Closely Reading The Stolen Party

The book The Stolen Party has many powerful themes. When closely read and analyzed, I noticed many deep issues and found out a lot about the characters. In my opinion, the two most interesting themes were class system and misunderstanding.

Class system was acknowledged from the very beginning of the story when Hermidia was introduced as a rich family’s maid and Rosaura as the maid’s daughter. They are both very proud characters but sometimes in different ways. Rosaura for example, seems embarrassed by her lower class ranking, while Hermidia is very dignified about being a maid. She told Rosaura to tell people at the party she was going to that she was proud to be “the employee’s” daughter. Class system also made boundaries between Hermidia’s family and the family of Herimidia’s employer, Senora Ines.

Misunderstanding plays a big role in The Stolen Party. When Rosaura was invited to the birthday party of her rich “friend,” the daughter of Senora Ines, she was thrilled. Throughout the party, Senora Ines asked Rosaura to help her with a few small things, like carrying a jug or serving cake. At the end of the party, Rosaura was eager to receive her party gift, a bracelet all the other girls who were leaving got. However, Senora Ines handed her money, and thanked her for the good work. Rosaura was distraught and confused. She thought she had a real friendship with Senora Ines’s daughter, but she was really just seen as the maid’s daughter.

The Stolen Party is a very sad story but also very true to life. In the world, families are separated by class just like Hermidia’s family and Senora Ines’s family. People tend to stay in the community of their class system, but Rosaura was young and naïve. She loved the way the rich lived, but she didn’t understand how divided their two societies were.