in this cruel exclusion proves that these behaviors are not fundamental parts of our nature but, rather, something we adopt in order to fit in or make ourselves feel better about our own lives.

The story also seems to convey a theme regarding the innocence of children and their uncanny ability to see beauty rather than ugliness. The Burnell girls seem not to notice the terrible paint smell of the doll's house or even the yellow paint "congealed" around the porch or the latch painted shut; they only see its beauty and magic. The Kelvey girls also quickly forget Kezia's aunt's terribly proud and mean words to them and recall only "Dreamily" their experience of seeing the doll's house. Little Else is just glad to have seen the tiny, perfect oil lamp that so enraptured Kezia as well.

What do the lamp and doll's house symbolize in Katherine Mansfield's "The Doll's House"?

The doll's house of which the Burnell children are so proud, considering it "a perfect, perfect little house," is a false representation of upper-class wealth, breeding, and splendor because it is gaudy and unartistic. The little amber light with the white globe symbolizes warmth and comfort and a sense of belonging and welcoming, but only Kezia notices it.

Ironically, while the toy house meant to display upper-class charm, the doll's house is garish. Instead of being tastefully decorated,

[it is] a dark, oily, spinach green, picked out with bright yellow. Its two solid little chimneys, glued onto the roof, were painted red and white, and the door, gleaming with yellow varnish, was like a little slab of toffee. . . . There was actually a tiny porch, too, painted yellow with big lumps of congealed paint hanging along the edge.

Because the toy house belongs to an enviable upper-class family, no one comments on the garish colors and lumps of paint. Instead, the other girls are envious of it, and they wait eagerly to be selected by the Burnell girls to view this elite object. In adherence to the rules of her class, the eldest assumes the vital position of choosing the ones who are allowed to see the house. In fact, as the girls vie to be near Isabel, forming a ring around the eldest Burnell girl, their movements are compared to a royal court. Only the little Kelvey girls are on the outside. They are the daughters of the poor class: their mother is a washerwoman who must support the family because her husband is rumored to be "a jailbird."

Were they living in England, the Burnell girls would attend a school in which only upper-class children went; the commoners would be in another part of the city and attend schools there. But in New Zealand, the probable setting of this story, the school is the only one for miles, so all social classes of children attend the same school.

But the line had to be drawn somewhere. It was drawn at the Kelveys.

The other girls taunt the poor Kelvey girls. One day as these two girls are eating their dinner under the pine trees, Lena Logan approaches the isolated Kelveys. She boldly asks,

"Is it true you're going to be a servant when you grow up Lil Kelvey?"

Because Lil only responds with a humble smile, Lena is livid and calls out, "Yah, yer father's in prison!" The other girls are thrilled by Lena's insult.

Later, as the Burnell girls ride home with Pat, who brings the buggy for them, they talk excitedly. Once they reach home, the girls see that they have guests and run upstairs to change their clothes. However, warm-hearted Kezia, who has been particularly delighted by the amber lamp inside the doll's house, "thieve[s] out the back" of the house where no one is near. She watches as the Kelvey girls come toward her. Kezia swings out on her gate and invites them to come and see the doll's house. But Lil shakes her head and turns red. "Why not?" asks Kezia. Lil tells her that her mother told their mother that Kezia is not permitted to speak to the Kelvey girls. Kezia does not know how to respond. She decides to ignore this remark, telling the girls that no one is watching and they can just come and look. Then, as Kezia opens the little house for the girls, Aunt Beryl, who has caught sight of the girls outside, rushes out the back door. She scolds Kezia and quickly tells Lil and Else, "Off you go immediately!" Lil and Else scurry away, "[B]urning with shame, shrinking together." 

When they stop to rest, Lil's cheeks still burn from the insulting words of Aunt Beryl. Else scoots close to her sister, observing, "I seen the lamp." The warmth of the amber glass and its suggestion of light have been like a light of kindness extended to the Kelvey girls, as well as the warmth of being included.

What does the little lamp in the doll's house symbolize?

The oil lamp in the story "The Doll's House" by Katherine Mansfield, is the object entirely catches the attention of Kezia Burnell: A privileged young girl who receives the gift of a doll's house from a house-guest for her, and for her two other sisters, Isabel and Lottie.

Kezia is fixated with the lamp:

But what Kezia liked more than anything, what she liked frightfully, was the lamp. It stood in the middle of the dining-room table, an exquisite little amber lamp with a white globe. It was even filled all ready for lighting, though, of course, you couldn't light it. But there was something inside that looked like oil, and that moved when you shook it.....[it]was perfect. It seemed to smile to Kezia, to say, "I live here." The lamp was real.

Therefore, the symbolism of the lamp, to Kezia, is that it makes her feel welcome, as if she were part of the family that lives inside the doll's house. Like the story says:

The lamp was real.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, the very poor and underprivileged Kelvey sisters have heard about this beautiful dollhouse from the mouths of the other school children. Although the Kelveys are not allowed within the same social circle of friends as the Burnell sisters, they too develop the desire of seeing something both new, majestic, and beautiful.

Else, the elder of the Kelvey sisters, finally gets the chance to see the dollhouse only to be shooed and kicked out of the Burnell home as if they were animals. Yet, at the end of the story we see that Else feels proud  and happy for having seen the lamp. This is because seeing the same thing that Kezia sees, and being able to admire the same thing that Kezia admires put Else and Kezia in a very similar status, even though it is only for a brief moment. Yet, for once Else gets to see the same world that Kezia sees, and is able to admire something the same way that Kezia does: They are the same girls who love the same things. They have only been made different by the prejudices and classicist nature of society.

What does the lamp symbolize in "The Doll's House"?

The rich Burnell children receive a gift of a "perfect" doll house, with papered walls, carpet, furniture, just the most amazing thing one has ever seen. The people in it, though, the dolls, are stiff and look like they do not belong. That is because the upper class society that the house represents is stiff. The snobbery of class structure "stinks" - and that is why there is a smell to the house. The people and the smell are two negative things about the house.

The best thing about the house is the little lamp.

But what Kezia liked more than anything, what she liked frightfully, was the lamp. It stood in the middle of the dining-room table, an exquisite little amber lamp with a white globe.

The lamp is tiny, because there is a "tiny" bit of human kindness showing through the ostentatious house. Nevertheless, the one person who shows kindness in this story, Kezia, notices the lamp right away and decides that it is the best part of the house. When the poor Kelvey girls are allowed to view the house, the youngest child ends the story by saying "I seen the lamp." This means that she saw the kindness, even for just a brief moment.

Read about the story here on eNotes.

How does Katherine Mansfield use "archetypes" to convey the theme in "The Dolls' House"?

A story that depicts the cruelty of class distinctions, "The Doll's House" by Katherine Mansfield presents the archetype of the Innocent in the smallest Kelvey girl, called our Else--

a tiny wishbone of a child, with cropped hair and enormous solemn eyes-a little white owl. Nobody had ever seen her smile; she scarcely ever spoke--

and the Rebel in the character Kezia. When the Burnell girls receive a huge wooden doll's house from "dear old" Mrs. Hays, the pampered children let it sit in the box for a while because of the strong odor of the paint. But, once they open it, the Burnell children are all delighted by it with its colorful rooms that have wallpaper and figurines, and by the life-like lamp that seems to illuminate the miniature house.

The little Burnells are so excited about their doll house that they wish to have all their classmates see it--all except the Kelvey children, whose mother is a washerwoman and whose father purportedly is in prison; they are Outcasts. The Burnell children have been strictly instructed to never associate with these two girls who will be only servants when they are grown. These two girls sit by themselves at lunchtime, ostracized by the other children whose parents are judges and doctors and store owners.

And the only two who stayed outside the ring were the two who were always outside, the little Kelveys. They knew better than to come anywhere near the Burnells.

One day at lunch, after the other children have seen the doll house and its excitement has faded, the impudent Lena Logan decides to taunt the Kelvey girls about their lowly station in life and ridicule their parents. But, the girls say nothing; Lil gives her meek smile and our Else just clings to her sister's skirt. 

That afternoon the Burnell children are given a ride home, so since she has free time, Kezia sneaks out to the back yard, swinging on the large, white gates of the Burnell courtyard. Presently, she sees the Kelvey girls coming along. When she actually speaks to them, they stop in amazement. Undeterred by their startled expressions, Kezia offers to show them the doll house; however, Lil hesitantly replies, "Your ma told our ma you wasn't to speak to us." Nevertheless, Kezia makes her offer again, and little Else moves forward, insistent upon seeing this special house. As Kezia opens the door for them, there is a shrill voice, asking Kezia what she is doing by allowing the Kelvey girls into the courtyard.

"You know as well as I do, you're not allowed to talk to them. Run away, children, run away at once. And don't come back again," said Aunt Beryl.

The girls are chased out as though they were chickens. But, thanks to the Rebel Burnell, the Innocent has seen "the lamp," the special delight of the house. She, like the others is privy to the secret magic of that lamp. "I seen the little lamp," she says softly and reverently, knowing she has been, for a moment, the equal of the other girls. For that magic moment there was no class distinction, and they were not just the washerwoman's children.