1. SETTING & ATMOSPHERE• Details about setting and atmosphere are not given in the beginning of the story, but later as

Pathetic Fallacy (outer space mirroring inner space of main character): “Rain was falling, and with the rain it seemed the dark came too, spinning down like ashes. There was a cold bitter taste in the air, and the new-lighted lamps looked sad. Sad were the lights in the houses opposite. Dimly they burned as if regretting something. And people hurried by, hidden under their hateful umbrellas. Rosemary felt a strange pang. She pressed her muff against her breast; she wished she had the little box, too, to cling to. Of course the car was there. She'd only to cross the pavement. But still she waited. There are moments, horrible moments in life, when one emerges from shelter and looks out, and it's awful.” – Rosemary’s epiphany; material wealth and life of luxury not making up for the emptiness she feels within.

• Description of the setting and atmosphere around the house to add to the themes of class disparity & futility of material wealth: “Warmth, softness, light, a sweet scent, all those things so familiar to her she never even thought about them, she watched that other receive.”; […] as they reached her beautiful big bedroom with the curtains drawn, the fire leaping on her wonderful lacquer furniture, her gold cushions and the primrose and blue rugs."

2. CHARACTERISATION• Direct characterisation: - Story begins with elaborate description of Rosemary’s physical appearance, personality,

character traits and social status.- Extensive use of adjectives and physical descriptions in character portrayal: “a young

girl, thin, dark, shadowy”; “She saw a little battered creature with enormous eyes, someone quite young, no older than herself, who clutched at her coat-collar with reddened hands, and shivered as though she had just come out of the water.” (again use of colour and exaggeration); “a light, frail creature with tangled hair, dark lips, deep, lighted eyes”

• Indirect characterisation: Characters’ feelings and state of mind are not elaborately described by the narrator but revealed through their actions, reactions, gestures, dialogues and monologues: “"How extraordinary!" Rosemary peered through the dusk and the girl gazed back at her. How more than extraordinary! And suddenly it seemed to Rosemary such an adventure. […] Supposing she took the girl home? Supposing she did do one of those things she was always reading about or seeing on the stage, what would happen? It would be thrilling. And she heard herself saying afterwards to the amazement of other friends […]”

• Round, dynamic, 3 dimensional characters: thoughts, actions, attitudes, behaviour are described. Even those of the shopman and Philip (sub-characters).

3. NARRATIVE VOICE/ TECHNIQUE & POINT OF VIEW• Third person omniscient narration: However, intrusion into the consciousness/ thoughts of the characters is sparse, with more focus on physical descriptions and heavy reliance on conversations and elaborate descriptions of actions of characters to forward the plot.• Some instances of intrusion into characters’ consciousness: e.g. “And suddenly it seemed to

Rosemary such an adventure. It was like something out of a novel by Dostoevsky, this meeting in the dusk. Supposing she took the girl home? Supposing she did do one of those things she was always reading about or seeing on the stage, what would happen? It would be thrilling. And she heard herself saying afterwards to the amazement of other friends:”; “She had a feeling of triumph” - Stream-of-consciousness: “She went to her writing-room and sat down at her desk. Pretty! Absolutely lovely! Bowled over! Her heart beat like a heavy bell. Pretty! Lovely! She drew her check-book towards her.”

• The narrative persona is not completely dissociated from the narration: “They were rich, really rich, not just comfortably well off, which is odious and stuffy and sounds like one's grandparents. But if Rosemary wanted to shop she would go to Paris as you and I would go to Bond Street.”

• Narrator addresses reader, using second person pronoun ‘You’ to engage reader actively into the narration and plot development or hinting at a shared opinion between narrator and reader: “No, you couldn't have called her beautiful.”; “But if Rosemary wanted to shop she would go to Paris as you and I would go to Bond Street.”

4. NARRATIVE TONE & PACE OF NARRATION• Exaggerated/ hyperbolic tone throughout (denoting sarcasm –sarcastic tone) : e.g. “Yes,

she liked it very much. She loved it; it was a great duck. She must have it-”; “He would be willing, of course, to keep it for her forever.”; “"How extraordinary!" Rosemary peered through the dusk and the girl gazed back at her. How more than extraordinary!” (Repetition).

• Pace of narration seems to vary. Slower in the beginning of the story (use of suspension marks). Enumerations and elaborate physical descriptions of characters, objects (the box) and setting (the street scene and the house) suggest a zooming camera effect and create a sense of stillness, slowing down the pace of the story. Contrarily, dialogues/ conversations, particularly the use of exclamations, add momentum to the pace of narration.

• The pace at which events occur in the story is also rather fast: Rosemary being suddenly approached by the girl, her equally sudden decision to take the girl home, and her sudden change of mind about having the girl stay for dinner towards the end of the story.

• Repetitive use of short phrases/ sentences and monosyllabic words (some sentences consist of uniquely monosyllabic words) define the fast pace of the narration: e.g. “pretty?”; “She had a duck of a boy.”; “"I want those and those and those.”; “It was a shop she liked.”

5. TYPE OF PLOT & TIME FRAME• Linear narration.

• Follows short story convention about plot; i.e. story about a brief moment in the life of the character – limited time frame; short time period.

• Rather static plot (nothing much happens), but subtly follows schema of the Freytag Pyramid:- Exposition: Rosemary goes shopping- Inciting incident: Girl approaches Rosemary- Rising Action: Rosemary takes girl home and feeds her- Climax: Philip comes in and comments on girl’s physical appearance- Falling Action: Rosemary gets insecure, changes her mind about having the

girl for dinner, begins searching for money - Resolution/ Denouement: Girl has left; Rosemary reveals her insecurity in the

last conversation with Philip and resolves to her old lifestyle – i.e. being content with buying stuff rather than being altruistic

6. LANGUAGE & FIGURES OF SPEECH• Hyperbole (exaggeration), Irony and Oxymoron (opposing ideas): “They were rich, really

rich, not just comfortably well off, which is odious and stuffy and sounds like one's grandparents.”

• Hyperbole: “lilac was dreadfully shapeless”; “an immense white paper armful”; “She was young, brilliant, extremely modern, exquisitely 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 and... artists - quaint creatures, discoveries of hers, some of them too terrifying for words, but others quite presentable and amusing.”; “And then the man who kept it was ridiculously fond of serving her. He beamed whenever she came in. He clasped his hands; he was so gratified he could scarcely speak.” – Use of these adverbs produce an ironical tone.

• Story begins with rhetorical questions: “No, you couldn't have called her beautiful. pretty? Well, if you took her to pieces... But why be so cruel as to take anyone to pieces?” Later rhetorical questions suggest uncertainty and doubt: “Supposing she took the girl home? Supposing she did do one of those things she was always reading about or seeing on the stage, what would happen?”

• Repetition of words and ideas add to the exaggerated/ hyperbolic tone: e.g. “On the lid a minute creature stood under a flowery tree, and a more minute creature still had her arms round his neck.”; “Yes, she liked it very much. She loved it;”

6. LANGUAGE & FIGURES OF SPEECH• Elaborate descriptions of material items and use of colours to create vivid pictures of these

items in the mind of the reader: “[…] it had green ribbons. And there was a pink cloud […] turning the creamy box, […] her hands were against the blue velvet. […] those rosy, flashing ones […]”

• Contrast: Excitement v/s Surprise mixed with Fear (girl acting as Foil to Rosemary) – “The girl drew back startled. She even stopped shivering for a moment. Rosemary put out a hand and touched her arm. "1 mean it," she said, smiling. And she felt how simple and kind her smile was. "Why won't you? Do. Come home with me now in my car and have tea." "You - you don't mean it, madam," said the girl, and there was pain in her voice. "But I do," cried Rosemary. "I want you to. To please me. Come along." The girl put her fingers to her lips and her eyes devoured Rosemary. "You're - you're not taking me to the police station?" she stammered. “ (Extensive description of actions and physical reactions).

- Contrast between Rosemary’s belongings, descriptions of her attire, the car, the furniture items at her place, luxuries, the material items (the little box) v/s the Cup of Tea – the only thing that the little girl wants: “"I'm very sorry, madam, but I'm going to faint. 1 shall go off, madam, if I don't have something." […] "No, I don't want no brandy. I never drink brandy. It's a cup of tea 1 want, madam." And she burst into tears.”

7. TYPE OF SHORT STORY• Cryptic/Ludic: the meaning to be deciphered lies beneath an apparently

straightforward text.

• Intertextuality – mention of one literary text in another literary text: “It was like something out of a novel by Dostoevsky, this meeting in the dusk.” (A hint at the writer’s inspiration).

8. THEMES• Theme of class consciousness and class disparity: elaborate description of Rosemary’s

wealth, luxurious lifestyle and belongings v/s the girl who has not eaten since long and is about to faint (the two characters act as foil to each other) – parallel with ‘Desiree’s Baby’.

Philip does not seem to welcome the idea of having the girl staying for dinner. Does he deliberately call her pretty so as to make Rosemary jealous, so that she would get rid of the girl? In the end, Rosemary abandons her wish to be good and generous to the girl and resorts to buying the box. Does class consciousness impose limitations onto one’s inner callings and real nature/ character?

• Theme of materialism: despite her wealth, Rosemary seems to be living an uneventful, boring life, hence her excitement when she is approached by the girl.

• Theme of inner void/ emptiness related to the theme of materialism (parallel with ‘Misery’): Rosemary has a calling to be altruistic/ generous towards others to defeat the inner void that she feels, and which material belongings cannot fill. However, one may question the genuineness of Rosemary’s intentions towards the girl: “Supposing she did do one of those things she was always reading about or seeing on the stage, what would happen? It would be thrilling. And she heard herself saying afterwards to the amazement of other friends: "I simply took her home with me,"

8. THEMES• Theme of marriage (parallel with ‘Desiree’s Baby’): Concept of the ‘Angel in the House’ –

Rosemary briefly goes out of the house and has an encounter which momentarily leads her to contemplate a slight deviation from her usual role of being just a wife, a mother and a housekeeper. But she feels insecure when Philip comments on the girl’s beauty and feels a threat to her identity as his wife, hence she foregoes her calling. The underlying idea is that she defines herself in relation to her husband’s approbation of her (just like Desiree). Self-imposed limitation – she is too insecure about her own identity and self-image to listen to her calling. Her existence/ identity seems to be solely defined by how far she can please her husband.

However, playing the perfect host is also part of the concept of ‘Angel in the House’; Rosemary wishes to be the perfect host to the girl – “She had the table placed between them. She plied the poor little creature with everything, all the sandwiches, all the bread and butter, and every time her cup was empty she filled it with tea, cream and sugar.”

• Theme of shallowness/ superficiality of human beings – human nature and selfishness/ self-centeredness: Did Rosemary genuinely want to help the girl or was she only trying to bring some excitement into her boring life? – “"There!" said Rosemary. She had a feeling of triumph as she slipped her hand through the velvet strap. She could have said, "Now I've got you," as she gazed at the little captive she had netted. But of course she meant it kindly. Oh, more than kindly.'

8. THEMES• Theme of shallowness/ superficiality of human beings (parallel with ‘Misery’) – “But of course

she meant it kindly. Oh, more than kindly.” – This sentence sounds like yet another sarcastic comment from the narrator.

From the way Rosemary quickly abandons the idea of having the girl stay for dinner, one may question the genuineness of her initial intentions. Her jealousy gets the better of her – insight into human nature; dark thoughts and feelings having the upper hand over noble intentions and inner goodness. Also indicates how insensitive/ indifferent humans can be towards the plight of others.Could it be that Rosemary’s leitmotiv was in fact to show off her luxurious house and wealth to someone from the lower social class so as to impress her and thus boost her own ego? – “"There!" said Rosemary. She had a feeling of triumph as she slipped her hand through the velvet strap. […] She was going to prove to this girl that […] rich people had hearts […] It was fascinating- She was like the rich little girl in her nursery with all the cupboards to open, all the boxes to unpack. "Come, come upstairs," said Rosemary, longing to begin to be generous. "Come up to my room." […] And "There!" cried Rosemary again […]”.

• Self-imposed or socially imposed limitations to one’s spiritual/ emotional fulfilment? Is it Rosemary’s choice to get rid of the girl or is it due to a trick that Philip has played on her psyche?