Observing Oppositions of Two Worlds from The Garden Party – Exploitation to the lower class by Capitalism

Abstract

The Garden Party, written by Katherine Mansfield who the mother of New Zealand modernist literature, takes the protagonist, Laura as the basis and her development as a clue to reveal the pheromone of increasing exploitation of the lower class by capitalism and the hesitation of the middle class when they face with the two under the impact of industrial civilization in the 20th century. This thesis analyzes the three relationships between capitalism and the middle class, capitalism and the lower class, and the middle class and the lower class in the novel. The author not only critiques the nature of the opposite world, but also ponders on how to reconcile the conflict of exploitation in the future.