Introduction
A Cup of Tea is a short story written by New Zealand’s prominent short fiction writer and poet Katherine Mansfield in 1922. This story was written on the 11th of January back in early 1922, which was first published in the famous Story-Teller magazine and later appeared in Mansfield’s short story collection The Dove’s Nest.
This story revolves around the character of a wealthy woman named Rosemary. She spends her day shopping and spending money lavishly. She met with a poor woman of her age named Miss. Smith, who asks for the price of a cup of tea. Rosemary took her home and tried to help her however her intentions are not that kind. She wants to gain fame from this act of kindness. In the end, she wants to get rid of Miss. Smith as her husband praises her for being beautiful.
The story is associated with the deplorable conditions of New Zealand at the time when it used to be a British Colony. The trends of class distinction were at its peak, a noticeable issue which needed to be brought forward influenced Mansfield to pen it down.
Beside this story holds class consciousness and materialism as its pivot point. Stunningly well-characterized and magnificently portrayed against its plain title, this story remarkably presents a crystal clear image of class distinction and one’s mad fondness towards materialism.
It’s just the same as “the doll’s house” and “the garden party” as a matter of fact that these stories also reflect upon the same issue of class distinction. Mansfield also tried to reflect upon the noble act of philanthropy and how people fancy this act to be the cause of ascension for their moral values among their social circle.
A Cup of Tea Summary
Rosemary Fell, a very rich and well off woman, who has been married for two years to a very rich and devoted man Mr. Philips Fell, spends her day out shopping at some west corners of London in the finest of shops. She visits an ingratiating antique dealer’s shop that shows her a beautiful small blue velvet box. Rosemary is taken by the beauty of the creamy piece of art but decides not to buy it and asks the shopkeeper to save it for her.
Out she comes from the shop into the rain and as she reaches towards the car a girl approaches her asking her to pay for the price of a cup of tea. Astonished, Rosemary asks the girl to come home with her for tea, finding it an opportunity of adventure and experience, just like she read in books and stories of Dostoevsky. She wanted to show the girl that rich people do possess mercy. The girl agrees apart from her great fears to ride with Rosemary in her car.
As they reach the house, Rosemary takes the poor girl to her room and asks her to sit by the fire. She helps her take off her coat and hat and tries to soothe her. As she tries to proceed further, the girl cries out that she can’t stand it anymore fearing that she will faint out of hunger. Rosemary hurriedly orders tea.
The girl is provided with tea and sandwiches while Rosemary lights a cigarette. Keen to know the story of the girl, Rosemary starts up a conversation with her which is unintentionally interrupted by her husband. He is surprised to see the stranger in the room and asks his wife to talk to him privately.
As they enter the library, Philips begins to inquire about the matter. To this Rosemary replies that she is just helping the poor lady whom she picked up from the street. Her husband tries to tell her that she can’t have a stranger in the house. Facing a refusal Philips points out that the lady is remarkably pretty giving a rise to insecurities of Rosemary.
Rosemary leaves the library and enters the study room from where she picks up some cash. She returns to her room and hands over the money to the poor girl making her leave the house.
After the girl leaves the house Rosemary joins Philips back in the library and asks him if she could buy the velvet box which wasn’t what she wished to ask. After a pause, she whispers, “Am I pretty?”
Themes
Appearance versus Reality
In the whole story, readers may find the appearance in contrast to reality. On the surface, the person seems different however his intentions are something else. In this way, Mansfield portrays hypocrisy in New Zealand’s perturbed society. Rosemary on the surface strikes kind and caring by taking care of Miss. Smith.
However, the reality of her intentions is full of hypocrisy. She helps her not out of kindness or cares rather for her own interests. She thought by helping so would give her a chance of upgrading her status and boasting her action.
In a similar manner, Mansfield pinpoints her society in which upper classes were taking advantage of virtuous acts for their own benefits. They help the poor to gain praise and material objects.
Jealousy and Insecurity
Rosemary has made a prototype of jealousy and insecurity. At first, she appears kind and helps Miss. Smith. But in the end, when her husband, Philip praises Miss. Smith got jealous and insecure.
In order to get rid of Miss. Smith gives her money. Afterwards, she did some makeup and tried to attract the attention of her husband by her charming looks.
Materialism
These two things have been discussed explicitly in the text by Mansfield. Rosemary could be seen chasing material objects throughout the text. Firstly, she appears to be desiring an enamel box. Afterwards, she helps Miss. Smith just to gain praise and upgrade her social status. In the whole story, she appears as a mean character. Readers may find her penchant towards material objects in the story.
Through this Mansfield highlights how true emotions are fading from society and people are running after material objects.
Class Distinction
Class distinction is also explicit in the story. Miss. Smith belongs to the lower class; she even didn’t have enough money for a cup of tea. For this, she begs Rosemary. In contrast, Rosemary is a rich woman having every luxury of life. She appears well dressed while Miss. Smith is in a miserable situation.
This draws a comparison between both classes. On one hand, the wealthy are enjoying everything in their life. On the other hand, lower classes are exposed to hunger and disrespect at the hands of the upper classes.
Characters Analysis
Rosemary Fell
A socially poised, rich married woman with a devoted and loving husband, who has a great lifestyle. She is well-dressed and well off with all the luxuries she desires for. Her interest is mainly in reading books, always indulged and above all greatly inspired by the characters and their adventurous lives which she comes across in the stories.
Her inspirational interest can be judged by the decision she takes when she interacts with a poor soul called Miss Smith. She took her home with a mere thought of it being an adventure for her recalling the stories of Dostoevsky. Apart from this possession and insecurity can be sensed in her character.
Philips Fell
The husband of Rosemary is in fact one of the richest persons of his society. He loves his wife devotedly and cares for her a lot. He calls Miss Smith pretty much to his wife’s chagrin, just to make her send Miss Smith away as she refuses to do so when he asks her in the first place even though making his wife feel insecure about herself and her beauty.
Miss Smith
She is a lean and thin poor girl of just the age of Rosemary. She can’t even afford a single cup of tea and comes to ask Rosemary to pay her the price of a cup of tea. She is an odd person, frightened and confused. She is shocked when Rosemary asks her to have a cup of tea with her at her home. In Mr. Philips’ point of view, Miss Smith is very attractive and pretty.
The Shopkeeper
The owner of a beautiful antique ornaments shop which in fact was one of Rosemary’s favorite shops. He would always be looking forward to having Rosemary at his shop and always saving a lovely piece of art for her, just like he had been saving the eye-catching blue velvet box. He is kind of an ingratiating character.
Literary Analysis
A Cup of Tea is a short story written by New Zealand’s prominent short fiction writer and poet Katherine Mansfield in 1922. This story was written on the 11th of January back in early 1922, which was first published in the famous Story-Teller magazine and later appeared in Mansfield’s short story collection The Dove’s Nest.
A Cup of Tea recounts the deplorable conditions of New Zealand society under British colonialism. It exhibits how materialism, hypocrisy, disparity and most specifically class distinction was prevailing in those times.
Mansfield mirrors the aforementioned issues via the character of Rosemary. Her actions and mentality depict those issues. At first, readers may see how Rosemary has a penchant for material gains. This is shown specifically when she desires to have a prized beautiful little box. It represents the extravagance of Rosemary instead of spending her money on useful things she desires to have that little box.
Moreover, Mansfield has tactfully depicted appearance versus reality. She shows not everything is the same as it seems. There are many chances where appearance narrates something else however the reality is a lot different.
The same occurs in the character of Rosemary particularly when she tries to help Miss. Smith. Firstly, she takes her home and then serves her. Though her actions may strike virtuous and kind to the readers however it is not real.
Rosemary took advantage of Miss. Smith helpless condition. Her intentions were never to help her out. Rather she tries to use her as a medium to propagate her fame and upgrade social status. She thinks that this act can provide her a chance to boast in her social circle.
Mansfield used Rosemary for the depiction of upper classes who do the same. New Zealand back in the 19th century was the same. Upper classes were exploiting lower classes for their own benefits. Even the kind act of helping was not spared, it was used as an object to generate praise and material objects.
Moreover, class distinction and the miserable condition of poor are also highlighted in the story. Mansfield shows how wealth was wrongly distributed in society. On one hand, Rosemary was a wealthy and well-dressed woman. She gets what she desires. On the other hand, Miss. Smith is a poor girl with weak features and not properly dressed. She even begs Rosemary for the price of a cup of tea. This mirrors the poverty of the lower classes.
Mansfield has thrown light on the prejudice and apathy of upper classes against lower classes. Rosemary helps Miss. Smith takes off her hat and coat however she doesn’t show any respect to her belongings and throws them on the floor. This also indicates how upper classes turn a blind eye towards the poor’s sufferings.
Additionally, Mansfield also highlights jealousy and insecurity of Rosemary. At first, she is cheerful for helping Miss. Smith though she doesn’t respect her. However, when her husband praises Miss. Smith’s beauty, she got jealous. Afterwards she tries to send Miss. Smith ran away from her house by giving her some money. Rosemary got so insecure that she tried to allure her husband with her looks.
Significance of the Title
A Cup of Tea connotes the holier-than-thou nature of upper classes how they even would virtuous acts for their own beneficial purpose. By making themselves hypocritically pious to upgrade their social status and gain praise from society. Their true intentions are not assisting them rather manipulating them. Rosemary did the same while helping Miss. Smith. Her intentions weren’t to help her but to boast her act of kindness in society.
Setting
The time frame of this story is set in the 1920s. However, the location shifts twice. Firstly, it takes place at the small antique shop on Curzon Street. Subsequently, it shifts to Fell’s house.
Symbolism
Following are the symbols used in the story:
Box
Box’s price and its ornamentations emphasize extravagance and materialism. Rosemary when she saw this box get attracted to it. Though she has a desire to buy it, its price doesn’t allow her. It represents how Rosemary instead of spending on useful things used to spend on worthless things. Also, it expresses her appeal for material gains.
Cup of Tea
Cup of tea symbolizes the sanctimonious upper class and exploitation of the poor class at the hands of the upper class. This suggests to readers how even the act of philanthropy is fake and used for its own beneficial purpose. The way Rosemary did to Miss. Smith by helping her without true care and intimacy. All she thought was to boast that act in her social circle and gain praise.
Hat
The Hat is a symbol used to exhibit apathy and prejudice of the upper class against the poor. Rosemary at first tries to help Miss. Smith to doff her hat and coat. But afterwards she shows her apathy, instead of putting them in an appropriate place, she leaves them on the floor. This depicts the outlook of the upper class and their way of treating them.
Imagery
Mansfield has used incredible imagery in the story. She tactfully portrays the weather according to the doleful mood of Rosemary “a cold bitter taste in the air” as she couldn’t buy an enamel box. Rain is showering but due to the dark it seems like ashes falling on the ground “spinning down like ashes”. Also, the lights lit up in the rain “looked sad” and “were regretting something”.
Similar to this, Mansfield exhibits Rosemary’s hat that resembles a “germanium petal” in size and green ribbons that seem like leaves “hung from a branch“.
The narrator also pictures the pathetic condition of the poor young girl and her skinny and weak features. The narrator says she is a “frail creature” having disheveled hairs, “dark lips” and “light eyes”
In the same way, readers may find Mansfield using color imagery to visualize Rosemary’s bedroom and its beauty. The narrator says the room was furnished with glossy furniture along with “gold cushions and the primrose and blue rugs”
Literary devices
Mansfield has used the following literary devices in the story:
Personification, Metaphors, and Similes
Readers may come across several personifications and similes in the story. The narrator says “Her heart beats like a heavy bell”. This shows how Rosemary feels insecure and jealous of the poor girl, praised by her husband, Philip for charm looks. Similarly, Mansfield seems to personify weather with gloomy abstract such as “cold bitter taste in the air“. This represents her gloomy mood as she couldn’t buy the little enamel box.
Likewise, Mansfield also personified inanimate things with humanly attributes. For instance, the narrator says the lights of the houses “looked sad” and were “regretting something”
Moreover, one can also see how the narrator is using different metaphors for young girl i-e, “little battered creature”, “poor little thing”, “thin figure”, “new being, a light, frail creature with tangled hair” and “listless figure”. Mansfield used the aforementioned metaphors to highlight the miserable condition and outlook of Rosemary towards poor people.
In the same way, the narrator also shows poor young girl’s features and actions with the help of metaphors and similes. The narrator says “voice like a sigh, almost like a sob” to emphasize her sorrows. Similarly, to depict the young girl as being skinny the narrator says “bird-like shoulders“. Also, Mansfield applies metaphor to depict the action of shivering a young girl with a child by saying “She seemed to stagger like a child”.
Further, the narrator used the metaphor of “a geranium petal” to express the charm of Rosemary’s hat. Also, the narrator describes the glowing delicacy of the box and metaphorized it “as though it had been baked in cream”.
Oxymoron
Readers may also find Mansfield using oxymoron at one point in the story. Oxymoron appears in the dialogue of Philip when he advises Rosemary to take good care of Miss Smith. He says “Be frightfully nice to her”. On one hand, it shows the concern of Philip towards the poor girl. On the other hand, it shows the dialect of Philip.
Allusion
Mansfield has alluded to “Dostoevsky” to mirror the hypocrisy behind helping the poor the way Rosemary did.
Hyperbole
Mansfield has exaggeratedly explained the wealth of Rosemary in the story. If Rosemary wants to go shopping she would prefer Paris unlike common people who go to Bond Street.
Irony
Mansfield has allied irony on the philanthropy of upper classes. She rebukes their intentions to help others which is nothing but to show off and maintain a status in society. This gives them a point to brag on.
Tone & Genre
The story is first told in a cheerful and enthusiastic tone. However, in the end, tone changes into disgruntled and bitter. A Cup of Tea is a short story written in realistic fiction.