Compare and Contrast Essay on The Doll House by Katherine Mansfield and The Night Doctor

Introduction

After closely reading the two narratives it seems there are a lot of similarities in terms of literary theory. The first concept is feminism critics that the societies in the two narratives portray. In a patriarchal system, the males dominate over the females in all works of life. Men are the decision-makers in the political arena, the social arena, and economic arena. In the story, the dollhouse, the same domination of women by men is practiced. Aunt Beryl is under the authority of Willie Brent. This is because she was very terrified when she received communication from Willie instructing her to meet him by Pullman's bush. She releases the tension she has built over the issue by scolding at Kezia and the Kelvey's for a very silly mistake.

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The women in the dollhouse have also obeyed the rules given to them. They could not act on their own. The Burnell children and all other children in the neighborhood are instructed not to intermingle with the Kelvey's. Kezia is the only child who does not adhere to this; she asks the Kelvey's to go with her to the courtyard to see the dollhouse though it was forbidden. In the story, the night doctor the same patriarchal ways are evident in the lives of the characters. Men in the society earn more than women and are richer than the women. Claudia hates the fact that her husband has money and does not give her. Claudia's friend also hates the fact that both her and her husband work but she is less remunerated than the husband.

The next is formalist criticism. This theory looks at the form, style, imagery, structure etc. used by the author in the tale. The objective of this concept is to determine how much of these writing styles interact with each other to have an effect on the readers. The writing styles are fundamentally a combination of rules like punctuation, spelling and rhetoric or style. In the story, the dollhouse the author has used imagery to add some depth within the text. (Richards, 2017)

In the first paragraph of the dollhouse, the author uses descriptive language to bring out the fresh smell of the paint of the dollhouse. The paint is described to be very strong that it can make a person fall ill. This form of imagery is reefed to as olfactory imagery. This image appeals to the senses of the reader. Katherine Mansfield has used imagery in drawing out the picture of the dollhouse. She used words which show the color of the dollhouse, material used to build it. This type of descriptive language is called visual imagery since it pertains of the sense of sight. In the tale, the night doctor the author has used imagery to show their breath in the air as they were taking a walk with Claudia's friend. Javier has also used imagery to show us how things in Claudia's house look like. In both narratives, the authors have used similes in the story the night doctor the husband of Claudia is referred to as a giant. This may be because of the fact that he was very huge in size. In the dollhouse, the kelveys children are likened to children of a gaolbird.

The next critical approach is the reader response concept. This concept basically looks at the readers' interpretation of the readings and not necessarily the intended message of the narrative (Richards, 2017). The two stories elicit similar reading responses from the reader. In the two tales, the women characters feel less valued by the society they live in. both Claudia and her friend are undermined by their husbands. Aunt Beryl is also worthless to the eyes of Willie Brent thereby depicts how women are treated in these two societies. In the tale, the dollhouse the society is clearly divided upon class lines (Marias & Costa, 2013).

The rich do not mingle with the poor. Discrimination has infiltrated all the institutions of the society and determines how the rest of the society perceives someone. The kelveys children are treated differently by their teacher because of poverty. The community in the story the dollhouse is a conservative. This is because it promotes traditional values in its culture. In the dollhouse, children are not supposed to disobey rules. Kezia is vehemently put down by her aunty for inviting the kelveys over to view the dollhouse. In both tales, the women are wicked and spiteful. Aunt Beryl yells at the children for the sole reason of making herself feel good. In normal circumstances, adult do not correct children for their own personal gain but for the good of the children. Both Claudia and her friend speak negatively about their husbands though they provide for them. Claudia portrays her husband as evil but it is something the author does not agree with. These women are just greedy for the riches they did not work for. In the story by Javier, the women are very self-entitled.

Lastly, there is the New Historicism Criticism. Both stories reflect the ambitions and the inspirations of the lower class and upper-class people in the society. In the story by Katherine Mansfield, the Kelveys live in an awful condition. Mr. Kelvey is apparently in prison for reason not known by the whole town. Lil kelvey and else do not put on nice clothes. They wear bits which are a donation from the neighbors. The kelveys are not able to afford new clothes thus they have contended with the 'bits' they put on. During dinner time, the Burnell children consume a rich meal of mutton sandwiches and cake spread with butter. Due to the condition, the kelveys are in they cannot afford a meal like the Burnells thus they ingest jam sandwiches. This shows how worlds apart the two families were (Mansfield, 1997).

The rich people in the tale by Kathrine look down upon the poor people. Loan even tells Lil Kelvey that she will grow up to become a servant just like her mother. Aunt merely refers to the Kelvey children as little rats. In the tale by Javier, the rich people live in lavish houses. The rich do not want to share their wealth with others. They are so mean to the point that old bath water is used to water the plants. The husbands in the story the night doctor are portrayed as greedy and self-indulging persons. Claudia's husband though he is well off, still lives below his financial means. The most they spend is on things to make the large apartment comfortable. In the story, the breakthrough of Claudia comes when her husband dies of natural causes.

References

Mansfield, K. (1997). Katherine Mansfield's short stories. USA: Vintage books.

Marias, J., & Costa, M. (2013). When I was mortal. New York: Vintage International.

Richards, I. (2017). Principles of Literary Criticism (1st Ed.). London: Routledge.