Showing posts with label old-young. Show all posts
Showing posts with label old-young. Show all posts

Her First Ball, by Katherine Mansfield

 

AUDIOBOOK

SUMMARY, by Glòria Torner

This story that goes from innocence to maturity can be divided into four parts:

1. Before the ball. Is the cab her first partner of the ball?

Remembering her first experience, a young girl, named Leila, is about to attend her first ball escorted by their cousins Laura, Meg, Jose and Laurie. She is sitting into the cab, and she is so excited that she is looking everything as if it is waltzing because she feels like she is in the real ball thinking and imagining that her first real partner is the cab.

Leila is talking to their cousins because they are surprised that she is so nervous. She attends the ball with a feeling of great expectation because she is a country girl who has never been to a public ball. Their cousins, who know that Leila is naive and innocent, and they come from the city, and they already have some ball experiences, take care of her and protect her.

2. Before entering to the saloon

Leila and their cousins, the Sheridans, arrive at the drill hall. Laura is helping Leila to push to the noisy ladies’ room, where women are busy getting ready and making the last minutes adjustments.

From the door, Leila’s emotion and excitement is increasing with the beauty of the room with golden floors, red carpets, lights and the elegant atmosphere. How Leila’s perception of the ball is that of a dreamlike event! She begins to listen to the music, and the dance programs are passed out. And everything is ready.

3. During the ball

The men stand at the opposite side of the ballroom, and they appear in front of the ladies waiting for the dance to begin.  The music starts, and the men walk over to pick their respective partners.

The ball is on! When Meg cries “Ready Leila?”, Leila begins to dance. The feeling of joy during her first and second partner is clear. Leila enjoys very much dancing spontaneously, because she had learned to dance with girls at the boarding school, but with a male partner is fantastic!

But with the third partner, the fat man, the story changes, the climax starts. This is the part where the tension is the highest because this older man paints a bitter picture of Leila’s future. He is an experienced man who believes he recognizes Leila from another ball, but this is impossible. He begins to dance with an inexperienced Leila. This man manages to ruin her night with just one dance. At that moment, Leila doesn’t want to dance anymore because this old and fat man discourages her.

3. The end. The last dance.

Now we are reaching the outcome. The fourth and last partner, a young man, bows before her and she decides to dance with him. Now she begins to feel again the fantastic emotions she has felt before. With every turn and every glide, she forgets the bad sentences the old man has said to her before. Suddenly the ball seems beautiful again.

Some remarks.

I don’t know if the antagonist, “the fat man,” was trying to ruin the Leila’s night, or he wants simply to warn her.

I imagine this story is set in the early 1900s, in New Zealand.

From the folk stories as The Cinderella or The Red Shoes to some modern films as Billie Elliot I think this theme is a topic in literature, dance or movies.

Don’t you think we always remember our first ball?


QUESTIONS

-Do you remember your first ball? Or the first time you did something that only older people did?

-What keepsakes do you have?

-Do you think dancing has to be a social skill for everybody? I mean: do you think children have to learn it at school? Can everyone dance, or must everyone have the knack? Do you think black people have the art of dancing in their blood?

-Do you think they are things that they ever won’t be “feminist”, like dancing or weddings?

-Have you ever acted as a chaperone?

-What is the best way to not disappoint your desires?

-According to your opinion, why is the old man so cruel with the girl?

-With young people (or with people in general) is better to be optimist or to be pessimist?

-Do you think the main feature of young people is the ability to recover soon from blows? Do you have any examples?

 

VOCABULARY

bolster, bowled, keepsake, drill hall, dash, wraps, cotton, tassels, strung, gilt, under my wing, freckled, yore, calico, clutched, French chalk, Twinkletoes