In "Her First Ball," by Katherine Mansfield, what do the first two paragraphs reveal about Leila's state of mind?

In Katherine Mansfield's "Her First Ball," the beginning of the short story tells us about Leila's state of mind, and the importance of this moment in her life. We find that Lelia is inexperienced. (The reader later learns that she has live in the country, and learned to dance while away at school.) The Sheridan girls will comment on this while they are traveling to the ball in the coach.

Leila's excitement (state of mind) is easily recognized first with:

Exactly when the ball began Leila would have found it hard to say. Perhaps her first real partner was the cab.

Those who have been to balls before would not be so "frivolous" (as someone might think of Leila's thoughts) as to imagine a cab as a partner. We hear from those with more experience—the Sheridans—at the beginning, who are amazed that Leila has never been to a ball:

"Have you really never been to a ball before, Leila? But, my child, how too weird–" cried the Sheridan girls.

The idea that one might have a first ball is not weird, but the Sheridan girls say so—so we can infer that they find it unusual, or perhaps they say this to imply how much more experienced they are.

Leila sees sharing a cab with them as less than desirable, as can be inferred from the following:

It did not matter that she shared the cab with the Sheridan girls and their brother.

Leila's imagination—her total preoccupation with the significance of this event—is conveyed as she likens the bolster in the carriage to a dancing partner's sleeve:

She sat back in her own little corner of it, and the bolster on which her hand rested felt like the sleeve of an unknown young man's dress suit...

Again, the whimsy of her thoughts is evident as she imagines dancing with this imaginary partner as...

...away they bowled, past waltzing lamp-posts and houses and fences and trees.

In that the Sheridan sisters' comment about her "weird" condition of having never been to a ball does not worry Leila attests to her state of mind—nothing can dampen her spirits. The fact that Leila sees everything around her as part of a dance (the "waltzing lamp-posts") indicates that this is probably the most important event of her life so far.

For Leila, in anticipation of this event, everything about the experience is wonderful.

What are Leila's feelings before the ball in "Her First Ball"?

Leila, the main character of "Her First Ball" is indirectly described as a girl who lives in an area that is quite isolated from the excitement of the city. In fact she even says that her closest neighbor lives 15 miles away. This is why this event, her first ball, is such a rare and exciting ocasion.

She tried not to smile too much; she tried not to care. But every single thing was so new and exciting.

On her way to the ball she has a variety of emotions. First, she feels almost as if to cry when she sees the dynamics between Laurie and Laura; she would have loved to have a brother that would call her by a nickname, such as "Twig". Everything Leila saw she felt like holding as a keepsake.

It is fair to say that Leila did not feel as wordly or sophisticated as her friends; she is an only child, she lives in the country, and this is her first ball. It is clear that she has not experienced what her friends have.

Yet, what is salient about Leila's experience is that she sees everything much more glittering, much more enticing and exciting than what it really is. This is not a bad thing; after all, she is going through a rite of passage which is proper of girls of her class. However, the height of her excitement is precisely what will deflate her later with the advent of the fat man.

How does Mansfield portray Leila's thoughts in "Her First Ball"?

Mansfield reveals Leila's thoughts through narrator commentary, indirect speech, free indirect speech, and sensory and psychological reactions. She opens the narrative with narrator commentary in which she exposes Leila's thoughts as one who is privy to Leila's every thought: "Exactly when the ball began Leila would have found it hard to say."

Indirect speech is a technique in which a characters words are stated by the narrator without benefit of direct quotation: "That was the great difference between dancing with girls and men, Leila decided."

Free indirect speech, a technique Jane Austen excels in, takes indirect speech one step further and gives the characters thoughts as though one were directly listening in to the character's thoughts:

Why didn't the men begin? What were they waiting for? There they stood, smoothing their gloves, patting their glossy hair and smiling among themselves.

Finally, Mansfield reveals Leila's thoughts through recounting her sensory and psychological reactions:

• Leila ... felt that even the little quivering coloured flags strung across the ceiling were talking.
• The azaleas were separate flowers no longer; they were pink and white flags streaming by.
• She quite forgot to be shy ....

One modernist technique Mansfield does not use is stream of consciousness. While this term may be loosely used by some to cover other techniques that reveal a character's inner thoughts, like free indirect speech, for example, the definitive elements of fragmentation and randomness that mark stream of consciousness are missing from Mansfield's techniques in "Her First Ball."

How does Mansfield portray Leila's thoughts in "Her First Ball"?

Leila is certainly not worldly as are some of the other girls or world-weary as is the fat man.  As the title of Mansfield's story denotes, Leila is inexperienced and naive, having grown up in the country and learned to dance without benefit of masculine partners.

An ingenue, Leila finds each experience thrilling; it is all "the beginning of everything" for her.

Oh, dear, how hard it was to be indifferent like the others!....For it was thrilling. Her first ball!

Everything seems new to her; the night, for instance, Leila feels has merely been dark and mournful before now. But, on this evening, it has "opened dazzling bright." Even when the fat, older man makes her aware of age and mortality, Leila rejects this truth and in her resilience, she seizes the excitement of the moment and glides through the evening, smiling "more radiantly than ever."

How does Mansfield portray Leila's thoughts in "Her First Ball"?

Leila [might have said] Perhaps her first real partner was the cab. It did not matter that she shared the cab with the Sheridan girls and their brother. She sat back in her own little corner of it, and the bolster on which her hand rested felt like the sleeve of an unknown young man's dress suit;

I think that one distinct way in which Mansfield does not present Lelia is in a simplistic and reductive manner.  Mansfield shows Lelia to be overcome with the moment, but also moving back and forth between memories of her past as well the emotional timbre of the moment.  Mansfield shows Lelia in a complex and nuanced manner.  She is far from simplistic and far from being a caricature.  It is for this reason that Mansfield does not show Lelia to be a one- dimensional character.

Another way that Mansfield does not depict Lelia is with a false and arbitrary ending.  The ending of the story is one in which Lelia has recognized both the joy in the moment and has also acknowledged what the fat man has said.  The ball being both a moment of triumph and of disillusion is a reflection of life, itself.  There is intricacy, complicated notions of identity, and anything far from a resolution.  Mansfield understands this as she has constructed Lelia's narrative.  Due to this, she has not depicted the ending as one where there is simplicity and a "happy ending."  It is a realistic one.

How does Mansfield portray Leila's thoughts in "Her First Ball"?

Mansfield presents Leila's thoughts as buzzing with anticipation and excitement both before and during the ball.  Being able use a narrative voice that captures how Leila feels and appears to the world, Mansfield is able to display the sense of energy that is such a part of Leila's world in term of her reactions to the ball:

EXACTLY when the ball began Leila would have found it hard to say. Perhaps her first real partner was the cab. It did not matter that she shared the cab with the Sheridan girls and their brother. She sat back in her own little corner of it, and the bolster on which her hand rested felt like the sleeve of an unknown young man's dress suit; and away they bowled, past waltzing lamp-posts and houses and fences and trees.

Mansfield is able to present Leila as one who is so excited about the ball that the cab acts as "her first real" partner.  

Such zeal is described and drawn out during the ball, as well.  The "burst of tuning from the drill hall, it leaped almost to the ceiling" is one such example.  Leila's absorption of the excitement and energy of the powder room is another example of her intense feelings in being drawn into the ball.  This continues with the discourse about "the beautifully slippery floor," pink satins, as well as Leila's recalling her boarding school dance lessons contribute to the energy that Leila feels in being at her first ball.  

This excitement and willingness to capitulate to the moment is evident in the final passage of the story.  Leila is shown to have chosen the love of the ball over the reality that the fat man articulates:

But presently a soft, melting, ravishing tune began, and a young man with curly hair bowed before her. She would have to dance, out of politeness, until she could find Meg. Very stiffly she walked into the middle; very haughtily she put her hand on his sleeve. But in one minute, in one turn, her feet glided, glided. The lights, the azaleas, the dresses, the pink faces, the velvet chairs, all became one beautiful flying wheel. And when her next partner bumped her into the fat man and he said, "Pardon," she smiled at him more radiantly than ever. She didn't even recognise him again.

The "ravishing tune" that is "soft, melting" allows her to smile "more radiantly than ever."  It allows Leila to think about the moment rather than the reality that exists outside of it.  Mansfield is able to show how zeal and delusion can help to silence judgment in the embrace of what is as opposed to what will be.  Mansfield shows Leila's thoughts to exist in this paradigm.

How is Leila characterized in "Her First Ball"?

One way in which Leila could be characterized is being overwhelmed with so much in the moment.  Leila is overcome with the reality of what the moment presents.  The ball, the pomp and celebrated sense of the ornate overwhelms her.  This can be seen in the powder room where the bustle of activity leaves its impression on her.  At the same time, the manner in which the dancing is carried out, along with the decorations of the hall, both cast significant impressions on her.  Leila is far removed from the school in which she learned how to dance and is overcome with the reality of being in such a setting.

At the same time, one can describe Leila as being overwhelmed with the realistic observations of the fat, old man.  The reality of that which awaits her is one that subsumes her.  Leila realizes that there might be some level of truth in what the old man is saying and this becomes painful for her to bear.  At the same time, this condition of being overwhelmed causes Leila to want to flee from the dance and the pain of what she encounters.

Finally, Leila the ending in which Leila wants to be overwhelmed in the moment, dancing with the young man and barely noticing the fat man.  In some respects, Leila is overcome with the moment, dancing as if there is no tomorrow, a vision of the future that has been rendered as a sad one by the old man.  Leila is embracing the condition of being overcome with the moment for it prevents her from having to think and reflect about the realities that were raised in the old man's talk with her.  In this, one can see how the description of "overwhelmed" or "overcome" could help to characterize Leila.

Describe the significance of Leila's feelings as she enters the ball.

For Leila, her entrance into the ball are significant because they represent a girl's first foray into the conditioned world of what it means to be a woman.  Leila is possessed by a sense of excitement at the world of possibility that awaits her.  She is held by the sway of what can be for her first ball's feelings represent the journey of maturation and no longer being considered a child.  She is taken back by the superficial elements of this rite of passage, as well.  The setting, the clothes, the dancing, and the appearances to others are all elements that comprise her initial feelings of excitement.  Adding to this is the reality that her own experience of living in the rural setting in contrast to the ball's urbane condition are part of Leila's initial feelings.  When she remarks that seeing the people dance is akin to seeing the "little satin shoes" chasing "each other like birds," it represents how Leila feels about this experience, in terms of her feelings of amazement and of being overwhelmed with the moment.  This is significant it that it enables Mansfield to construct a setting in to which one can see how girls can become entranced with the social condition that locks them into gender- specific roles.  If Lelia is not so taken in with what she sees initially, it makes it easier for her to be able to reject these elements.  Yet, in such an initial reaction, Mansfield is making it clear that part of what proves to be so alluring and enticing to young girls is also what ensnares them into a social condition through which one becomes trapped, to an extent, into what society wishes one to be.

If you were Leila in "Her First Ball", how would your thoughts and feelings change before and after the ball?

Given how Mansfield believed in the idea of "risk, risk everything," she would hope that Lelia would not define herself in the context of the evening's ball.  I think that Mansfield would want Leila to put aside the "The lights, the azaleas, the dresses, the pink faces, the velvet chairs," and recognize that social notions of the good do not define her being.  The fat man's insistence of the terrors of age do not have to be fulfilled.  Leila can "risk everything" and be her own person apart from the trappings of a conventionally dictated existence. Leila does not have to be an extension of this social world, but rather can repudiate it in living a life after the ball that does not make itself so dependent on it.

In figuring out Leila's thoughts and feelings from the text, one has to go back to the moment that ends it.  Mansfield writes that Lelia "smiled at him [the Fat Man] more radiantly than ever. She didn't even recognise him again."  Does she fail to "recognize him again" because she has realized that she will not allow him to define her or does she forget about him because Leila is enthralled with the ball, the moment, and she fails to acknowledge anything else?  The answer to this probably demtermine how one reflects about Leila after the ball.  If one concludes that Leila has adopted a position of resistance and will not be defined by the socially constrictive comments of "the fat man," then Leila will probably go home after the ball and recognize the moment for what it was and live her life in a manner that she wishes.  She will "risk everything" in repudiating the socially constructed world of the ball. Leila will go back to the small owls and the countryside and find her happiness. If Leila has forgotten the fat man because of reveling in the moment, Leila might wish to return to this moment, experiencing the instant like a narcotic.  In this light, her thoughts and feelings about the ball are simply to return to it.  It is here in which reflecting about Leila after the ball becomes dependent on how one views the ending of the story.

How does Katherine Mansfield describe Leila's reaction to the atmosphere of "Her First Ball" compared to her past experiences?

The first thing to consider is that Leila's character, although is sharing her first ball with kids of her own class, does not really belong to the group. She has never gone to a ball before, she lives away in the country, so she cannot keep acquaintances near. Therefore, she is probably quite far from being the sophisticated girl that her friends appear to be. 

Mansfield correlates emotion to the innocence that comes from being unaware of the joys of the outside world. This, combined with the regular wonder of new experiences, are techniques to convey upon the reader the real sensations that Leila goes through.

...how hard it was to be indifferent like the others! She tried not to smile too much; she tried not to care. But every single thing was so new and exciting

Leila would pay attention to every detail around her, from the flowers on the other girls' hair, to the dynamics between one of the Sheridan girls and her brother. 

Oh, how marvellous to have a brother..she couldn't have helped crying because she was an only child and no brother had ever said "Twig?" to her.

Upon entering the ball, Leila's young and inexperienced eyes see all that glitters even more shiny and delicate. All that was pretty she sees as the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. In all, nothing could have possibly gone wrong in Leila's eyes.

Dark girls, fair girls were patting their hair, tying ribbons again, tucking handkerchiefs ...smoothing marble-white gloves. And because they were all laughing it seemed to Leila that they were all lovely.

Therefore, the way that Mansfield conveys Leila's emotions is by focalizing the narrative through Leila's new, young, and impressionable eyes. All the innocence that comes with wonder adds to the emotion with which Leila draws a strong sense of empathy from the reader.

How does Mansfield portray Leila's feelings in the story "Her First Ball"?

This is a tough question.  On one hand, I think that Mansfield denies or prevents Leila's feelings through not raising questions or objections to how women are perceived socially.  She is bothered by what the fat man says.  She is also bothered by how they are true.  Essentially, Lelia is bothered by the construction of what is.  Yet, Mansfield does not show her outwardly rejecting this or taking a stand in defiance of it.  Rather, Leila goes back to dancing, even bumping into the fat man, and regaling in a social construction that she might internally oppose.  Mansfield prevents or denies articulation of her feelings to demonstrate the point of what the social order does to women.  In Mansfield's silencing of Leila, to a great extent, she is merely demonstrating what society does to women when it places so much primacy on physical appearance and the emphasis on beauty.  It is this where Leila's feelings are denied primarily because women in this configuration are expected to have nothing more than a physicality to them.  When this goes, so they do.  In this, there is a distinct silencing of voice, something that Mansfield does in demonstration of her opposition to what society does.

What does Leila's reaction reveal about her character in "Her First Ball"?

Leila is young.  The reactions she featured to her first ball are consistent with those of young people and the sense of excitement that comes along with being youthful.  She regales at the beauty, a beauty that she, herself, is an active part.  When she is told that she is the "belle of the ball," her reaction is to take it as a source of pride.  She is thrilled at being included.  Lelia's self- consciousness reflects that she recognizes her participation in this ball is a bit out of her element.  Raised in the country, she could hardly have envisioned herself here.  She is excited to be there, as she is overwhelmed with the moment.  She watches the other couples dance and is exuberant at the idea that she is a part of this collection of individuals.  It is a triumph that she is there, something that overwhelms the disillusioning reality that accompanies it.  

Leila's reactions reflect how much she is willing to embrace the illusion and the veneer of happiness.  Even if she understands that the fat man was right and that there is nothing to prevent her from getting old, she will not let that take away from this moment, this instant, and what she embraces as the urgency of now.  It is Mansfield's genius to show that Lelila's reactions to the ball are not going to be overcome with the reality of human cruelty and disillusion that is intrinsic to being in the world.  Leila's reaction is to deny, to keep at arm's length, what she knows to be true.  In this, Leila demonstrates youth, but also a condition of being human in our tendency to block out and keep at bay that which we find fundamentally uncomfortable. 

How is Leila's behavior in "Her First Ball" different from the other girls at the ball?

"Ours, I think"-Someone bowed, smiled, and offered her his arm…"As if I should!" said Leila, tossing her small dark head and sucking her underlip….

The original question had to be edited.  I would suggest that Lelia is different from the other girls at the ball with the hesitation displayed in the excerpt.  The reticence featured in "as if I should" is reflective of the uncertainty that Leila experiences.  This is one element in which she is fundamentally different from the other girls at the ball.  The entire notion of this being Leila's "first ball" is representative of how she is different from the other girls.  Leila is caught up in the moment.  She notices the decorations, the vitality, and the atmosphere as someone who has been there for the first time.  It is in this way where she is different from the other girls at the ball.  The fact that she is so enamored with what is happening and then brutally brought down to Earth with the fat man's comment is another way in which Leila is shown to be different than the other girls.  She is more sensitive than others who are there.  In this, Leila displays her differences from those around her.

This fundamental difference is where one holds questions about Leila's life after the ball.  Whether this difference will define her in terms of being able to live her life differently from the other girls at the ball, or merely accentuate a condition that Leila wishes to overcome in order to be like everyone else is part of the ambiguity Mansfield offers at the end of the short story.