The Garden Party

The character whom the reader follows most closely is the protagonist, Laura Sheridan. She is one of several children in the Sheridan family and is considered “artistic” by her siblings, although this description may allude to her liberal and bohemian beliefs rather than art as an activity. Unlike her family, she is not concerned with class distinction and status and instead is sympathetic to individuals regardless of their social strata. She has a good relationship with her family, interacting with her sisters, brothers, mother, and father with loving and respectful mannerisms. However, this respect does not prevent her from questioning the prescribed norms of her upbringing; in particular, she does not easily relent to the idea that the party should continue, first openly disagreeing with Jose and then taking the matter to Mrs. Sheridan. When her mother insists she not “spoil” others’ fun by canceling the party, Laura resolves to return to the matter after the party versus simply forgetting it as others advised.

Laura is a particularly self-aware young woman in the context of both her age and the time period, which, although not clearly defined, is presumably the early 20th century (based on the date of the story’s publication).