FEMINISM APPLIED ON CUP OF TEA

1. A Cup of Tea by Katherine Mansfield
“A Cup of Tea" is a short story written by Katherine Mansfield that tells us how
people show generosity to people whom they consider inferior to them.
Rosemary Fell was very rich. Though she was not very pretty, she made up for it
as she lived in extreme style and fashion. One cold night, after coming out of a
shop of fancy antiques, she came across a girl by the name of Miss Smith. The
poor girl wanted the price of a cup of tea from Rosemary. She thought of doing
something generous. She asked the girl to take tea with her at home. She did not
believe Rosemary and even suspected that Rosemary might hand her over to the
police. But at last Rosemary took her to home. She wanted to show that those
nice things that happened in novels and fairy tales about godmothers and
generous rich people did really happen in real life also. She felt the unity in all of
all women too and she thought it was a duty of a woman to help another woman.
The girl was very nervous, but Rosemary was all encouragement, even helped
her to take off her clothes. She asked her servant to bring some brandy and tea.
The poor girl was too hungry and going to faint if she did not take tea.
Rosemary enquired about the girl and show her generosity on the poor creature.
She was going to begin her enquiry when her husband, Phillip, came in. He
asked his wife to come in library after knew about Miss Smith and asked her
about Miss Smith. Rosemary told him all about her. Phillip, a practical man, knew
that it was not practical. He told his wife that husband knew more about life. He
replied that it was not possible because Miss Smith was very pretty. The wise
husband’s arrow hit the right point. She was jealous of the poor girl whom her
husband found so pretty. Rosemary went away to her writing room. She took out
three pounds. She gave the girl the money and sent her away. Rosemary dress
up well and came to her husband. She told him that Miss Smith would not stay
for dinner and that she gave her some money. Suddenly she asked him whether
he liked her. She asked him to kiss her and asked him whether she could buy the
antique box that she had seen in the shop. At last she asked him if she was
pretty. Rosemary was jealous and she wanted to be reassured that her husband
loved her still.
Katherine Mansfield was a prominent modernist short fiction writer, and this short
story is written in the modernist mode, without a set structure, and with many
shifts in the narrative. The story is told through the feminine voice and describes
both physical and spiritual feminie delicacy. Main themes of this short story are
feminism, materialism and class conciousness. If we analyze this story with
feministic percpective then we find many feministic features in this story.

2. feminism is the advocacy of women's right on the grounds of political, social and
economic equality to men. Basically, it is a socio-political movement for equality
of both sexes and organized activity on behalf of women's right and common
interest. 'A Cup of Tea' deals with gender issues the feminie experience of reality.
From the begining, the vioce introduces us in to the life of the main character as
well as her most exquisite features. Rosemary Fell appears to be a woman of the
new generations with modern ideals and fine taste for art.
In the start, writer talks about the qualities of women, in patriarchy society we
count the qualities of women but not take her as unity. women have been taken
from different percpectives In the story, protagonist Rosemary present as a pretty
and modern women,as the writer said that:
"she was young, brilliant, extremely, modem, exquistely well dressed,
amazingly well read in the newest of the new books, and her parties were
the most delicious mixture of the really important people". in this story
women present as object of beauty and object of pleasure.
in story, writer talks about Rosemary that she had involved in any other person
before her marriage but she married Peter-Micheal, it shows that women have
not their own will, they are submissive, they cannot do any thing wothout thier
husband's or father's permission. A woman who has internalized the norms and
values of patriarchy which can be defined, in short, as any culture that privilge
men by promoting traditional gender roles. in patriarchy society women are
consider as rational, weak, submissive and dependant. women are kept away
from the educational and occupational means of acquiring economic, political
and social power to keep them powerless.
in next scene, we find oppression of woman by woman, when Rosemary go to
Regent street to buy things and a girl kept her things to her car.
"she followed to the car by a thin shop-girl staggering under an immense
white paper armful that looked like a baby in long clothes....."
Here we find that how lower class is supressed by upper class of society, here
we can say that may be that girl, attendant, was from the community of black
people and we know that how black women are supressed by white women it is
called racial feminism because in racial feminism white women considered black
women inferior from them due to thier colour and races. In the same way that
little girl was supressed by Rosemary; and this kind of situations arise inferiority
complex in the women. As Simone de Beauvoir mentioned in Second Sex, "if
woman seems to be the enessential which never becomes essential, it is
because she herself fails to bring about this change"

3. in another scene, we get the point that shopping has been specially associated
to the women although they buy household things and other neccessaries for
thier families and for themselves but they are not appreciated; and for this they
are called spendthrift by men. as in the story, when Rosemary go to Curzon
street shopkeeper deals her ridiculously, as in the text; "ridiculously fond of
serving her". so they have to face criticisim of men even outside of the house
and never feel easy while at each place they have been in disturbing and
uncomfortable position. women are so innocent that is the reason, men can
easily cheat them and flattered them same happen in the story when shopkeeper
flattetred Rosemary by saying that, "i love my thing, i would rather not part
with them than sell them to some one who does not appreciate them".
women are considered as inferior to men in every percpective of life even in
show pieces women are shown as dependant on men. As in the story, we find
that the writer calls man 'minute creature' and woman as 'more minute creature'.
It shows that she cannot be equall to men even in artifiacial objects. Women are
always shown inferior to men but women are not born inferior to men. Both sexes
are programmed as masculine or feminine later by society and it is called social
contructionism. As Simone de Baeuvoir, mentions that "man can act upon the
world, change it, give it meaning, while women have meaning only in relation to
men".
When Rosemary examines that box she takes off her blue velvet gloves, it
symbolizes she takes off the rigidness and possesion of man and examine the
box according to her own taste and interest, but after observing that object , she
once again she wear gloves and by doing this she diminish her freedom of
expression and taste because she has to take her husband's permission to buy
that box because men are not interested in these type of things. Women are fully
dependant on men economically so due to this reason Rosemary could not buy
that box. women are always taken as object of pleasure and entertainment and
the word beauty is always related to women. As in the text shopkeeper points out
little lady's bodice".
Writer highlights the weakness of women by mentioning that if they could not get
something, they become sad and upset, as in the story, when Rosmsry cannot
buy the box she became depressed and she felt her enviornment dark and dim.
Traditional gender roles cast men as rational, strong, protective and decisive;
they cast women as emotional, weak, nurturing and submissive.
French feminism believes in the importance of social and political activism in
order to ensure equal opportunity and equal access to justice for women. French
feminism focuses on two different forms; materialst feminism and

4. psychoanalytic feminism. They focuses upon the philosophical and
psychological dimensions of women's issues. As miss smith in the story has
become the victim of materialist feminism, in which women are socially and
economically oppressed. Miss smith came to Rosemary to get some money for a
cup of tea, we know that tea is consider as basic need of human beings and she
does not bhave sources to fulfill her basic needs. Writer tells us that Miss Smith
was little battered creature, it shows that she was also socially oppressed that
she has no her own identity and she also has not any shelter to live in.
She becomes ready to help her but main thing in this regard is to show off that it
consider as a great act of kindness if she helps her and by doing this she will
become prominent among her friends. she took smith to her home and when
they came at home, Rosemary make show off of her wealth. she tried to show
her luxurious life, take her to bedroom. she did'nt called any servant because she
want to secure miss Smith from everyone and tried to gave her a sense of
protection. She helped her to take off her clothes and putt her cloth on floor, it
also shows racial differences that she put her cloth on a stand and her cloth on
floor.
In next scene we come to know that she asked Rosemary that she is going to
faint if she don't eat something or take tea. As in the text: "i'm very sorry,
madam, but i'm goint to faint, i shall go off, madam, if i don't have
something". it also shows that women are opprressed badly even they don't
manage their basic needs. They have not sources to survive in a society.
Rosemary tried to know about her misery and painful condition. she want to know
about the reason of her weeping, she assured her that she can believe upon her.
She tried to assure her that 'wonderfull things did happen in life, that-fairy
godmothers were real, that-rich people had hearts, and that women were sisters'.
In these lines she tried to assure her that she would help her but after wards she
suppressed her and ask her to leave her house.
At the Fells' home, Miss Smith eats her fill. She then begins to tell Rosemary of
her life when the husband, Philip, comes in. Although initially surprised, Philip
recovers and asks to speak to Rosemary alone. In the library, Philip conveys his
disapproval. When Rosemary resists dismissing Miss Smith, Philip tries another,
more successful, tactic. He plays to Rosemary's jealousy by telling her how pretty
Miss Smith is. Rosemary retrieves three, 5 pound notes, and, presumably, sends
the girl away. This dismissal is a far cry from Rosemary's first vow to "Be
frightfully nice to her" and to "Look after her". Later, Rosemary goes to her
husband and informs him "Miss Smith won't dine with us tonight". She first
asks about the antique box from the morning, but then arrives at her true
concern: She quietly asks him, "Am I pretty? She's very insecure. This shows

5. that she feels jealousy with another women, first she says that she help her, its
her duty to serve another women and share her problem but she was
psychologically suppressed. She feels insecures when her husband praised
another woman infront of her, so she help Miss Smith little and ask her to leave
her house and she ask her husband again and again "am i pretty?"
‘A Cup of Tea’ is one of her most popular short stories. In this story Mansfield
focuses on the working of a woman’s mind when her romantic dreams come into
conflict with reality. In this way she dramatizes small the effect that small human
feelings like jealousy can have. Rosemary Fell, the main character, is an
extremely rich lady and not just comfortably rich. A word of praise for the girl from
Rosemary’s husband, Philip, makes Rosemary jealous. She felt insecure
although her husband adored her and she became restless. She forgot all the
dreams she had for that beggar-girl and sent her away with a present of money.
Thus jealousy, the universal human failing, turns her into a hard realist. Infact it is
here that she succeeds in giving a humanistic touch to her character. To
conclude we can say that the character of Rosemary is well portrayed. One can
find traces of realism in Rosemary as we do find shallow women around us. Yet
her transformation into humanism in the end makes one feel sorry for her, though
we may not like her. The main themes of class consciousness and feminism
have been developed through the character of Rosemary Fell.