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The Struggle Of Identity In Katherine Mansfield's The Garden Party

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Introduction
Published in 1922, Katherine Mansfield’s short story “The Garden Party” presents the struggle of the adolescent protagonist, Laura, and her story of initiation as she attempts to balance the journey of self-discovery and the social expectations of her wealthy family. Mansfield interweaves the story of initiation with a commentary on the traditionalist views on gender and social classes. Laura’s journey to a new aspect of her identity is influenced by a false representation of the worker class, the power structure between gender and societal values and morals of the upper class society, and the confrontation with the truth about life, which renders her journey void as she is ultimately prevented from claiming agency and expressing her individual self.

1. Identity
In order to assess the effect of interpersonal relationships on Laura’s identity, it is necessary to trace the development of her identity throughout the short story. In a social psychological approach, the researches Tajfel and Turner analyzed the behavior of individuals within a group and accordingly developed theories which conceptualize the formation of an identity. The aim of Tajfel’s and Turner’s social identity theory, is the analyzation of developing group identities and group dynamics. Individual members of a group
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