How does Katherine Mansfield present women as having more power in the stories "The Garden Party," "The Little Governess" and "Her First Ball"?

This is an interesting question, as it seems to infer that
women are given positions of power or at least are able to express their power over
others in these three stories. I would argue that the only women who are given positions
of power are actually the minor characters. The protagonists of these stories actually
show that they occupy positions that emphasise their
powerlessness.

Consider Laura in "The Garden Party." As the
younger daughter, she is bullied by both her sister and her mother in her response to
the death of Mr. Scott. Note how her mother in particular responds to her pleas to
cancel the garden party:

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"You are being very absurd, Laura," she said
coldly. "People like that don't expect sacrifices from
us."

Laura is shown to occupy
a position where in her limited sphere she has very little power at all, and where she
is subject to the will of her older sister and mother.

In
the same way, "The Little Governess" presents us with a naive and innocent figure,
abroad for the first time, who is completely powerless. Her dependence on the German man
indicates this as he steers her through her first day abroad. However, it is clear from
the story that this governess is also economically dependent on Frau Arnholdt for
getting a job, and the way in which she responds to being told that Frau Arnholdt had
gone to the hotel and then left emphasises her lack of
power:

"Where
is the lady now?" asked the little governess, shuddering so violently that she had to
hold her handkerchief up to her
mouth.

Lastly, "Her First
Ball" presents Leila as again a figure who is subject to the influence of others. The
way in which the fat man who dances with her is able to upset her mood and depress her
indicates her powerlessness. However, Leila, alone amongst the protagonists of this
story, could be argued to exercise power in the way that she recovers from her painful
epiphany and goes back to enjoy the dance, forgetting about the inconvenient truths the
fat man shared with her:

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But in one minute, in one turn, her feet glided,
glided. The lights, the azaleas, the dresses, the pink faces, the velvet chairs, all
became on ebeautiful flying
wheel.

We could argue that
Leila is thus the only protagonist who is shown to exercise power by her ability to
forget.