Katherine Mansfield’s short story ‘The Daughters of the Late Colonel’ revolves around the lives of two sisters. The story is structurally divided into twelve parts and each of them is interconnected. The narrative opens where the two sisters are sitting on their beds, rather they are clueless about what to do next. As the story unfolds, readers get to know, that they had recently lost their father. In Part One, Constantia and Josephine, are pondering over trivial things as whether to give their father’s hat to the porter or should they dye their dressing gowns in black.
Then in Part Two, both of them, are seen facing difficulty in having breakfast with Nurse Andrews. Although Josephine requested her to stay, as a token of gratitude for her service. But this only made matters worse for them, for they had to timely sit on the table. They were angry on Nurse Andrews as she never left sight of the old bedridden Colonel, as evident in Part Three. So, they felt that they could never talk with their father privately. Thus, he left his last breath by staring at them with only his one eye. So when Mr. Farolles of St. John’s Church, asked them whether their father had a peaceful death, they could not give a proper answer. Part Four continues, where he asked them whether he should arrange his funeral. In reply, Josephine asserted that it should be simple and cost-effective, and Constantia added that it should be suitable to the late colonel’s statuesque.
Part Five, gives the readers, a glimpse of their dilemma. While lowering the coffin of their father, Josephine became white with fear, thinking of their father’s reaction, once he gets to know that he has been buried in the coffin without his permission. To her sister’s fears, Constantia replied that they couldn't keep his coffin in their small flat. Part Six continues with their stronger conviction that the late colonel would not forgive his daughters for doing such a daring act. However, according to Josephine’s list of things to do, they decided to go to their father’s room and settle upon his things. But doing things outrightly became far more difficult for them. The two sisters had an eerie feeling, by seeing all the things being covered, and it seemed to them as if they were freezing. Josephine felt that their father was still there, hiding among the chest of drawers, waiting to pop up. The part ends with Constantia’s boldest step of opening the lock of the wardrobe. Her elder sister was so surprised that she thought that the wardrobe would thrash upon her at any point, but nothing of that sort happened.
In Part Seven, both the sisters are seen shivering after undertaking such risky endeavors. They settled on having two cups of hot water. Then, they discussed whether giving their father’s watch to their brother, Benny would be a wise decision. Their indecision paved into Part Eight, where they settled on to give the watch to his son, Cyril. Then, the readers encounter a brief episode in the flashback of the two sisters. Their nephew, Cyril had come to their place to have tea. On his refusal to take cake, his two aunts requested to take meringues being confident that it would be his favorite. This part ends with an embroilment on whether meringues still fascinate Benny or not. Part Nine plunges into another consequent flashback where Cyril and his two aunts are about to enter his grandfather’s room. When the latter asked them, the reason behind Cyril’s arrival, all of them fell into silence. Then, Josephine, blurted out that he had come to tell his grandfather that Benny was still fond of meringues. The old man being short of hearing, repeatedly asked and when he finally understood the matter, he was surprised that Cyril had come all the way long, to tell such a petty thing as this.
Part Ten begins with their housemaid Kate, asking the two women, whether they would like to have boiled or fried fish. As usual, they could hardly arrive at a decision, before Kate stormed off. The matter boiled down to whether they should keep Kate or not. Part Eleven continues with this dilemma, as they are unable to find an appropriate reason to dismiss her. The final part, that is Part Twelve, begins with the sound of the barrel organ. The slightest sound of it used to irritate the colonel. So, they immediately hurried to stop the sound but then, the thought of their father’s death dawned upon them. Then, the readers are made privy to their acts of receiving solace and strength from Nature, and into their memories. Josephine wonders whether their lives would have been different if their mother had been alive. Then, she ponders would then they would have gotten married or not. Constantia sways away into a reverie of going close to the sea. Mansfield ends her short story, where the two sisters decide to tell each other something, but in the end, none of them can muster the courage to open their hearts.
