The Varsity Drag

“I think Laura has just gone to hell. Hades, actually, the classical underworld, the realm of the dead. Not only that, she hasn't gone as Laura Sheridan, but as Persephone... Persephone's mother is Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, fertility, and marriage... Remember: the guests admiring the flowers at Mrs. Sheridan's garden party go about in couples, as if she has in some way been responsible for their pairing off...” - Chapter Twenty-Seven: “A Test Case” pages 273-274

First off I would like to say that any grievances that I mentioned earlier concerning inaccuracies and oversights have been atoned for by this last chapter, that along with the apology Foster issues in Envoi. I thought Foster's analysis was nearly flawless, and the fact that he gave me the opportunity to read “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield made the whole book worthwhile. I don't think that I would ever read it more than once, but the overall experience was constructive. However, there were some elements of the story that Foster could have taken the opportunity to elaborate on. The analysis that Foster provides perceptively uses every detail to confirm his argument, yet he doesn't seem to relate what the use of that specific Greek myth asserts in terms of social context. What does it mean when Mansfield portrays the elite and wealthy as Gods and their impoverished counterparts as the inhabitants of hell? She means just that. The ultimate luxury of the rich is the ability to live life as you please, the option of affording yourself every possible materialistic wonder, and more importantly the leisure of being apathetic to the woes of the world. Mrs. Sheridan can't care for the death of a mere carter down the street, because she is a god. Her prosperity cannot allow her to feel sorrow, because to do so would be denying her monetary powers. In her eyes it would be the same as eating out of a dumpster, when she can afford to eat from diamond encrusted china. She need not stoop to such emotion, so why should she? The rich can afford to be frivolous with life, and as Mrs. Sheridan begins to shape Laura, that is exactly the sort of image she takes away from her journey: that life is frivolous, because in the end Mr. Scott can't care about anything either, so why should we? In contrast, however, we see the gap in responsibility of which Mrs. Scott will have to fill, and the children who may starve. What makes this difference in perspective? Hell, reality, whatever synonym you like. The working class do not have the means to luxuriate in droll illusions. That truly is what creates the class system, the separation between fantasy and reality; paradise and hell.