The Doll’s House Katherine Mansfield Dialogue from the Burnells

The language being used by the Burnells in comparison to the Kelveys creates an obvious difference between the rich and the poor. When the Burnells speak they use proper English, and it makes them seem from a high social class which reinforces the idea of social ranking. Eg. Isabel states “And I'm to chose who’s to come and see it first. Mother said I might”. Whereas when the Kelveys speak they sound a lot more uneducated than the Burnells. Eg. Else “I seen the little lamp” The difference in speech between the two families reinforces the social prejudice about the Kelveys and that they are less than the other children

All the Burnell children speak using proper English when they are at home and at school, but at home it is more formal when they are speaking to elders, when they are speaking to children their own age. Eg. One of the children yell “Open it quickly, some one!” Which is a lot more formal then when they are at school. Eg. Isabel says “Got something to tell you at play time”. Kezia was a little less formal because she is younger than the rest of the children, but she is also being raised to speak like the rest of them in a formal way. This could show how she is still naïve and untainted by the misconceptions of society.

There are obvious differences between the characters that we learn from the way that they speak. There is an obvious difference between the rich girls at school and the Kelveys who are made to seem poor and unwanted by society. The Burnells have been raised to speak properly as they are of a higher social class, and is expected of them. Whereas from what is told about the Kelveys, they would not have been raised to such a standard.