"Her First Ball" brings youth in sudden juxtaposition with age--the result is confusion, loss of innocence, somewhat tragic. But is it a lasting impression or a passing gloom is for the reader to decide.
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About the writer Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
(1888-1923) Katherine Mansfield is a New Zealand-born master of the short
story. Her short stories are noted for their prose style marked with poetic
fervor. Most of her stories deal with psychological conflicts. Prelude (1918)
is a series of short stories where she reminisces about her life in New
Zealand. Another collection of her stories, Bliss (1920), established her
reputation as a master of the short story form. Her most important collection
of short stories is The Garden Party (1922).
Her First Ball [Summary]
In the story ‘Her First Ball’,
the female character, Leila, and her cousins were on the way to ball dance. It
is Leila’s first visit to a ball dance hall. As they were moving by cab (taxi)
for the ball dance, Leila feels very excited and imagined that she is with her
partner inside the cab. She compares the bolster on which her hand relaxed felt
like the sleeve of a young man's.
Leila’s cousins, Sheridan
(Irish) girls thought it would be so strange experience for Leila because she
had never been to a ball. Leila was very excited about this new experience of
ball dance. Leila had learned to dance at boarding school. However, she was not
familiar with ball dance.
Leila and her cousins
arrived at the drill hall where the ball dance would start. There were
varieties of lights and happy couples everywhere. Many girls had gone into the
Ladies' room to decorate them with cosmetics items. The place was crowded with
young boys and girls as they were getting ready for the ball.
The dancing had not begun
yet. The hall was very noisy with people talking. Leila was amazed. She was
glad that she had decided to come. Earlier in the afternoon, she was unwilling
to come into the hall. The wonderful hall and the beautiful people made her
breathless and she was excited.
All the girls stood together
on one side of the door. The men stood on the other side. Leila was introduced
to a lot of girls by her cousin Meg. The girls did not show much interest to
talk to Leila because they were all looking toward the handsome men.
Then, the men started
walking across the floor. When they came up to the girls, the men's names were
put down in the girls' programs. Several men put their names in Leila's program.
Among them one was an old fat man. Then the music began. Soon, the couples
started dancing.
All of a sudden, a man came
up to her and offered her his arm. Leila enjoyed dancing with the man. The man
asked if she had been to the ball last week. The man was surprised when she
told him it was her first ball dance.
Soon the music stopped.
After a while it started again. Leila's second partner came along. He asked the
same questions like the last man. They danced for a while. Then, they went to
have ice for the supper-room.
When they came back, the
older fat man was waiting for Leila to dance. When the old man and Leila were
dancing, the older fat revealed to her that he had been to balls for thirty
years. That was twelve years before Leila was born. He said that one day, Leila
would be one of the mothers in the hall. She would be fat and talk to the
elderly lady next to her about awful men who would try to kiss her daughter. She
would be sad because no one would kiss her anymore. She felt bad by this. She
thought that it could happen. In the meantime, the music started to sound sad. Her
happiness turned into sadness quickly. She didn't want to dance anymore. She just
wanted to a standstill by the wall. Later, the old man said that he was only
joking. But Leila was still sad.
Then the music began again.
But Leila didn't want to dance anymore. She just wanted to return home. The
music was soft and beautiful. In front of her, a young man with curly hair
bowed to dance with her. They walked onto the dance floor. Then, in only a
minute, she again felt the magic of the ball. Then she felt everything on the
ball was beautiful. While dancing, when she bumped into the fat man on the
dance floor, she even didn't recognize him.
Her First Ball [Question answer]
How does Leila feel
when she gets into the cab to go to the ball? How does the author convey that
feeling to us?
Ans: Leila feels very
excited when she gets into the cab to go to the ball. She feels so excited and
imagines that she is with her partner inside the cab and compares the bolster
on which her hand rested felt like the sleeve of a young man's dress suit.
Why does the author
say that the cab seemed to go past "waltzing" lamp-posts?
Ans: The author says that
the cab seemed to go past "waltzing lamp posts" because he prepares
the readers for Leila's happier anticipation of the ball before being shocked
by her real dancing partner with her. Being so excited, she thinks that she is
moving and waltzing her ball partner in the cab. It is just her imagination.
In the story ‘Her First Ball’, why is Leila moved by the brother-sister relationship between Laura and Laurie?
Ans: Leila is moved by the brother-sister
relationship between Laura and Laurie because she watches their interaction
with one another and wishes that she has sisters and brothers but she is the
only daughter of her family and has spent of her life in the countryside.
Why does Leila think that the lamp jet in the ladies' room is leaping and quivering in Her First Ball?
Ans: Leila thinks that the lamp
jet in the lady's room is leaping and quivering because it was her first ball
and she was from a village so she finds interest in the lighting system of the
ball hall.
What state of
feeling is conveyed by the author's saying that Leila "floated away like a
flower that is tossed into a pool" when she began to dance?
Ans: It is the first ball
Leila and doesn't know how the ball dance is. She has just learned dance at
boarding school but does not know about ball dancing. As she gets her partner
in the ballroom, she dances like a flower that is tossed into a pool. It
indicates her difficulty to dance in the ball hall.
Describe some of the mixed feelings Leila has about attending the ball.
Ans: Due to her first ball,
Leila hopes that she might visit intelligent and rich people in the hall. In
the afternoon, she does not want to be part of ball dancing. Before attending
the hall, she might have thought that there would be a heavenly pleasure that
she might get. Even in the cab, she imagines that she is moving to the ball
with her partner. She compares the cab bolster in which her hand has rested
with the young man's sleeve. She even gets amazed by the lightening system of
the hall and thinks that the lights are quivering and leaping
What motivates the older man to say the things he says to Leila in ‘Her First Ball’?
Ans: The motive of the old man
to say the things is that he might get sympathy from the young girl and would
get the complete pleasure to dance with her. Another motive of the old man is
to say that things might be in prime youth, all types of colorful activities
should be done. In old age, such activities are meaningless and senseless. So,
to encourage Leila to take maximum entertainment of ball dance, he might say
the reality of the old age.
In ‘Her First Ball’, how does Leila change over the course of the story?
Ans: Laila changes her mood and
thinks to return home as she dances ball with the older fat man. When she and
the old man were dancing, he said that Laila, like him, will be old and come
into the hall with her daughter. He adds that she would be fat and talked next
to her lady about a horrible man who would try to kiss her daughter, and she
would be sad because no one wanted to kiss her. This made Laila feel bad.
Hearing the reality, she did not want to dance anymore and stand still against
the wall.
What effect does the
conversation of the elderly dancer have on Leila? How long does it last? What
puts an end to it? Why?
Ans: The conversation of the
elderly dancer (older fat man) makes her feel bad and sad. It lasts till she
visits a young man. In fact, in the ball dance hall, young girls and boys only
find charm (in illusion). Being a young girl, Laila does not want to hear the
reality of old age and may think that she will never be beautiful. So, as she
finds a similar age young boy, she dances as if she would never be old and
later even does not recognize the old man with whom she has already danced.
The fat man's bitter
assessment of life and the dance (an archetypal metaphor for life already) has
a deflating effect on Leila. But how are we to take the ending?
Ans: I positively take the
ending. It is the problem of age to seek handsome boys and girls. Naturally, we
love to make romance with charming people. Whatever the old man says, it was a
reality for older people. Being a teenager, Leila has the right to feel hurt in
saying of the old man. Being a village girl, she finds most exciting in ball
dance and excited with her ball partner so that she even does not recognize the
old man with whom she has danced.
What is the conflict in the story Her First Ball?
Ans: The conflict in the
story is due to age factors. In other words, there is a conflict between youth
and old age.
What is the main
theme of the story?
Ans: The main theme of the
story is the disillusionment of youth.
What is the central irony of the story Her First Ball?
Ans: The central irony of
the story is: as we go through the story, we do not think that the elderly old
man will not be in a young couple's ball dance. But he is also there and loves
to dance with the young girl, Laila.
Explain and list
some metaphors and personifications used in the story "Her First
Ball" that create a mood and atmosphere of excitement?
Ans: The writer uses
personification and metaphor throughout the story. At the beginning of the
story, she writes "a great quivering jet of gaslighted in the lady's
room". In this sentence, she gives human qualities of quivering to the jet
of gas in the lady's room. Similarly, as a metaphor, she compares Laila's first
ball dance with the floated flower that is tossed into a pool. Similarly, Laila
is metaphorically compared twig by Laurie. Her bolster hand rested is compared
with the sleeve of the young man.
What is the shift in
mood from the beginning to the last few lines of the story Her First Ball? How
does the language convey the mood?
Ans: The mood of the story at the beginning is
thrilling and merry-making as Laf is attending her first hall. The later part
of the story arouses a sad mood in the audience as she does not want to remain
in the ball hall after dancing with an old man. At last, the initial mood is
repeated as she gets a young man to dance with her. Language is used in a
parallel way to arouse sound mood but as Laila gets tense and hurt, the mode of
language arouses sadness.
Discuss the theme of loss of innocence in the story Her First Ball.
Ans: The theme of loss of
innocence arises with the activities and thinking style of Laura who is about
to attend the ball. She guesses that at the ball, there are rich, intelligent
people with good robes. Being a country girl, she hopes to find a decent manner
in the ball hall. As she is in the hall, she has to dance with an old man whom
she may not have expected to find in the hall in his old age. Later, she is
said by the old man that in the future she would be in the hall to see her
daughter dance with the horrible man. At that time, she loses her innocence and
knows the reality of old age.
Is the story ‘Her
First Ball’ a cruel depiction of the ravages of time on youth and happiness?
Why or why not?
Ans: Time gives us both joy and
sadness. In youth, everything seems fair and romantic but as time passes, the
same thing can be gloomy. The old man in the story in his youth had been so
happy with the young lady to dance but now he is hateful. He dances with a
young lady recalling the past youth dance. Similarly, at present, Laila is
loved by all in the ball hall but in her old age, nobody will come to kiss her
at the ball. It is a cruel depiction of the ravages of time on youth and joy.