A cup of tea by Mansfield: a lady's charity and emptiness

About the author: Catherine? Mansfield (1888- 1923) is one of the most talented short story writers in Britain, and also a female writer who enjoys the title of "master of short stories" in the history of world literature. His works represent the outstanding artistic achievements of British short stories in the 20th century, such as Party in the Garden, Daughter of the Late Lieutenant Colonel, Bay, Modern Marriage and A Cup of Tea.

The protagonist of A Cup of Tea is a lady named Rosemary, and the author took pains to name the protagonist. Let's disassemble the name of the protagonist, which consists of two words: Rose and Mary. I can see that it is a colorful name, which is very consistent with the glamorous identity of the heroine's wife. At the same time, Mary is homophonic, and Rosemary seems to be the protagonist's marriage.

What is a romantic marriage? According to Rosemary's own description: "She has a lovely child, a man. No, not Peter Michael. Her husband just loves her. Their family is very rich, really rich, not only comfortable, but also sounds shabby and boring, like mentioning someone's grandparents. " Her son is not an ordinary boy like Peter, he is equivalent to Zhang Si in English. Her child's name is "Michael", which gives people a feeling of being tall and handsome in English, and "Michael" is also an archangel in Christianity, and her son is extraordinary. Her husband loves her very much and takes care of her name. Moreover, her family is very rich, and she can buy anything directly in Paris, just as simple as you and I going shopping in the city center. Through her exaggerated description, we can also see the vanity of this lady.

At the beginning of the novel, the author objectively describes Rosemary herself from an omniscient perspective. Rosemary's appearance is not beautiful, and she can't be said to be beautiful unless she looks at it separately, but why should a good person look at it separately? This is a satire on rosemary. "She is young, she is new at ten o'clock, and she is very particular about wearing clothes." She is dressed as colorful as her name. Rosemary has read many new books, and often holds salons at home, attended by celebrities in society, so Rosemary's artistic sense is also an armchair strategist. When the author wrote about these people who attended the salon, he inserted two adjectives: "strange things" and "frightening people", so that we can know the quality of the salon held by the Rosemary family.

Shopping is naturally an indispensable pastime for ladies. Rosemary usually buys flowers in that high-end flower shop on Lijin Street. Rosemary walked into the shop and said, "I want those." Give me four; I want all the roses in that bottle; Oh, let me take that bottle, too. No, no lilacs. I hate lilacs. That flower is different. ""Give me that short daffodil. Take the red and white ones, too. "I heard that she hates cloves. The thin girl in the shop immediately moved cloves out of sight. Rosemary pointed like the only queen in this flower shop.

Rosemary's choice and evaluation of flowers also hides some of her personality and psychology. Rosemary asked for a bottle of roses and even took all the bottles away, suggesting her expectation for romantic love, or at least decorating the room romantically. She hates cloves because they have no shape. How can a lady like her like flowers without shapes? Rosemary wants daffodils. In ancient Greek and Roman mythology, the prototype of daffodil is a beautiful man. He fell in love with his reflection in the water. Because he can't get close to and embrace the reflection in the water, he becomes a daffodil. Narcissus has a strong sense of narcissism, suggesting that rosemary is narcissistic and feels good about herself.

Rosemary bought a lot of flowers, and the thin girl followed her with heavy flowers. Rosemary didn't respond and didn't provide any help, which also shows that she has no sympathy for the bottom people, which is also the foreshadowing. Rosemary's help to female beggars in the following paragraphs is also on a whim and extremely hypocritical.

One winter afternoon, Rosemary went shopping in an antique shop. She especially likes the antique shop in Kouchong Street. "It's quiet there first, and if you don't mention anything else, you can always enjoy it alone." Rosemary can enjoy VIP treatment in this antique shop. The owner of the shop seems to enjoy serving her. As soon as Rosemary entered the door, the shopkeeper was too excited to speak, and then he was full of compliments. It can be seen that Rosemary is a VIP in this store, and she bought many antiques in this store with strong family wealth. She also muttered, "Still, this store is quite interesting ..." It concealed her deeper or distorted preference for this store.

The shopkeeper began his flattery. "You see, madam," "I cherish my things. I'd rather keep it than sell it to customers who don't know the goods. They don't have this kind of concern, this is the most rare ... "Manned voice respectfully, just like holding rosemary below. He said these words and praised Rosemary's taste in antiques. The shopkeeper always keeps the most precious antiques for Rosemary. This time, it is a small box. He unrolled the blue velvet and put the box on it. When describing this series of actions, the author focuses on the owner's hand. His Bloody Fingertips carefully compliments Rosemary's image as a shopkeeper in readers' minds. If it is a thick finger, it is almost a very independent person. The author doesn't need to spend pen and ink to describe the whole picture of the shopkeeper.

Rosemary took off her gloves and touched the box. Rosemary wears gloves to show off her delicate lady life, and at the same time isolates herself from the world around her with a sense of superiority. Not everything or anyone deserves her touch.

"A box of exquisite small broad beans, with really good glaze, looks like it was baked with cheese." The material quality of this box is very good. "A little man stood under a flowering tree carved on the cover, and a smaller little man was still holding him with his hand. Her hat is as big as the petals of a small hydrangea, hanging on a branch with a green ribbon. There is also a pink cloud floating overhead for a long time, like an angel looking for news. " The background color in the picture is warm, the protagonist is a romantic and intimate couple, and there is a guardian angel, which shows that their love will be guarded by angels and will continue to love. Feeling this feeling of stability and warmth, Rosemary couldn't put it down. She opens it, closes it, and so on. Rosemary really needs this warmth and stability in her heart. Rosemary unconsciously noticed that the hands lined with blue velvet looked particularly beautiful, which also took care of the narcissism in the last article.

The shopkeeper pointed to the flowers engraved on the lid with a pencil and said, "Madam, if you allow me to show you, there are still flowers engraved on the little man's bra." This sentence contains a very subtle sexual hint and is a compliment to Rosemary's figure. The shopkeeper praised rosemary again and again, and rosemary was bought again and again, so the shopkeeper had a deformed appreciation of rosemary. While enjoying the satisfaction of shopping, Rosemary also enjoys the owner's appreciation of her deformity, which is the unspeakable reason why Rosemary likes this store. The lack of love of rosemary can also be seen from the side.

Rosemary didn't own the box because she didn't bring enough money. She stood on the steps outside the door, looking at this winter afternoon, and the scenery in front of her was her present situation. The sky outside is gray, and the air is filled with a bitter taste. This is the lost projection that she can't get the box, and it is also the real life she faces after getting rid of the warm picture and the satisfaction of shopping. "The light in the room across the street is so dim." Generally, the room can express people's deepest feelings, which Cao Xueqin also used in shaping the image of Qin Keqing, focusing on Qin Keqing's boudoir. The dim light in the room shows that Rosemary doesn't feel warm at home. "People in the street come and go in a hurry, hiding under their hateful umbrellas." It shows Rosemary's isolation from others and the indifference she feels, so that the scene where her husband especially loves her is self-defeating. She suddenly felt a sense of emptiness. She urgently needs to hold the box in her hand and feel the warmth it brings her. She shops and runs a salon, but it only fills her heart temporarily. The emptiness in her heart has been with her, waiting for an opportunity to occupy her heart. She wants to go back to tea and feel the warmth brought by hot tea. Then she met a beggar woman shivering with cold and asked for a cup of tea money.

Rosemary found the beggar woman penniless. She exclaimed, "How different!" This shows that she can't understand the life of the bottom people, but feels that her current experience is like the plot in Dostoevsky's novel, which is such an adventure for her. She has planned how to show off her adventures to her companions psychologically. Rosemary decided to take the beggar girl home. She wants to make female beggars feel warm and all women are sisters. There is a fairy mother in the myth. Now she wants to play the fairy mother. Rosemary went home with the beggar old woman. "Rosemary dragged her into the house with her attentive posture, semi-protective, almost holding her posture." Rosemary took care of the beggar woman like a baby. However, when Rosemary helped the beggar undress, she threw the beggar's clothes directly on the ground. In fact, she looked down on the beggar in her heart. "Women are sisters" is just the overflow of words. Beggars are just rosemary's pastime for an afternoon. Rosemary took the beggar old woman to her bedroom and they walked slowly. Rosemary doesn't care about the most important need of beggar women-hunger. She didn't give her food until the beggar woman cried weakly that she was going to faint from hunger. In fact, she didn't care about the needs of beggar women, but was immersed in her own self-touch of helping others.

The doorknob turned and Rosemary's husband Philip came back. Philip saw the dirty clothes on the ground, and suddenly there was another person at home. He stood with his back on fire and said, "The weather is terrible for the next half day." Express his dissatisfaction, with a little deterrence, and show his authoritative position in this place. Rosemary can only respond: "Yes, bad weather." Philip sent Rosemary to the study and asked her what had happened. Rosemary was absolutely right. Philip suddenly said that he thought the beggar woman was beautiful and lovely and asked Rosemary if she wanted to have dinner with them. "Good-looking!" "Cute!" At these words, Rosemary's heart jumped like a ball. How could someone who found it steal her thunder? At best, it just sets off her beauty. She immediately took the money and sent the beggar away. "I took out the five-pound note, looked at it, put back two, and held those three in my hand." Rosemary thinks that the pastime brought by beggar women is not worth five pounds, which shows that she has no real compassion at all.

Rosemary told Philip that the beggar woman had left. She sat on Philip's lap with makeup on her face. She touched Philip's face and asked him if he liked her. When Philip wanted to kiss her, she said that she took a fancy to an antique box today and wanted to buy it. Philip quickly agreed with her. This is actually a deal. Their bodies are very close now, but they are in sharp contrast to the carvings on antique boxes. Rosemary buried Philip's face in her chest and asked him if he was good-looking. She wants to exchange her body for Philip's "good looks", but the author has explained at the beginning that rosemary is not good-looking. Rosemary's whole life is attached to Philip, and everything she owns is in Philip's hands. Her mood changes with Philip's reaction to her. From this last transaction, we know that Philip doesn't love Rosemary, but Rosemary only satisfies his desire for women. So Rosemary, centered on Philip, is particularly empty. She kept shopping, ran a salon to fill herself, and even took a beggar home to kill the afternoon with freshness.

Mansfield well-intentioned, with nuanced words, described Rosemary, the empty shell lady in the traditional patriarchal society, as particularly plump and three-dimensional.