katherine mansfield in context

8/12/2019 Katherine Mansfield in Context

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Alfred Richard Orage

http://www.katherinemansfield.org.uk/orage.

htm

Please visit http://www.katherinemansfield.org.uk/intro.htm

When Katherine first sat in front of Orage in 1910, surrounded! offi"e e#uipment, manus"ripts and the paraphernalia of

pulishing, did she see in him an entree into a world of literar!

a""laim$ %id he, editor of the &ew 'ge and well known as aradi"al "hampion of little known writers, see a !oung womanpoised to step into her pla"e in the literar! limelight$ '"ross

the desk the! re"ognised in ea"h other a "ommon spirit, ut the

ma(or signifi"an"e of this meeting for the tra(e"tor! ofKatherine)s life was, as !et, unknown to oth of them.

*his promising start was "ut short ! the arrival of +ohn

iddleton urr!, and Katherine)s defe"tion to his rival

literar! review -h!thm as (oint editor. or some time,e"hanges etween them were distant at est and sharpl!

"riti"al at worst.

*hen a de"ade after their first meeting, in the shadow of her illness, Katherine wrote to

him: "Dear Orage ... I want to tell you how sensible I am of your wonderful unfailingkindness to me in the !old days!. And to thank you for all you let me learn from you...".

use#uent "onversations with Orage in the garden at ampstead in 1922 were no longer

(ust aout literar! matters. Poignantl!, at the same time as her ph!si"al od! was failing,she felt an urgent "all to life in her inner, spiritual world. 3t was again Orage who a"ted as

initiator: as the link to Piotr Ouspensk!, a leading eponent of the 4urd(ieff tea"hing, and

dire"tl! to 4urd(ieff himself.

hou grie#est for those that should not be grie#ed for

he wise grie#e neither for the li#ing nor for the dead

$e#er at any time was I not nor thou nor these princes of men

$or shall we e#er cease to be hereafter

he unreal has no being

he real ne#er ceases to be


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3ns"ried on Orage)s gravestone at ampstead 5hur"h!ard

http://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/authors/Mansfield.htmlLiving and dying in the physical world

*hink 6irginia Woolf,ut with odies atta"hed to those ever7so7sensitive minds.

*hat gives !ou one idea of Katherine ansfield)s writing. er stories share the fine

per"eption and sensiilit! of Woolf)s novels ut her "hara"ters are not separate from theph!si"al world. *he! are engaged in it.

's was ansfield herself. he was known as #uite the female liertine for her time.

*ravelling around. leeping around 8with oth sees. *hinking around. perimenting

around. &othing that Woolf and her ;loomsur! "rowd didn)t indulge in, mind !ou, utwithout their well7red manners and "over of intelle"tualism. &o wonder Woolf

"onsidered ansfield "heap and whorish, while ansfield found the slightl! older author

a prig. 8*he! did seem to have en(o!ed dis"ussing writing with ea"h other though. *hereis even a ook availale on their intense literar! relationship:%atherine &ansfield and'irginia (oolf: A )ublic of wo.

*he differen"e in ansfield)s personalit! perhaps translates in her writing into a greater

grounding in the ever!da! "on"erns of ordinar! people


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last half of her short life. *he earl! ones were written for literar! maga@ines to whi"h she

"ontriuted regularl!. rom 1912 she was asso"iated withRhythma modernist

puli"ation edited ! +ohn iddleton urr! who e"ame her se"ond husand in 191Aand her "hampion after her death. 8er first marriage, whi"h lasted effe"tivel! onl! a da!,

she said was resear"h for a stor! to see what it felt like.

Onl! three "olle"tions of her stories were pulished during her lifetime.In a ,erman

)ension"ame out in 1911 after her eperien"e of pregnan"! and losing the "hild in;avaria. ' short stor! BPreludeB, often "onsidered her est, was pulished ! Woolf)s

ogarth Press as a ook in 191A and appeared again in the "olle"tion-liss and Other

toriesin 1920. 's she was d!ing of *;, she rushed to "omplete stories for her mostinfluential "olle"tion he ,arden )arty and Other toriesin 1922.

*wo more ooks of stories, he Do#e!s $est8192C and omething hildish8192D were

pulished posthumousl!. tories of Katherine ansfield, a est7of sele"tion, appeared in

19C0. ollected torieswas pulished in 19DE. 'nthologies of her letters, (ournals and

reviews have also een produ"ed sin"e her death.

< ri"

'irginia (oolf

http://www.katherinemansfield.org.uk/virginiawoolf.htm

KatherineFs friendship with 6irginia Woolf was anetraordinar! lend of intima"!, rivalr! and mutual

admiration. 'rtisti"all!, the! were intimates. 5ulturall!the! were hemispheres apart.

6irginia tephens was orn into the inner "ir"le of

=ondon intelligentsia. he taught herself to write in her

fatherFs lirar! and rememered 4eorge liot and

enr! +ames visiting when she was a "hild. =ikeKatherine she was also a pre"ise re"order of her inner

world. Gnlike Katherine, she retreated from the outer

world.

3f the intensit! of her novel writing left her fragile,6irginiaFs sense of "lass was roust. On meeting

Katherine, she wrote: 0I1m a little shocked at her

commonness at first sight. 2owe#er when thisdiminishes she is so intelligent and inscrutable that

she repays friendship.3
http://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/books/Garden-Party-and-Other-Stories.htmlhttp://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/books/Garden-Party-and-Other-Stories.htmlhttp://www.editoreric.com/greatlit/books/Garden-Party-and-Other-Stories.html


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t!listi"all!, the influen"e of KatherineFs writing was profound. 6irginia wrote:04ou

seem to me to go so straightly and directly 5 all clear as glass 5 refined spiritual63 'fter

KatherineFs death she "onfided to her diar! it was: 0the only writing I ha#e e#er been7ealous of.3

or her part Katherine re"ipro"ated: 0&y ,od I lo#e to think of you 'irginia as myfriend. Don!t cry me an ardent creature or say with your head a little on one side smilingas though you knew some enchanting secret: 8(ell %atherine we shall see1... -ut pray

consider how rare it is to find some one with the same passion for writing that you ha#e

who desires to be scrupulously truthful with you 5 and to gi#e you the freedom of the citywithout any reser#es at all.3

http://www.katherinemansfield.org.uk/dhlawren"e.htm

Da#id 2erbert *awrenceKatherine and =awren"e were reellious, outspoken writerswith strong eliefs in their own idealsH inevital! the! sailed ano"ean of alternating friendship and enmit!. *he! were worlds

apart in "hildhoodH she was the daughter of a "olonial anker

and he the son of a miner, ut oth wished ferventl! to write.

Writing was their "ommon ond: ea"h illustrated an intuitivesensitivit! to the natural worldH ea"h saw human ehaviour and

the "lass rules of the earl! 20th "entur! as fair game, the

pe"uliarities of whi"h the! drew on for per"eptive"hara"terisation with no saving gra"e of self7immunit! grantedH

ea"h roke the ounds of literar! and so"ial "onventions.

Katherine re"ognised in =awren"e a response towards life that she felt in herself: 0Oh

there is something so lo#able in him + 9 his eagerness his passionate eagerness for life 5

that is what one lo#es so.3ven so, when she saw the furious arguments =awren"e and

his wife rieda Ien(o!edF, it was ovious that this passion "ould #ui"kl! e"ome

un"ontainale: 06he is completely out of control 5 swallowed up in an acute insane

irritation.3

't the end Katherine saluted an essential affinit! with =awren"e: 0I am more like * than

anybody. (e are unthinkably alike in fact.3at"hed in their gifts, the! were mat"hed inthe in"andes"en"e of their rief lives 7 and in fates whi"h the! met with valour.

0*et me guide myself with the blue forked torch of this flower down the dark and darker

stairs where blue is darkened on blueness.3

%. . =awren"e
http://www.katherinemansfield.org.uk/dhlawrence.htmhttp://www.katherinemansfield.org.uk/dhlawrence.htm


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0Olgi#anna3http://www.katherinemansfield.org.uk/olgaivanova.htm

Olga 3vanovna =a@ovi"h ilanoff in@energ was one of the

prin"ipals in the Isa"red dan"esF at 4urd(ieffFs 3nstitute for the

armonious %evelopment of an. he was one of those"hosen ! 4urd(ieff to give Katherine support.

he wrote of KatherineFs arrival in 1922: 0he stood in thedoorway of our main dining+room and looked at all and at

each with sharp intense dark eyes. hey burned with the

desire and hunger for impressions. he wanted to sit downand eat with all the students but someone called her to a

different dining+room 6 I told ,urd7ieff what a lo#ely face she

had and how much I liked her ... (hen I left her room I leanedagainst the wall for a few seconds. (hy had she to die6

omething became outlined in my mind. I understood her

need.3

Katherine re"orded her idealised impressions of life in the 3nstitute kit"hen:

0$ina a big girl in a black apron 5 lo#ely too 5 pounds things in mortars. he secondcook chops at the table bangs the saucepans sings another runs in and out with plates

and pots a man in the scullery cleans pots 5 the dog barks and lies on the floor worrying

a hearthbrush. A little girl comes in with a bou;uet of lea#es for Olga I#ano#na. &r,urd7ieff strides in takes up a handful of shredded cabbage and eats it 6 there are at

least minutes and it contains the whole life of woman 5

but e#erything? $othing is left out. It taught me it ga#e me more of woman!s life than

any book or poem. here was e#en room for @laubert1s oeur imple in it and for

)rincess &arya6 &ysterious.3

,. I. ,urd7ieff

http://www.katherinemansfield.org.uk/giJgurd(ieff.htm


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*he final three months of Katherine)s rief and vivid life are inetri"al!

linked with 4eorge 3vanovit"h 4urd(ieff the "ontroversial 4re"o7'rmenian

savant and )*ea"her of %an"ing).

't the @enith of her fame, ut irremedial! stri"ken ! pulmonar!

tuer"ulosis, she took refuge in his 3nstitute for the armonious%evelopment of an at ontaineleau7'von. ",. was #ery good to her",re"alls the philosopher Piotr Ouspensk!. "2e did not insist on her going

although it was clear she could not li#e. @or this in the course of time he

recei#ed the due amount of lies and slander."

;ut su"h slander re#uires no spe"ial reuttal. 3t is ampl! "hallenged ! the

positive a""ount of Katherine)s eperien"e, volunteered in her last letters toiddleton urr!. 'nd he, on arriving at the 3nstitute a da! efore Katherine

died, found her: "a being transformed by lo#e absolutely secure in lo#e."

)erhaps it is useless to go in search of places once fre;uented by a person we ha#e lo#ed

or admired + long dead before our times. @or like %atherine &ansfield and ,eorge

,urd7ieff who lie side by side in the A#on cemetery they ha#e passed triumphantly into

the brighter realm of the collecti#e imagination belonging to all and possessed by none.=inda =appin

katherine mansfield in context

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