
(完整版)《一杯茶》赏析.docx
8页A Cup of TeaKatherine Mansfield was one of the most famous short story writers in the world. In her stories, she always uses indirect ways to reflect the reality in the society. She likes to emphasis the theme by describing a certain person, an event or a scene. In many of her stories, she shows her attitude of feminism by using many ironic and exaggerating sentences, which add a little humorous sense as well as profound meaning to her story.A Cup of Tea is a simple story with penetrating meaning: Rosemary is a very rich woman. Although she is not very beautiful, she dresses in a delicate and modern way. In a rain y day, she encounters a young beggar who wants a cup of tea to get warm. Rosemary takes the little girl home and offers her food and drinks. When her husband comes back, he is very shocked to say such a ragged girl and asked Rosemary to get rid of her. Refused by Rosemary, he intentionally speaks highly of the beauty of that beggar, which surprised Rosemary and finally she let the girl go.In the beginning of the story, the author gives us a very typical protagonist —Rosemary, a wealthy and happy woman. She has beautiful clothes, celebrated friend sand a husbandloves her very much.“She was young, brilliant, extremely modern, exquisitely welldressed” and “if Rosemary wanted to shop she would go to Paris as you and I would go to Bond Street. ” From all of these ironic detailed descriptions, it is apparent that Rosemary is a hypocritical woman. She attaches great important to her dress and deliberately chooses those friends who can help her get high social status. Although she is a woman of decent life, she cannot live independently in such a male-centered society. It is this unfair society that twists her mind and thus forces her become so hypocritical and artificial.There are three events in this story can support the author ’s feminism idea. The first is about a little box. In a shop, Rosemary was attracted by an exquisite little box which costs twenty-eight guineas, Twenty-eight guineas does not cost much for her such a wealthy woman, but Rosemary hesitates and left it in the shop. Through a series description of the surroundings, the author presents the gloomy mood of Rosemary —“Hateful umbrella”, “Rosemary felt a strange pang” and “horrible moment in life”. Rich as she is, it is so strange that she has such a strong emotion towards a little box. However, in a deep sense, what makes her so distressed is the society, in which man is the authority. In this society,1Rosemary totally depends on her husband for the money. Without the permission of her husband, she cannot afford to buy nothing even a little box. In the society, a woman has no right to own property. Beautiful clothes, luxurious house and delicate furniture, all of these belong to her husband, not her. Without her husband, she has nothing, even bears no difference with a beggar. Although Rosemary does not realize the cruel reality, the real reason causes her upset is that she cannot de everything but to abide by the regulation of the society she lives in.The second event which proves the themes is event that she helps a young beggar. Living in such a society, although unconscious, Rosemary must lack a sense of belonging and achievement. While submerging in the sorrow, she meets the beggar girl who wants a cup of tea. Stimulated by the poor girl, she decides to take her home and be nice to her. From this, we can see how twisted she was due to the milieu, for her help offered to that girl just out of hypocrisy and the desire to have a sense of satisfaction. “She had a feeling of triumph as she slipped her head through the velvet strep ” “She was going to prove to this girl that fairy mother was real, that rich people have hearts. ” All of these show that how ridiculous she is. However, to think deeply, it is the society that changes her into a hypocritical woman. She cannot get anything from the society—independence, property, social status even a small box she likes so much. As a result, she can only get a little happiness from showing off towards the poor people.Another reason she helps the beggar is that she and the beggar are same in some degree. To the girl she said, “Women were sisters. ” Yes, at that period of time, all the women are same. They all can be regarded as “beggar ”. Rich women beg money from their husbands and poor women deg money from pedestrian in the street. Before meeting the beggar girl, she was in a gloomy mood because she cannot afford that small box. When she meets the girl who has no money to buy a cup of tea, she may burst out a kind of sympathy towards a girl, as well as herself.The last scene is also the climax of the story. In the end of the story, Rosemary “presses his head against her bosom ” and asks her husband, “am I pretty?’ From the beginning of the story, we know that Rosemary’s husband “absolutely adore her ”. But from her husband ’s react。












