The Man Without a Temperament

1920 short story by Katherine Mansfield

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"The Man Without a Temperament" is a 1920 short story by Katherine Mansfield. It was first published in Arts and Letters in Spring 1920, and later reprinted in Bliss and Other Stories.

Plot summary

Mrs Jinnie Salesby has tea with her husband, Robert. She receives a letter from Lottie, who is suffering from neuritis. In her letter, she explains it is snowing in London. Then The Honeymoon Couple come back from fishing. The Salesbys go for a turn; she stops and sits while he goes on for a longer walk. He comes upon the Countess and the General in a carriage; they spurn him. He then walks on, imagines he is going back home for dinner, with Dennis and Beaty as guests. Instead, he gets back to his wife and they return to the dining-room for dinner, with all the other couples.

Characters

Mr Robert Salesby
Mrs Jinny Salesby; she suffers from a heart disease.
The Two Topknots
The American Woman, and her pet Klaymongso
the servant-girl
Antonio, a servant.
Lottie
The Honeymoon Couple
The Countess
The General
Dennis
Beaty
Millie

Major themes

married life

Literary significance

The text is written in the modernist mode, without a set structure, and with many shifts in the narrative.

References to other works

Alexander Pope's Satires, Epistles and Odes of Horace, Satire I, Book 2, is quoted.

Footnotes

^ Katherine Mansfield, Selected Stories, Oxford World's Classics, explanatory notes

External links

Full text

v t e Short stories by Katherine Mansfield
"Frau Brechenmacher Attends a Wedding" "The Woman at the Store" "How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped" "Millie" "Something Childish But Very Natural" "The Little Governess" "Revelations" "The Escape" "An Indiscreet Journey" "The Wind Blows" "Prelude" "Mr Reginald Peacock's Day" "Feuille d'Album" "A Dill Pickle" "Je ne parle pas français" "Sun and Moon" "Bliss" "Psychology" "Pictures" "The Man Without a Temperament" "The Stranger" "Miss Brill" "The Daughters of the Late Colonel" "Life of Ma Parker" "The Young Girl" "Mr and Mrs Dove" "Her First Ball" "The Singing Lesson" "Bank Holiday" "An Ideal Family" "The Lady's Maid" "Marriage à la Mode" "At The Bay" "The Voyage" "A Married Man's Story" "The Garden Party" "The Doll's House" "The Fly" "A Cup of Tea" "The Canary" "The Sister of the Baroness"

Short stories by Katherine Mansfield

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