"A Cup of Tea" by Katherine Mansfield

                                                           “A Cup of Tea”, written by Katherine Mansfield, tells the story of Rosemary Fell- an young upper class woman in the1920s. After shopping at an antique store she is met by a young poor girl named Miss Smith who begs her for moneyfor a cup of tea. Instead, Rosemary brings her back to her own home and treats Miss Smith to a taste of her luxurious lifestyle. Rosemary’s husband Philip initially disapproves and tells her so himself. When she refuses to dismiss Miss Smith, he tries the more successful tactic of playing on Rosemary’s jealousy. After retrieving some money, Rosemary sends Miss Smith away, a great contrast to the beginning of the text. She soon informs her husband. Rosemary thenasks about an item she wanted to buy at an antique store, then at her true concern- “am I pretty?”

                    The fact that Rosemary is surprised when Miss Smith first speaks to her also suggests that Rosemary may be different to others. It would have been uncommon (at the time the story was written) for those considered to be of a lower class (Miss Smith) to engage with those considered to be upper class (Rosemary). It is also interesting that Rosemary thinks it is ‘extraordinary’ that Miss Smith has no money. This would again suggest that Rosemary is different from other people. She can’t imagine that somebody would have no money. By describing Miss Smith as the ‘other’ when Rosemary leads Miss Smith into the hall of her home and Rosemary as being like ‘the rich little girl in her nursery’ Mansfield may be further highlighting the difference in class between both Miss Smith and Rosemary.

                 Throughout this short story we can see particularly the theme of class consciousness. Class consciousness is aboutwhat beliefs an individual has about their rank in society and what their class in particular consists of. Rosemary inthe first paragraph is described as, though plain in looks, the ideal in regards of materialistic needs- “Rosemary Fell was not exactly beautiful… (But) she was young, brilliant, extremely modern, amazingly well read in the newest ofnew books, and her parties were the most delicious mixture of the really important people…”. The reader is giventhe idea that she is rather insecure about herself and that she has had to make up for her personality and characterdue to her lack of beauty. This tells us that Rosemary is a rather shallow person, views her status as an upper classwoman quite highly, and very content being shallow and living a life of materialism. The next paragraph leads ontothe state of her wealth-which we can safely assume from the first paragraph that she was truly rolling in the moneyfor someone in the 1920s. She can afford to get exactly what she wants and as a result of her wealth, she justifiesher actions of being very demanding of people below her status, and in turn others of a lower class were willing toplease her because of her wealth- “’ I want those and those and those… No, no lilac. I hate lilac. It’s got no shape. ’The attendant boweda nd put the lilac out of sight, as though this was only too true; lilac was dreadfully shapeless.” Notably, there is no praise or admiration from the author here towards Rosemary.

                 There is also some symbolism in the story which may be important. The little box that Rosemary sees in the antique shop, by telling the reader that Rosemary ‘must have it’,Mansfield may be highlighting the importance of material things to Rosemary. Mansfield also appears to be using the setting, after Rosemary leaves the antique shop, to highlight Rosemary’s mood after she is unable to buy the little box. Mansfield tells the reader that the ‘rain was falling, and with the rain it seemed the dark came too, spinning down like ashes. There was a cold bitter taste in the air, and the new-lighted lamps looked sad.’ In many ways this setting mirrors how Rosemary may feel about having to leave the shop without purchasing the little box. The flowers that Rosemary buys may also have some symbolic importance. By telling the reader that Rosemary wanted ‘those and those and those. Give me four bunches of those,’ Mansfield may be further highlighting how different Rosemary is from other people (due to her wealth) and how extravagant she is. Rather than just purchasing one bunch of flowers, as most people would and could only afford to do, Rosemary ends up with several.