As the narrator surveys the garden, the surrounding plants are personified:
The green bushes bowed down as though they had been visited by archangels.
The bushes are described as having “bowed down”—which is, of course, a humanlike action. This instance of personification makes the garden feel alive to the reader, emphasizing that the Sheridan Estate is an idyllic space separate from the realities of the outside world, specifically the Cottages and the event of Scott’s death. In addition, the mention of “archangels” infuses the garden with a sense of beauty and refinement, qualities that the Sheridans highly value but that preoccupy them and cut them off from their emotions. Indeed, the image of the bushes “bow[ing]” down to archangels makes it seem like the garden is heavenly or even holy, insulated from mortal concerns like pain and suffering. Although news of Scott’s death interrupts preparations for the garden party for a moment, the Sheridans ultimately decide to leave it unacknowledged, except for Laura, who pays a visit to the Cottages once the party ends. This passage thus emphasizes the Sheridans’ idolization of beauty, which makes them superficial and unable or unwilling to empathize with people who are worse off than them.
The story attributes humanlike qualities to wind and sunlight as Laura looks around the Sheridan house:
Little faint winds were playing chase in at the tops of the windows, out at the doors. And there were two tiny spots of sun, one on the inkpot, one on a silver photograph frame, playing too.
The inclusion of this figurative language captures Laura’s childlike perspective and is characteristic of Mansfield’s whimsical style in “The Garden Party.” Laura is imagining that the wind and the sunlight are “playing chase” with each other, which emphasizes how she naively views everything in her surroundings as potential sources of pleasure and entertainment. Moreover, as with the story’s description of the garden, the personification in this passage makes the Sheridan home feel alive, which adds to the sense that the upper-class Sheridan family is insulated from the suffering and death that working-class people often have to face. Indeed, it directly contrasts the dark, morbid imagery and mood later on in the story, when Laura leaves the familiarity of the Estate for the Cottages.
