Talking vs. Silence Theme Analysis

Much of the communication in The Doll’s House is nonverbal. The Kelvey sisters, in particular, barely speak in the story, instead communicating mostly through gestures and glances. It’s clear, however, that though Lil and Else rarely talk, they easily understand each other. In contrast, the Burnells and their friends are almost constantly yapping, gossiping, or boasting about the doll’s house. Unlike the Kelveys, their chatter often proves shallow and frivolous. By exploring these very different methods of communication, Mansfield seems to suggest that silence can often reveal more truth than speech.

Mansfield explores communication and silence throughout the story by associating talking with casting judgment or spreading untruthful gossip, while linking silence with a sense of caring and attention. With Isabel Burnell at the helm, the popular girls are always chatting and gossiping with one another. Isabel tries to be in control of what is said, forbidding her younger sisters from telling the details of the doll’s house to any of the girls since she ought to be the first one to brag: “‘I’m to tell,’ said Isabel, ‘because I’m the eldest. And you two can join in after. But I’m to tell first.’” Her sisters Lottie and Kezia do not chafe at this rule, but comply, understanding that Isabel has the right to speak before them.

Speaking not only has arbitrary rules, but also the potential for dangerous consequences. That the village does not know much about the Kelvey family allows cruel speculation about them to spread. Though no one knows where the Kelveys’ father is, they suspect he is in prison. When taunting the Kelveys, Lena Logan shouts, “Yah, yer father’s in prison!” as if it’s true, and the other girls are practically beside themselves with excitement that Lena has shouted what everyone’s been thinking. The narrator never confirms or denies whether the Kelveys’ father is in prison, but it doesn’t make a difference to the villagers—that the gossip has spread is enough evidence for the Kelveys to be shunned and despised. This points to the often destructive and deceptive power of language. 

While most of the village is gossiping throughout The Doll’s House, the Kelvey sisters almost never talk, not even to each another. Instead, they have a system of communication that does not need words: Else follows Lil around and communicates by holding onto the edge of her older sister’s dress and tugging at it when she wants something. From the tug alone, Lil knows what Else means. Their communication, though silent and nonverbal, is more accurate than the jabbering of the rest of the village; “The Kelveys never failed to understand each other,” Mansfield writes.

The Kelveys are not just listening to one another, but to the other girls as well. When all of the girls gather to hear what Isabel is saying about the doll’s house, the Kelveys stay away, knowing that they are not supposed to talk with the others. “Many of the children, including the Burnells, were not allowed to even speak to them,” Mansfield notes. Though Else and her sister do not gather around Isabel’s court in the schoolyard, they listen from the sidelines—so well, in fact, that little Else remembers to look for the small lamp Kezia has mentioned when she finally sees the doll’s house. “I seen the little lamp,” Else says to her sister in the only moment she talks in the story. Mansfield seems to suggest that listening and caring for one another is a more effective and true means of communication than constant talk or gossip, which only results in untruths and harsh judgments.