The Canary (short story)

"The Canary" is a 1923 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published in "The Nation & the Anthenaeum" on 21 April 1923, and later appeared in "The Dove's Nest and Other Stories". [Katherine Mansfield, "Selected Stories", Oxford World's Classics, explanatory notes]

Plot introduction

A lonely woman tells of her dead canary, how he was the only thing she loved, 'perfect company'.

Characters in "The Canary"

*a lonely woman
*a dead canary
*a Chinese man who sold her the canary
*three younger men whom she cooks dinner for

Major themes

*loneliness, intermingled with the theme of the housewife perhaps

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~YZ8H-TD/misc/canary.html Full text]