Her First Ball

by

Katherine Mansfield

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Themes and Colors
Youth, Novelty, and Aging Theme Icon
Gender and Society Theme Icon
Illusion, Delusion, and Reality Theme Icon
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

In “Her First Ball,” Leila—a young woman of 18—attends her first formal dance. Having grown up in the New Zealand countryside, Leila has never attended a ball before, and she is overcome with anticipation. Everything appears “new and exciting”: the floor, the lights, the stage, and the dancing itself. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Leila’s feverish sense of novelty cannot last. Even the most youthful dancers are accustomed to…

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Gender and Society

While attending her first ball, Leila learns that her society values men over women. This is apparent in how much power the men have at the dance; they select their partners, for instance, while women simply wait to be chosen. But the power of men becomes clearest when an old man tells Leila that, when she is his age, she will not be desirable to men and will no longer be able to dance at…

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Illusion, Delusion, and Reality

When Leila arrives at the ball, she finds it joyful and thrilling. But her naïve view doesn’t match reality—the ball is repetitive, even boring. No one is interested in Leila’s experience, and none of her partners are having fun. Despite this, Leila remains inside her glamorous illusion until she dances with an old man who reveals the true nature of the ball, showing her that youth and excitement inevitably fade, particularly for women. While this…

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