Denov institute of entreprenuership and pedagogy social science and humanities department of englishlanguage and literature

CHARACTERS ANALYSIS

ROSEMARY FELL

A socially poised, rich married woman with a devoted and loving husband, who has a great lifestyle. She is well-dressed and well off with all the luxuries she desires for. Her interest is mainly in reading books, always indulged and above all greatly inspired by the characters and their adventurous lives which she comes across in the stories. 
Her inspirational interest can be judged by the decision she takes when she interacts with a poor soul called Miss Smith. She took her home with a mere thought of it being an adventure for her recalling the stories of Dostoevsky. Apart from this possession and insecurity can be sensed in her character.

PHILIPS FELL

The husband of Rosemary is in fact one of the richest persons of his society. He loves his wife devotedly and cares for her a lot. He calls Miss Smith pretty much to his wife’s chagrin, just to make her send Miss Smith away as she refuses to do so when he asks her in the first place even though making his wife feel insecure about herself and her beauty.

MISS SMITH

She is a lean and thin poor girl of just the age of Rosemary. She can’t even afford a single cup of tea and comes to ask Rosemary to pay her the price of a cup of tea. She is an odd person, frightened and confused. She is shocked when Rosemary asks her to have a cup of tea with her at her home. In Mr. Philips’ point of view, Miss Smith is very attractive and pretty.

THE SHOPKEEPER

The owner of a beautiful antique ornaments shop which in fact was one of Rosemary’s favorite shops. He would always be looking forward to having Rosemary at his shop and always saving a lovely piece of art for her, just like he had been saving the eye-catching blue velvet box. He is kind of an ingratiating character.

LITERARY ANALYSIS

A Cup of Tea is a short story written by New Zealand’s prominent short fiction writer and poet Katherine Mansfield in 1922. This story was written on the 11th of January back in early 1922, which was first published in the famous Story-Teller magazine and later appeared in Mansfield’s short story collection The Dove’s Nest.
A Cup of Tea recounts the deplorable conditions of New Zealand society under British colonialism. It exhibits how materialism, hypocrisy, disparity and most specifically class distinction was prevailing in those times.
Mansfield mirrors the aforementioned issues via the character of Rosemary. Her actions and mentality depict those issues. At first, readers may see how Rosemary has a penchant for material gains. This is shown specifically when she desires to have a prized beautiful little box. It represents the extravagance of Rosemary instead of spending her money on useful things she desires to have that little box.
Moreover, Mansfield has tactfully depicted appearance versus reality. She shows not everything is the same as it seems. There are many chances where appearance narrates something else however the reality is a lot different.
The same occurs in the character of Rosemary particularly when she tries to help Miss. Smith. Firstly, she takes her home and then serves her. Though her actions may strike virtuous and kind to the readers however it is not real.
Rosemary took advantage of Miss. Smith helpless condition. Her intentions were never to help her out. Rather she tries to use her as a medium to propagate her fame and upgrade social status. She thinks that this act can provide her a chance to boast in her social circle.
Mansfield used Rosemary for the depiction of upper classes who do the same. New Zealand back in the 19th century was the same. Upper classes were exploiting lower classes for their own benefits. Even the kind act of helping was not spared, it was used as an object to generate praise and material objects.
Moreover, class distinction and the miserable condition of poor are also highlighted in the story. Mansfield shows how wealth was wrongly distributed in society. On one hand, Rosemary was a wealthy and well-dressed woman. She gets what she desires. On the other hand, Miss. Smith is a poor girl with weak features and not properly dressed. She even begs Rosemary for the price of a cup of tea. This mirrors the poverty of the lower classes. Mansfield has thrown light on the prejudice and apathy of upper classes against lower classes. Rosemary helps Miss. Smith takes off her hat and coat however she doesn’t show any respect to her belongings and throws them on the floor. This also indicates how upper classes turn a blind eye towards the poor’s sufferings.
Additionally, Mansfield also highlights jealousy and insecurity of Rosemary. At first, she is cheerful for helping Miss. Smith though she doesn’t respect her. However, when her husband praises Miss. Smith’s beauty, she got jealous. Afterwards she tries to send Miss. Smith ran away from her house by giving her some money. Rosemary got so insecure that she tried to allure her husband with her looks.