In this excellent short story by Katherine Mansfield, we are presented with the Burnell sisters, called Isabel, Lottie and Kezia, who are given a large doll's house, a marvellous toy that delights them and dazzles their schoolmates. The Burnells are a wealthy family who live in a rural area of New Zealand where all the children from the area attend the same school, regardless of the social status of their families. The Burnell children rejoice in the status that possessing the doll's house gives them, and invite all of their friends at school to see the house one by one, except Else and Lil Kelvey, with whom they are forbidden even to speak. At school, the Kelvey sisters are mercilessly mocked because of their poverty and low social status and they are made fun of with the accusation that their absent father is actually in prison.
However, one day, the youngest Burnell sister, Kezia, sees Else and Lil passing by her house and she invites them in to see the doll's house. They come in but are interrupted by a very fierce Aunt Beryl, who tells of Kezia for inviting them in and throws out the Kelveys. Still, Else Kelvey is deeply moved by seeing the doll's house and in particular by her glimpse of the little lamp, which can be said to symbolise the warmth of human kindness.
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