The Doll's House quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which literary category best describes "The Doll's House"?

   • Adventure / Action-Driven Narrative
   • Correct answer: Social Realism / Literary Fiction
   • Gothic Horror / Supernatural Tales
   • Romanticism / Idealized Adventure
   • Science Fiction / Speculative World

   Social Realism and Literary Fiction are the best fit. Mansfield uses realistic, psychologically rich characters and an everyday setting to expose class prejudice in a small New Zealand community.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. What does Kezia like "more than anything" about the doll's house?

   • Correct answer: The tiny amber lamp with a white globe on the dining-room table
   • The beds with real bedclothes that made a great sensation at school
   • The bright yellow door that gleams like a little slab of toffee
   • The red carpet covering the floors of every room except the kitchen

   Kezia is captivated by the little amber lamp, which Mansfield describes as "perfect" and "real" — it seemed to smile at Kezia and say "I live here," setting it apart from the other decorative objects.

   Read the passage
3. 3

   Question 3. What color is the doll's house painted on the outside?

   • Cream white with dark green chimneys and a red porch
   • Bright red with white trim and a blue door
   • Correct answer: Dark, oily, spinach green with bright yellow accents
   • Pale blue with pink shutters and a brown roof

   The house is "a dark, oily, spinach green, picked out with bright yellow" — the chimneys are red and white, and the door gleams with yellow varnish like toffee.

   Read the passage
4. 4

   Question 4. What does "Conspicuous" mean in this story?

   • Hidden away from view, deliberately kept out of the public eye
   • Dressed in the latest fashionable styles of the day
   • Blending in perfectly with the other children at school
   • Correct answer: Standing out so as to attract unwanted notice or attention

   Mansfield writes that "why Mrs. Kelvey made them so conspicuous was hard to understand" — the Kelveys' patchwork clothing, assembled from other families' donations, makes them painfully visible and an easy target for ridicule.

   Read the passage
5. 5

   Question 5. Why are the Kelvey sisters excluded from the other children's social circle?

   • Lil will be a servant when she grows up, so the other families keep their distance
   • Their clothes are leftover bits and their lunch is jam sandwiches from a newspaper
   • Correct answer: Their mother is a washerwoman and their father is rumored to be in prison
   • Else never smiles or speaks and Lil answers every taunt with a shamefaced smile

   The Kelveys are shunned because their mother works as a washerwoman — already "awful enough" in the community's eyes — and "everybody said" their father was in prison. The children are punished for their parents' social position.

   Read the passage
6. 6

   Question 6. What is Lil Kelvey's hat made from?

   • A stout child's hat sewn from the Burnells' green art-serge table-cloth
   • Correct answer: A grown-up woman's hat, once belonging to the postmistress, trimmed with a scarlet quill
   • A white hat cut from the long dress, rather like a nightgown, that Else wore
   • A red plush hat cut from the Logans' curtains that became her sleeves

   Lil wears a "grown-up woman's hat, once the property of Miss Lecky, the postmistress," turned up at the back and trimmed with a large scarlet quill — a detail Mansfield uses to show the conspicuous patchwork of donated clothing the Kelveys must wear.

   Read the passage
7. 7

   Question 7. What is the real source of Aunt Beryl's fury when she catches the Kelveys in the courtyard?

   • Correct answer: She has received a threatening letter from Willie Brent and is displacing her anxiety onto the Kelveys
   • She has visitors in the house that afternoon and is furious the Kelveys might be seen in the yard
   • She has seen Kezia break the family's rule and is sending the Kelveys away at once
   • She has been made ill by the smell of paint and is taking it out on whoever is in the courtyard

   Mansfield reveals that Beryl received a "terrifying, threatening letter" from Willie Brent. After shooing the Kelveys and scolding Kezia, "her heart felt lighter" and "that ghastly pressure was gone" — she took out her private anxiety on the most powerless targets available.

   Read the passage
8. 8

   Question 8. What central theme does "The Doll's House" explore?

   • How material wealth inevitably corrupts the innocence of childhood friendships
   • How children turn cruel on their own, even when adults treat every child the same
   • How sibling rivalry between the Burnell sisters drives the plot toward its climax
   • Correct answer: How class prejudice is taught by adults and inherited by children, creating cycles of exclusion

   The central theme is the transmission of class prejudice from adults to children. The Burnell parents forbid contact with the Kelveys, the teacher treats them differently, and the children learn to shun and taunt them — creating a self-reinforcing cycle of exclusion.

   Read the passage
9. 9

   Question 9. What is the significance of Else's final words, "I seen the little lamp"?

   • She is disappointed that the lamp was the only thing she could see before being chased away
   • Correct answer: She remembers the one object that symbolizes warmth and truth, showing the moment of kindness survived
   • She is planning a second visit, hoping the cross lady will be gone from the courtyard next time
   • She is using the lamp to comfort Lil, showing that shame can be undone by one pretty memory of the house

   Else's whispered words show that despite the humiliation of being chased away, what she carries from the experience is not shame but wonder. The lamp — symbol of warmth, truth, and connection — is what survives, suggesting that even a brief moment of genuine kindness leaves a lasting mark.

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. How does Mansfield use animal imagery to characterize the Kelveys' treatment?

    • Correct answer: She describes them as being shooed like chickens and following Kezia like stray cats
    • She likens them to foxes hiding in the bushes, watching the other children from afar
    • She portrays them as butterflies drawn to the bright colors of the doll's house paint
    • She compares them to songbirds trapped in a cage, unable to escape their social class

    Aunt Beryl shoos the Kelveys "as if they were chickens" and they follow Kezia to the doll's house "like two little stray cats." This animal imagery strips the girls of their humanity, reflecting how the community reduces them to something less than full members of society.

    Read the passage
11. 11

    Question 11. Which of these events actually happened in the story?

    • The doll's house is sent by old Mrs. Hay after visiting the Burnells.

      Happened

      This is how the story opens — "dear old Mrs. Hay" sends the doll's house to the children after her stay.

    • Kezia is the first to describe the house to her classmates at school.

      Didn't happen

      Isabel insists on being first because she is the eldest: "I'm to tell, because I'm the eldest." Kezia and Lottie may only "join in after."

    • The teacher uses a special voice when speaking to the Kelvey sisters.

      Happened

      Even the teacher participates in the class prejudice — she has "a special voice for them, and a special smile for the other children."

    • Kezia asks her mother if the Kelveys can visit, and her mother agrees.

      Didn't happen

      Kezia does ask, but her mother firmly refuses: "Certainly not, Kezia." Kezia later invites them on her own.

    • Lena Logan taunts Lil by saying her father is in prison.

      Happened

      After Lil gives only her shamefaced smile to the first taunt, Lena hisses, "Yah, yer father's in prison!"

    • The Kelveys eat their lunch from a newspaper soaked with red jam blobs.

      Happened

      Mansfield describes them chewing "jam sandwiches out of a newspaper soaked with large red blobs" — a detail highlighting their poverty.

    • Else tugs at Lil's skirt to signal that she wants to see the doll's house.

      Happened

      When Kezia invites them, Lil hesitates, but "there was a twitch, a tug at Lil's skirt" — Else's silent way of saying she wants to go.

    • Aunt Beryl apologizes to the Kelveys after calming down.

      Didn't happen

      Beryl never apologizes. After chasing the Kelveys out, she feels relieved — "her heart felt lighter" — and goes back to the house humming.

    • Else smiles her rare smile at the end of the story.

      Happened

      In the final scene, Else strokes the quill on Lil's hat, "smiled her rare smile," and whispers about the lamp — one of the story's most moving moments.

    • The doll's house is eventually brought inside the Burnell home.

      Didn't happen

      The house stays in the courtyard for the entire story. It was left outside because of the strong paint smell, and there is no mention of it being moved indoors.

    Read the passage