Katherine Mansfield 101

The scandalous and fascinating life of Katherine Mansfield and where to start with her stories.

Montana is in Switzerland, I think I said France. Oooops, sorry!

BOOKS MENTIONED:

STORIES MENTIONED:

Miss Brill, Marriage a la Mode, The Garden Party, Bliss, How Pearl Button was Kidnapped, The Little Governess, At the Bay and Prelude.

LIST OF STORIES IN THE MONTANA STORIES COLLECTION:

- Sixpence
- Mr. and Mrs. Dove
- Susannah
- An Ideal Family
- Her First Ball
- At the Bay
- Marriage à la Mode
- The Voyage
- A Married Man's Story
- The Garden Party
- The Doll's House
- Six Years After
- Widowed
- Second Violin
- Honesty
- All Serene!
- Weak Heart
- Daphne
- The Dove's Nest
- A Cup of Tea
- Honeymoon
- Taking the Veil
- The Fly
- The Canary
- Father and the Girls

Music: Prelude to J.S. Bach's Cello Suite I in G, performed by Holly Dunn

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[RandomIgnostic]

At highschool in Iraq we studied about her and the Canary and it was interesting also i got a good mark in English exam before 2 months but i still have two exams hope doing good

[sades]

تم إنهاء المراجعة المركزة لمادة اللغة الانكليزية
2022 /4/20

[notesbynnenna]

I''m so happy that you made this video. I knew pretty much nothing about Katherine Mansfield before I watched this and I feel like I learned a lot. She really did have an interesting life and now I'd like to read some of her stories. Thank you for this video- it was so well done!

[CinziaDuBois]

This was such a brilliant video Holly! I never learnt anything about Mansfield at university - but this was because my university only let me read "English" literature, english being excessively literal beyond belief. I looooved this xxxx you too

[katb]

I attend a Women’s 12 step recovery group called Emotional Sobriety. It is in Maryland, USA. We talk about the Monday daily meditation readings from the Hazelton book mentioned below. It’s the second time I’ve read a quote from K.M. So I thought I would learn a little bit about her. Thank you for the 101. I look forward to learning more. Also thank you for taking the time include the links.

Our reading for today is:

Each Day a New Beginning
Daily Meditations for Women

Monday, February 3
When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves.
—Katherine Mansfield

Perfectionism and its control over our lives stands seriously in the way of our growth and well-being, emotionally, spiritually, and even physically. Life's lessons come through failures probably more than successes. Through our failures we learn humility. We learn to look to others for help and guidance. We learn how to let others fail, too. We fail because we are human.
When we no longer fear failure, we are free to attempt greater feats. We dare to learn more, and life is fuller for it--not just our own lives, but the lives that we touch.

Laughter over our mistakes eases the risk of trying again. Laughter keeps us young, and the lighthearted find more pleasure in each day.

I will fail at something I try today. I can laugh about it, though. My laughter will open the way to another try.

[robertlipman]

Anne, you do speak so beautifully and informatively. I am an instructor of short stories, and I will no doubt use your video as an excellent biography of Katherine Mansfield. I liked how openly you discussed the truthful details about her life.

You mentioned "Miss Brill" as a story you would recommend for those wishing to become familiar with Katherine Mansfield's writing. I agree. It is one of two stories I teach. The other story, one that is not only my favorite of her stories but one of my very favorite short stories I've ever read, is "The Doll's House." I admit to being sensitive, no doubt, but this story just grabs at me and often brings tearful eyes every time I read it. "The Doll's House" has my favorite final spoken line in all of literature, a line which precedes the final sentence and is so incredibly powerful and emotional despite the simplicity and brevity of its words. That line reads " 'I seen the little lamp, ' she said, softly." It is so perfect! I just know Katherine Mansfield understood the feelings of children so well. She couldn't have written a story like this without such sensitivities.

I taught "Miss Brill" and "The Doll's House" to children just ages ten and eleven back in the 1970s and 80s. Here I am now teaching the same two stories to adults. It is a tribute to Katherine's ability to express so beautifully that both age groups could appreciate her work. I need to read more of her short stories, not only to be on the search for other stories to teach but simply for my own enjoyment.

What a shame that Katherine lived so few years. A woman like this had so much more to give us all.

Thank you again for how nicely you introduced this author, and you did so without notes and with enthusiasm, making it such a good video.

[teacherjohangoulart]

This video really helped me in my literature classes and my students loved your accent! Fantastic!

[akiko]

Thank you for this introduction! I will study some of Mansfield's short stories at uni this semester so it is a great way to get into it. Love from France!

[hanffd]

Outstanding overview of Mansfield. You've inspired me to start with The Garden Party and Other Stories.

[betweenthelines]

I had never heard of Katherine Mansfield until you out this video up. So I was excited to learn more and while I was browsing my local charity shop I stumbled across a copy of the garden party and other stories, looking forward to jumping straight into it.

[JasonDowney]

Me and my friend have started a book club for our students in Japan and she's recommended "The Voyage" by Katherine Mansfield for our next meeting. I'd never read her before, so after checking out the story I turned to YouTube to see if anyone had posted anything about her. This video couldn't have been more perfect. Thanks!

[milk]

Thank you for this fascinating and informative biography ! I read The Garden Party back in may and I loved it ! x

[ipshitajee]

We have Bliss on our module for this semester and to be honest I wasn't expecting too much from it before reading it, but wow I loved it so much!

[Zahra-eejx]

Thank you! You've helped me a lot with my uni assignment 💛

[snowy]

What a interesting life Katherine had ! fab video and loved the seeing the photos too thankyou : )

[evelynstenberg]

Great Video. Thank you for making it. I've never of her before today and I wanted to know who she was before reading her story "Carnation"

[pandemoniumpizza]

I knew a little bit about Katherine Mansfield, as we studied The Garden Party in Year 13 English. I really loved The Garden Party and have been meaning to read more from Katherine Mansfield but just haven't yet. I feel like your video has inspired me to actually read more Katherine Mansfield.

[akbotamedeubayeva]

Thank you so much! This video is so interesting and so helpful for my exam preparation!

[Mimya]

I'd love to hear more about Mansfield! Great video! Thank you! <3

[PninianPnin]

Really interesting and great video. Katherine Mansfield is a writer I've been meaning to read for ages, and a few days ago I bought a copy of selected stories from a charity shop, if only to finally have a hard copy of at least some of her stories, so I've no excuse not to read her soon. Your video's got me looking up her relationship with Virginia Woolf now... interesting that she reviewed Woolf's second novel, Night and Day, criticising its failure to address the effect of the war on society and fiction, which (as is said elsewhere online) she went on to confront in her more radical following novels. Amusing, considering Woolf was so adamant about the necessity for new forms of expression in writing! And what a shame that Katherine Mansfield never got to read Mrs Dalloway or To The Lighthouse.