By Katherine Mansfield
By Katherine Mansfield
By Katherine Mansfield
Background
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield was closely
associated with D.H. Lawrence and
something of a rival of Virginia Woolf.
Her creative years were burdened with
loneliness, illness, jealousy, and
alienation - all these reflected from her
work in the bitter description of
marital and family relationships of her
middle-class characters.
About Her Life
Josephine Pinner
Also in middle-aged. She is the elder sister
of Constantia, who is interested in making
decisions and guiding her less able sister to
do so. Both of these two sisters never
disobey their father’s discipline
Kate
The Pinners’ servant, who is proud and insolent.
Constantia and Josephine plan to fire her.
Cyril
Constantia and Josephine’s nephew. They decide
to give him the Colonel’s watch.
Colonel
The Pinner sisters’ dead father, who is severe,
powerful, and a kind of tyrant. Everything has to be
done exactly the way he wanted. Otherwise, he will get
angry, so even he passes away, his two daughters still
feel afraid of him.
Nurse Andrews
Colonel’s nurse, who simply loves butter. She takes
advantage of Constantia and Josephine’s kindness
when having dinner with them.
Theme
Katherine Mansfield’s "Daughters of the
Late Colonel" is about how two sisters
face their lives after the death of their
father.
Before their father dies, these two adult
sisters have lived in father’s rules. Their
life with him has filled them with terror;
they can’t even communicate with him.
After the funeral, their lives don’t go any
further. They remain in bondage to the
dead man, fearful of dislodging his image
or receiving his posthumous disapproval.
By giving her nephew the watch and not stopping the
organ-grinder, they seem to internally realize that they are
free to do as they please. But this progression is only
temporary, the sisters quickly stay quiet because of their
initial fear of their father.
This story reflects the unfair treatment which male gives to
female. The colonel is a symbol of patriarchy; women who
live in this authority-dominated society are repressed in
their own thought and can’t have their own ideas. Even the
world changes, women can’t still get real freedom.
We can also apply this idea onto the relationship between
authorities and human-beings in general. We tend to follow
a series of rules without asking why. Do we dare to
challenge the authority?