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Summary
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Her First Ball, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Youth, Novelty, and Aging
Gender and Society
Illusion, Delusion, and Reality
Summary
Analysis
In the cab on the way to the ball, Leila imagines that the armrest is her dance partner and watches the scenery “waltzing” by. Her cousins, the Sheridans, exclaim how strange it is that Leila has never been to a ball before, and Leila replies that she grew up in the country. While the Sheridans are nonchalant about the ball, Leila is thrilled by every little detail—she even mourns when her cousin Laurie throws away the tissue paper from his new gloves, wishing she could keep it as a memento. As Laurie and Laura plan their dances and Meg compliments Jose’s hair, Leila is almost moved to tears; she is an only child, so she’s never had a conversation like this before.
Even before arriving, Leila develops a romanticized idea of what the ball will be like, imagining the carriage as her dance partner and viewing the passing scenery as if it’s waltzing. This shows how imaginative Leila is, and it also sets the stage for her to consistently view things as being more exciting than they actually are. Quickly, this tendency appears; she wants to keep the tissue paper from Laurie’s gloves as an exciting memento of her evening, for instance, but not only is this tissue paper utterly ordinary—it’s also literally trash. When Leila interprets the small talk between her cousins as evidence of their closeness, it's obvious that her fanciful misreadings of reality come from her profound desire for a different, more exciting life. Leila wishes she had siblings, so she imagines that all sibling interactions are evidence of a deep bond (no matter the clear reality), and she wants to be a glamorous society woman, so she imagines that every aspect of the ball must be wonderful and worth cherishing—even the tissue paper from Laurie’s gloves.
Active
Themes
Literary Devices
At the drill hall, Laura tells Leila to hold onto her so she doesn’t get lost, while Leila is busy admiring everything: the beauty of the lights and the clothes and the happy couples. They enter the ladies’ dressing room, which is crowded and noisy. All the girls inside are prepping for the ball while competing for the only mirror and dressing-table. They’re tying ribbons, checking their hair, stuffing their dresses with handkerchiefs, and yelling out for “invisible hairpins” and needles. Leila doesn’t seem to mind the chaos and thinks that the women are “all lovely” because they’re laughing.
Despite knowing nothing about what balls are like, Leila has already decided that every aspect of the ball must be glamorous. This means that she sees the ladies’ room not as a scene of nervous chaos (which it is), but rather as a lovely choreography of beautiful women dressing together for the dance. For example, she sees the women’s nervous laughter not as evidence that they’re stressed out, but as a marker of their beauty. This scene also establishes the dynamic between women in the story; here, women are not helping one another or enjoying each other’s company—instead, they’re competing for mirror space, complaining about their looks, and trying to make themselves as attractive as possible to men. In other words, this is not a moment of female bonding, since all the women seem to care about here is themselves and the men they’ll soon meet. In this moment, the women are obviously creating an illusion—stuffing their dresses and using “invisible hairpins” to make themselves look more attractive than they are—which parallels Leila’s consistent mistaking of everything around her as being more exciting and beautiful than it actually is. Leila is completely caught up in illusion and imagination—she cannot see her situation for what it is: a somewhat banal dance that is stressing everyone out.
Active
Themes
Literary Devices
The girls receive dance programs, which tell them when specific dances will take place. Meg then ushers Leila to the drill hall. Surrounded by noise and colorful decorations, Leila presses close to Meg and remembers that earlier in the night she almost didn’t want to attend the ball, preferring to stay home and listen to the cries of baby owls calling “more pork” outside. But now she feels overcome by joy, drinking in the flowers, lights, and the “gleaming, golden floor.”
The men are already inside, and the girls stand in a group on the opposite side of the room while the chaperones, “smiling rather foolishly,” head towards the stage. Meg asks the other girls to help Leila find partners, and though they agree, they seem not to see her; instead, they’re focused on the men across the room. Leila wonders why the men are just standing around instead of approaching the women. But eventually, all at once, the men walk over to them.
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Leila meets a few young men, and then an older man, fat and balding, approaches her to claim a dance. His program is already very full, so Leila tells him not to bother finding a spot for her, but he does anyway. After he finishes writing his name on her program, he remarks that he may know Leila “of yore” before disappearing into the crowded dance floor.
As the dance begins, Leila remembers her dance lessons at boarding school. These lessons were often miserable—the girls were tormented by a strict dance teacher, and the dance hall was dusty. The ball is a sharp contrast to the lessons, and Leila listens to the beautiful music and watches dancers glide across the floor in growing anticipation—eventually, she comes to feel that if her first dance partner doesn’t arrive, “she would die at least, or faint.”
Active
Themes
Leila’s dance partner does arrive, and he immediately compliments the floor. She responds that it’s “beautifully slippery,” which surprises him. He politely agrees, but he seems confused. He steers skillfully—it’s so different from dancing with other girls at boarding school, who always collided and stepped on each other. Though Leila notes that the man “sounded tired,” he tries to make small talk again, asking Leila if she was at another ball last week. Leila replies that this is her first ball, and though she elaborates, he hardly responds. The two stop dancing and sit down; Laura passes Leila and winks, which makes Leila notice that Laura’s partner isn’t speaking to her, instead picking a thread off his sleeve.
Leila begins to dance with a new partner, who also asks her about the floor and about whether she was at another ball. Leila again explains that this is her first ball, but this partner is as uninterested as the last. This is strange to Leila, who finds the ball thrilling: the night sky, which at home was “mournful,” is now “dazzling bright.” Leila can picture herself at “the beginning of everything,” her life full of possibilities.
Leila and her partner go to get ices, and when they return, the old man approaches Leila and ushers her to the dance floor. His appearance shocks her. He’s old enough to be onstage with the chaperones, and he’s shabby—there’s a button missing from his glove, and his coat is wrinkled and dusty. The man immediately guesses that it’s Leila’s first ball; he knows because he’s been attending them for 30 years. To be nice, Leila says it’s great that he’s still attending.
Active
Themes
Literary Devices
The old man holds Leila closer and says that she obviously won’t be able to attend balls for as long as he has. He points to the older women sitting onstage and says that Leila will soon be one of them, “smil[ing] away like the poor old dears up there” and watching her own daughter dance. Just like those women, Leila will complain that a “dreadful man” tried to kiss her daughter at the last ball, but inside she will feel devastated that men no longer want to kiss her anymore and she’ll complain about how dangerous the slippery floors are.
Leila laughs at the old man’s comments, but she’s inwardly upset. What he said rings true to her—this ball might be “only the beginning of her last ball.” Suddenly, the music sounds sad, and she mourns that happiness can’t last forever. She stops dancing and goes to lean against the wall; inside, she’s a small child throwing a tantrum because the man ruined everything. The old man tells Leila not to “take [him] seriously,” and she scoffs.
The ball continues around Leila, but she no longer wants to be part of it, instead reminiscing about being at home listening to the baby owls. Soon, however, a new song begins and a new partner finds her. Leila decides to dance until she can find Meg and escape, but she is soon swept up in the music and the beautiful decorations, which resemble a “flying wheel.” Leila’s partner bumps into the old man as they dance. The old man apologizes, but Leila simply beams at him—she doesn’t even recognize him now.
