Stylistic Analysis Of “Poison”, A Short Story By Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield is one of the most popular writers in the field of English fiction/short story writing. And hence the reason for choosing one of her short stories for the purpose analysis. The paper tries to probe into linguistic dexterity of the author and see how skillfully she has revealed her artistic skill the delineation of character and story. To achieve the goal of the study, the frame work proposed by Leech S figures of speech, the use of figurative language; and cohesion and context, involving the linkages in the text and setting of the story. The paper finds that Katherine Mansfield does not only possess an extraordinary outlook on human psychology in general but for her feminine perspective in specific. Her significant literary status is distinct. She makes a very skillful use of irony while at times she is more direct in her criticism. Her character delineation is more subtle as she probes into the minds of her characters.  she masterfully makes use of the modernist techniques of language and literary devices, in other words, her style which is implemented to paint the innermost cosmos of her characters in her short story “Poison”. She employs exquisite words, vague expressions, short emphatic exclamations, figurative languages, imagery, and many other literary devices to help portray the minds of her characters as vividly as possible Applications of this study: The study with its focus upon Mansfield use of figurative language to express the inner cosmos of her characters can be used to trace certain aspects of human psychology that have never been explored in Mansfield’s characters before. As such, it can be implemented to examine that Mansfield is not only a writer known for her ideals about feminism. She can also be interpreted as investigating human nature and its dark crevices of its individuality.