Catherine Mansfield Her first ball

The first 200 words of this essay...

2. Catherine Mansfield - "Her first ball"

Short story writers frequently focus on a single character in a single episode, and rather than tracing his development, reveals him at a particular moment, often in a particular place. This moment is frequently one in which the character undergoes some important change in attitude or understanding, Leila in Her first Ball realizes that all things in life come to an end.

Anagnorisis (from Greek, " recognition "). This is a term used by Aristotle in his Poetics, and stands for those events in which ignorance gives way to knowledge. Anagnorisis often coincides with peripeteia (reversal of fortune). James Joyce called these revelations " epiphany ".

Mansfield's story is rich in imagery, to experience the full meaning of Her First Bal, the reader must project himself into the images created by Katherine Mansfield. This means he must follow the sequence of images and perceive the accuracy of each image and the impression it makes on Leila or, better than it, perceive how Leila project her feelings and perceptions to the described images.

For instance, when Leila is taking the cab and first experiencing going out to a ball the