I feel as if Polly planned the situation all along, pretending to be a helpless and naïve woman to manipulate Mr. Doran and get him to marry her.

Joyce sheds light on how job opportunities are scarce for women at the time and that men reduced even the small freedoms women did hold.

Mrs. Mooney’s character sheds light on a kind of struggle a single mother faces. Still, it is also interesting to see how she uses her social scheme to tactically handle the situation that she can control, such as marrying Polly to a higher class.

Like Mansfield’s The Garden Party and Other Stories, where the characters in each vignette appear in the same universe, I feel like this is also the same with Joyce’s. “The circus” reminds me of Araby. Perhaps it was the same event?

It’s quite sad how her desire to escape was overpowered by her fear of letting go of her responsibilities. I think Joyce portrays pretty well how Eveline’s inability to decide for herself is partly a result of the women’s roles and expectations in society at the time, especially those who came from low-income families. I also wonder if her inaction or paralysis symbolizes her grief over her mother's death and not necessarily over leaving Frank and not escaping.

Joyce alludes to the gender expectations especially the roles of women from a certain class like Eveline’s during this time.

It’s interesting to see that discrimination over another Romance ethnic group also exists in the early years of the 20th century. It also reminded me of how Italians were treated with open discrimination and even violence here in the U.S. in the late 19th to 20th century.

This is probably the third dead priest that I’ve read so far in this novel. I researched a little bit about Joyce and found out that he was raised Catholic. However, one article mentioned that he claimed to be a Jesuit and that he rebelled against the Catholic church. I wonder if killing the priests in this novel is his way of expressing his resentments towards Catholicism.

A good kid. Joyce alludes here how poor could be more charitable than the wealthy.

This made me think of the mental healthcare system in the early 19th century, where people were placed in mental asylums. It’s also worth noting that it was mostly women sent in these asylums, so I find it interesting that Joyce hints a mental unstableness to a man and with that of a particular religious figure.

This reminded of Mansfield’s representation of death, where she describes it as something beautiful and peaceful. It also seems that the aunts and the nephew have contrasting interpretations of the priest’s death. The boy describes the priest’s dead body as “truculent,” whereas the aunts seem to romanticize death.

This is such an interesting way of describing a dead body. Why does the face look with such defiance?

This gives a hint of how life must have been for Leila living in a country. "Dark" and "silent" allude to her being alone, given that she is an only child, which also accounts that her life must have been quite dull and lonely. Yet, she also mentions that most of her nights are "beautiful," which elucidates that she has been living a good life. Perhaps she lives in a lovely house, and her family owns a nice and vast farm, given that she also comes from the same class of family as the Sheridans.

It's quite interesting how Mansfield subtly shows her heroin character's innocence through this kind of scene—mostly oblivious to what is going on in a grander context. On the same note, it seems that it's Mansfield's way of foreshadowing a kind of distress of what is to come in the later texts, which also reminds me of The Garden Party.

I appreciate the utilization of contrasting ideas in Mansfield’s writing. Here, “stars” and “dark” seem to reflect images of happiness and sadness that perhaps would recur in the later scenes.

I really appreciate Mansfield’s utilization of visual arts through color. I noticed how colors stand out a lot in her writing, which give and promote a more prominent perception of her character’s reactions.

It’s already intriguing enough how Mansfield likes to play with pronouns—invariably using “said she” or “her” to refer to the daughter. However, here, she suddenly used a nickname for her character. I wonder how “close” the narrator is to Mrs. Raddick.

Mansfield plays a trick in the beginning by describing the daughter as angelic and “radiant,” which juxtaposes her brazen behavior.

I had to quickly google if Mansfield had lost someone in her life because she encapsulates through these short stories the intricacies of feelings that come with grief—where there is really never a right word to describe how one feels when losing someone. Thus, the only thing left to do is to be present for each other without needing to say anything or explain anything. I found out that Mansfield lost her brother during the Great War.

Mansfield plays with irony in this scene again. Clearly, Mrs. Sheridan is as excited, perhaps, even more so than her children to have this garden party. To complain about it seems sanctimonious. She even bought those many pink lilies and showed no slightest interest in postponing the party when they found a dead man outside their gate.

"The hat" seems to symbolize authority since it's worn in the head like a crown—a status symbol that an individual proudly wears. In this scene, however, it functions as a symbol of shame. I think it's worth noting how Mansfield utilizes the duality of the symbolism of "the hat."

It's quite ironic to use this word to describe Laura's behavior. The garden party itself is already "extravagant," regardless of it continuing or not.

Betteredge stays true to his character. Despite him disliking the idea of working with Jennings, he still delivers because his Lady told him so--a loyal and proud servant through and through.

Such an interesting way to describe the effects of opium. 'Spiritualise' means "to purify from the corrupting influences of the world." However, its definition juxtaposes the 'corrupting' nature that opium has to an individual.

I noticed how Collins use ‘cloud’ constantly in this narrative, which perhaps foreshadowing a bad omen to come.

It’s quite intriguing how he diversely describes Rachel. It shows his fluctuating views on women, where at most times, he sees or deems women unworthy of making their own decisions.

It’s worth noting how Bruff seems to act like he has control on how Rachel should pursue a relationship.

Similar to Betteredge, Bruff also views women with lower expectations.

Wow. Miss Clack hates Rachel this much to the degree that does not align with her "very" Christian ways. Perhaps her malicious thoughts towards Rachel are projections of how she feels between their class difference, even if they are cousins.

This made me chuckle a bit. Collins challenges the tension between religion and science here. It's worth noting how it is during the Victorian period that England's Christianity was put to the test the most because of famous science figures of its time like Darwin.

Like Ashley's annotations above, I'm also quite intrigued about the varying impressions of Betteredge and Miss Clack on Rachel. In these lines, it may look that Miss Clack's irritation towards Rachel stems from how Rachel seems so "unconventional" (at least to Miss Clack's eyes), but it also sounds that she envies Rachel unorthodox ways.

I think this is a remarkable line that exemplifies the class difference between the lower and upper classes in this story. Collins seems to understand the socio-economic issues faced by ordinary people at the time.

I wonder if Rachel did say this. Perhaps the mother made it up to protect Rachel? Lady Verinder told Betteredge to dismiss Cuff from the case immediately. I wonder if she knows about the case more than she is telling.

The oriental and ornamental themes in this story is highly projected. I'm curious to learn if Collins had ever been to Asia.

I wonder if Franklin has something to do with Rosanna’s suicide.

This is such a strong remark, and I assume that it’s intentional and purposeful as we learn more about Betteredge’s role (beyond his butler role?) in this story. On another note, this also brings up the social norms in the Victorian era, especially the power dynamic between servants and their employers.

This brings an important issue about our relationship with narcotic substances, dating back from Victorian times. It would be interesting to learn how this plays a role in the story (or if it does) and perhaps it would lead us to uncovering the darkest motives of the character/s.

Not quite sure if this place exists in real life, but I think Collins using this name for the specific scene with Betteredge, Spearman, and Blake was brilliant. The site itself foreshadows a sense of frightening thoughts and shocking news--the kind of conversation Betteredge would have with the two characters.